Jean-Louis Basdevant

" Si l'on demande à un passant de citer une formule de physique, il y a de grandes chances qu'il réponde E = mc2. Pourtant, la formule E = hv proposée la même année 1905 par le même Einstein le touche de beaucoup plus près téléphones portables, ordinateurs personnels, carte électronique dans les automobiles, etc., toutes ces technologies dérivent directement de la mécanique quantique ; 30 % du produit national brut des pays industrialisés proviennent de ses dérivés ! Toute la physique est quantique, des particules élémentaires aux étoiles et au big-bang en passant par les semi-conducteurs. Cette théorie est certainement l'un des acquis majeurs de l'esprit humain. Mais elle est subtile. On n'arrive à l'exprimer complètement qu'avec le langage mathématique, ce qui semble très frustrant pour le commun des mortels. C'est un tort, car ce qui est subtil, mais explicable, c'est bien la physique, et non les mathématiques, qui sont une affaire de professionnels. Même pour un physicien, la mécanique quantique a posé et pose toujours problème sur son interprétation. L'homme a fait là une superbe construction intellectuelle qui lui échappe un peu! " J.-L. B.

Douze leçons de mécanique quantique

Jean Dalibard

Motivates students by challenging them with real-life applications of the somtimes esoteric aspects of quantum mechanics that they are learning. Offers completely original excerices developed at teh Ecole Polytechnique in France, which is know for its innovative and original teaching methods. Problems from modern physics to help the student apply just-learnt theory to fields such as molecular physics, condensed matter physics or laser physics.

How to Apply Quantum Theory to Modern Physics

The Quantum Mechanics Solver

Maurice Lévy

Raymond Gastmans

David Speiser

Jacques Weyers

Maurice Jacob

Proceedings of a NATO ASI held in Cargese, France, August 13--25, 1990

Cargèse 1990

Z° Physics

The Quantum Mechanics Solver is unique as it illustrates the application of quantum mechanical concepts to various fields of modern physics. It aims at encouraging the reader to apply quantum mechanics to research problems in fields such as molecular physics, condensed matter physics or laser physics. Advanced undergraduates and graduate students will find a rich and challenging source of material for further exploration.

Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written, Twelve Lectures in Quantum Mechanics presents theoretical physics with a breathtaking array of examples and anecdotes. Basdevant’s style is clear and stimulating, in the manner of a brisk lecture that can be followed with ease and enjoyment. Here is a sample of the book’s style, from the opening of Chapter 1: "If one were to ask a passer-by to quote a great formula of physics, chances are that the answer would be ‘E = mc2’.... There is no way around it: all physics is quantum, from elementary particles, to stellar physics and the Big Bang, not to mention semiconductors and solar cells."

Lectures on Quantum Mechanics

Gives a fresh and modern approach to the field. It is a textbook on the principles of the theory, its mathematical framework and its first applications. It constantly refers to modern and practical developments, tunneling microscopy, quantum information, Bell inequalities, quantum cryptography, Bose-Einstein condensation and quantum astrophysics. The book also contains 92 exercises with their solutions.

Quantum Mechanics

Problèmes quantiques

James Rich

Michael Spiro

Covers all the phenomenological and experimental data on nuclear physics and demonstrates the latest experimental developments that can be obtained. Introduces modern theories of fundamental processes, in particular the electroweak standard model, without using the sophisticated underlying quantum field theoretical tools. Incorporates all major present applications of nuclear physics at a level that is both understandable by a majority of physicists and scientists of many other fields, and usefull as a first introduction for students who intend to pursue in the domain.

From Nuclear Structure to Cosmology

Fundamentals in Nuclear Physics

Les 15 grandes leçons ici rassemblées exposent, dans un style vivant, les développements les plus spectaculaires de la physique fondamentale contemporaine. Une place importante sera consacrée aux applications et développements récents que l’on appelle souvent la seconde ère quantique, tels que les nanotechnologies ou les « q bits » de l’information quantique, l’ordinateur quantique et la cryptographie, la cosmologie et les ondes gravitationnelles.

15 leçons de mécanique quantique

Variational principles have proven to be surprisingly fertile. For example, Fermat used variational methods to demonstrate that light follows the fastest route from one point to another, an idea which came to be a cornerstone of geometrical optics. This book explains variational principles and charts their use throughout modern physics. It examines the analytical mechanics of Lagrange and Hamilton, the basic tools of any physicist. The book also offers simple but rich first impressions of Einstein’s General Relativity, Feynman’s Quantum Mechanics, and more that reveal amazing interconnections between various fields of physics.

Jean-Louis Basdevant

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