Elementary Modern Physics

Aimed at graduate students and researchers, this book covers the key aspects of the modern quantum theory of solids, including up-to-date ideas such as quantum fluctuations and strong electron correlations.

In "The Quantum Theory of Fields" Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines his exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to provide a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory. The development is fresh and logical, with each step carefully motivated by what has gone before. The presentation of modern mathematical methods is throughout interwoven with accounts of applications in both elementary particle and condensed matter physics .

by Dieter Meschede (Author)

Starting from basic principles, the book systematically covers both Heisenberg and Schrödinger realizations of quantum mechanics (in this order). The material traditionally presented in quantum textbooks is illustrated with applications which are (or will become) cornerstones of future technologies. The emphasis in the matrix formulation focus the attention on the spin, the most important quantum observable, and paves the way to chapters on quantum information (including crytography, teleportation and computation), on recent tests of quantum physics and on decoherence. Additions and changes found in the second edition include; a more friendly presentation to Hilbert spaces; more practical applications e.g. scanning tunneling microscope (potential barrier); quantum dots (single-particle states in semiconductors); lasers and masers (induced emission); real experiments that have recently provided a qualitative change in the foundations of quantum physics; and an outline of the density matrix formalism as applied to a simple model of decoherence.

The spin degree of freedom is an intrinsically quantum-mechanical phenomenon, leading to both intriguing applications (such as quantum information storage and processing) and unsolved fundamental issues (such as "where does the proton spin come from"). The present volume investigates central aspects of modern spin physics in the form of extensive lectures on semiconductor spintronics, the spin-pairing mechanism in high- temperature semiconductors, spin in quantum field theory and the nucleon spin.