Quantum Mechanics for Beginners

Prof. Zubairy is a University Distinguished Professor and the holder of the Munnerlyn-Heep Chair in Quantum Optics at Texas A&M University. He has made many pioneering contributions in the fields of quantum optics and quantum information. He is co-author (with Marlan Scully) of a classic textbook on Quantum Optics. Prof. Zubairy has received many honors including the Willis E. Lamb Award for Laser Science and Quantum Optics, Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize for Distinguished Scientists, and the George H. W. Bush Award for Excellence in International Research. He is Fellow of Pakistan Academy of Sciences, American Physical Society, and Optical Society of America.

• 1: What is this book about?I Introductory Topics2: Mathematical background3: Particle dynamics4: Wave theoryII Fundamentals of quantum mechanics5: Fundamentals of quantum mechanics6: Birth of quantum mechanics - Planck, Einstein, Bohr7: de Broglie waves: Are electrons waves or particles?8: Quantum interference -- wave-particle duality9: Simplest quantum devices: Polarizers and beam splitters10: Quantum superposition and entanglement11: No-cloning theorem12: EPR and Bell theoremIII Quantum communication13: Quantum secure communication14: Quantum communication with invisible photonsIV Quantum computing15: Quantum computing I16: Quantum computing IIV Schrodinger equation17: Demise of Newtonian dynamics: Schrodinger equation

The real attraction of Zubairy's book, which I think makes it unique, is the immensely readable introduction to the modern applications of quantum mechanics that derive from entanglement, such as quantum communication and computing, action at a distance, quantum encryption, Bell inequalities and all that. For someone, who has been used to employ quantum mechanics as the standard tool for the time-honored applications mentioned above, this is a wonderful book to update his or her understandings of these developments, which have pushed the foundations and the mystery of quantum mechanics again to the forefront of physics research. The book reminds one a lot of Feynman's approach to teaching quantum mechanics to undergraduates. It will make all these recent developments accessible to first-year students. It may persuade many a young student to personally partake in this exciting field of research.