ABSTRACT
How to Be a Quantum Mechanic is an introduction to quantum mechanics at the upper-division level. It begins with
wave-particle duality and ends with a brief introduction to the Dirac equation. Two attitudes went into its writing: examples are the best way to get into a subject, and numbers and equations do not always sum to understanding—results need exploration.
Charles Wohl taught for 40 years at the University of California, Berkeley. He earned his PhD at Berkeley in
experimental elementary-particle physics in the group led by Luis Alvarez.
1. Strangest things 2. The Schrodinger Equation. Bound States 3. Simple Approximations for Bound States 4. Scattering in One Dimension 5. Mathematical Formalism 6. The Harmonic Oscillator 7. Uncertainty Relations. Simultaneous Eigenstates 8. Angular Momentum 9. Hydrogen. The Isotropic Oscillator 10. Spin 1/2 Particles 11. Hyperfine Splitting. Two Angular Momenta. Isospin 12. Cryptography. The EPR Argument. Bell's Inequality 13. Time-Independent Perturbation Theory 14. Identical Particles 15. Time-Dependent Perturbations. Planck and Einstein 16. Scattering in Three Dimensions 17. The Dirac Equation
