Quantum Physics

Michel Le Bellac is Emeritus Professor at the University of Nice and a well-known elementary particle theorist. He graduated from the École Normale Supérieure in 1962, before conducting research with CNRS. In 1967 he returned to the University of Nice and was appointed Full Professor of Physics in 1971, a position he held for over 30 years. His main fields of research have been the theory of elementary particles and field theory at finite temperatures. He has published four other books in French and three other books in English, including Thermal Field Theory (Cambridge University Press, 1996) and Equilibrium and Non-equilibrium Statistical Thermodynamics (with Fabrice Mortessagne and G. George Bartouni, Cambridge University Press, 2004).

• 1. Introduction; 2. Mathematics of quantum mechanics I: finite dimension; 3. Polarization: photons and spin 1/2 particles; 4. Postulates of quantum mechanics; 5. Systems with a finite number of levels; 6. Entangled states; 7. Mathematics of quantum mechanics II: infinite dimension; 8. Symmetries in quantum physics; 9. Wave mechanics; 10. Angular momentum; 11. The harmonic oscillator; 12. Elementary scattering theory; 13. Identical particles; 14. Atomic physics; 15. Open quantum systems; Appendices; References.

Review of the French edition: 'This new text comes closest to the contemporary heart of the discipline and I cannot recommend it strongly enough to everyone interested in quantum mechanics, and especially students and teachers … this text is the best one available for a course designed to expose students to the role played by quantum mechanics in today's world.' Edouard Brézin, Bulletin de la Société Francaise de Physique