Invitation to Quantum Mechanics

This World Wide Web page written by Dan Styer, Oberlin College Department of Physics and Astronomy;
http://www.oberlin.edu/physics/dstyer/InvitationToQM/;
last updated 22 November 2022.

Technical note: To access the links marked (PDF) you must first download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader or Open Standard software.


Welcome to the web site for the book Invitation to Quantum Mechanics.

Download the book for free: Invitation to Quantum Mechanics (PDF)

Author: Dan Styer

Book description and endorsments (PDF)

Errata (PDF)

Visuals:

Video of single electron buildup of a two-slit interference pattern, by Akira Tonomura, Junji Endo, Tsuyoshi Matsuda, Takeshi Kawasaki, and Hiroshi Ezawa.

Recommended software:

InterferenceSimulator, a program demonstrating quantal two-slit Fresnel interference patterns with one, the other, or both slits open. A magnetic flux situated between the two slits allows demonstration of the Aharonov-Bohm effect. Simulations with short de Broglie wavelengths illustrate the classical limit of quantum mechanics. Documentation for InterferenceSimulator (PDF).

Quantum mechanics simulations from PhET, particularly Quantum Tunneling and Wave Packets.

Physlet quantum mechanics. (In particular, the simulation of revivals. Particularly interesting if you click on "Start p0 = 40pi".)

Numerical solutions to the quantal energy eigenproblem for a finite symmetric square well. The Excel spreadsheet used to produce figures in section 5.1 of Invitation to Quantum Mechanics. Play around with this spreadsheet to get a better feel for the significance of energy eigenfunctions.