Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- MATLAB® programs
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Toward quantum mechanics
- 3 Using the Schrödinger wave equation
- 4 Electron propagation
- 5 Eigenstates and operators
- 6 The harmonic oscillator
- 7 Fermions and bosons
- 8 Time-dependent perturbation
- 9 The semiconductor laser
- 10 Time-independent perturbation
- 11 Angular momentum and the hydrogenic atom
- Appendix A Physical values
- Appendix B Coordinates, trigonometry, and mensuration
- Appendix C Expansions, differentiation, integrals, and mathematical relations
- Appendix D Matrices and determinants
- Appendix E Vector calculus and Maxwell's equations
- Appendix F The Greek alphabet
- Index
1 - Introduction
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- MATLAB® programs
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Toward quantum mechanics
- 3 Using the Schrödinger wave equation
- 4 Electron propagation
- 5 Eigenstates and operators
- 6 The harmonic oscillator
- 7 Fermions and bosons
- 8 Time-dependent perturbation
- 9 The semiconductor laser
- 10 Time-independent perturbation
- 11 Angular momentum and the hydrogenic atom
- Appendix A Physical values
- Appendix B Coordinates, trigonometry, and mensuration
- Appendix C Expansions, differentiation, integrals, and mathematical relations
- Appendix D Matrices and determinants
- Appendix E Vector calculus and Maxwell's equations
- Appendix F The Greek alphabet
- Index
Summary
Motivation
You may ask why one needs to know about quantum mechanics. Possibly the simplest answer is that we live in a quantum world! Engineers would like to make and control electronic, opto-electronic, and optical devices on an atomic scale. In biology there are molecules and cells we wish to understand and modify on an atomic scale. The same is true in chemistry, where an important goal is the synthesis of both organic and inorganic compounds with precise atomic composition and structure. Quantum mechanics gives the engineer, the biologist, and the chemist the tools with which to study and control objects on an atomic scale.
As an example, consider the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) molecule shown in Fig. 1.1. The number of atoms in DNA can be so great that it is impossible to track the position and activity of every atom. However, suppose we wish to know the effect a particular site (or neighborhood of an atom) in a single molecule has on a chemical reaction. Making use of quantum mechanics, engineers, biologists, and chemists can work together to solve this problem. In one approach, laser-induced fluorescence of a fluorophore attached to a specific site of a large molecule can be used to study the dynamics of that individual molecule. The light emitted from the fluorophore acts as a small beacon that provides information about the state of the molecule.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Applied Quantum Mechanics , pp. 1 - 56Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006