WAVES AND PARTICLES: INTRODUCTION TO THE FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF QUANTUM MECHANICSElectromagnetic Waves and PhotonsMaterial Particles and Matter WavesQuantum Description of a Particle; Wave PacketsParticle in a Time-Independent Scalar PotentialComplementsTHE MATHEMATICAL TOOLS OF QUANTUM MECHANICSOne-Particle Wave Function SpaceState Space. Dirac NotationRepresentations in the State SpaceEigenvalue Equations. ObservablesTwo Important Examples of Representations and ObservablesTensor Product of State SpacesComplementsTHE POSTULATES OF QUANTUM MECHANICSIntroductionStatement of the PostulatesThe Physical Interpretation of the PostulatesThe Physical Implications of the Schrödinger EquationThe Superposition Principle and Physical PredictionsComplementsAPPLICATION OF THE POSTULATES TO SIMPLE CASES: TWO LEVEL SYSTEMS AND SPIN 1/2 SYSTEMSSpin 1/2 Particle: Quantization of the Angular MomentumIllustration of the Postulates in the Case of a Spin 1/2General Study of Two-Level SystemsComplementsTHE ONE DIMENSIONAL HARMONIC OSCILLATORIntroductionEigenvalues of the HamiltonianEigenstates of the HamiltonianComplementsGENERAL PROPERTIES OF ANGULAR MOMENTUM IN QUANTUM MECHANICSIntroduction: The Importance of Angular MomentumCommutation Relations Characteristic of Angular MomentumGeneral Theory of Angular MomentumApplication to Orbital Angular MomentumComplementsPARTICLES IN A CENTRAL POTENTIAL. THE HYDROGEN ATOMStationary States of a Particle in a Central PotentialMotion of the Center of Mass and Relative Motion for a System of Two Interacting ParticlesThe Hydrogen AtomComplements
Claude Cohen-Tannoudji was a researcher at the Kastler-Brossel laboratory of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris where he also studied and received his PhD in 1962. In 1973 he became Professor of atomic and molecular physics at the Collège des France. His main research interests were optical pumping, quantum optics and atom-photon interactions. In 1997, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, together with Steven Chu and William D. Phillips, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his research on laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms.Bernard Diu was Professor at the Denis Diderot University (Paris VII). He was engaged in research at the Laboratory of Theoretical Physics and High Energy where his focus was on strong interactions physics and statistical mechanics.Franck Laloë was a researcher at the Kastler-Brossel laboratory of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris. His first assignment was with the University of Paris VI before he was appointed to the CNRS, the French National Research Center. His research was focused on optical pumping, statistical mechanics of quantum gases, musical acoustics and the foundations of quantum mechanics.