1

I am confused about the operators in quantum mechanics and even the way they are used, their symbols, etc. Is there any book or anything that I can study so that I can fully understand them before continuing into quantum mechanics? (I am not sure if this forum is appropriate for questions like this so if it is not I am willing to delete my question)

Kani Pen
  • 321
  • You can always start by reading about operators from a functional analysis perspective, but if you are struggling now functional analysis will set you back. Best bet is a good text on quantum mechanics. Which one are you using now? – ZeroTheHero Jun 17 '22 at 00:44
  • Griffiths introduction to quantum mechanics – Kani Pen Jun 17 '22 at 00:45
  • 1
    The standard texts that should teach you about those are...textbooks about quantum mechanics. I'm confused about this idea to learn about operators "before continuing into quantum mechanics" - can you be more specific what you're looking for or what is confusing you? Do you want a more mathematical perspective? Or, on the other extreme, are you lacking the mathematical prerequisites from linear algebra many texts presuppose? Something else? – ACuriousMind Jun 17 '22 at 00:45
  • can you clarify then what you are confused about? – ZeroTheHero Jun 17 '22 at 00:46
  • He makes a very small reference to operators but I think it is inadequate since he probably considers that the reader knows a couple of things about them – Kani Pen Jun 17 '22 at 00:46
  • The formal way of learning about operators is to study linear algebra? – Kani Pen Jun 17 '22 at 00:48
  • 3
    Try “Linear operators for quantum mechanics” by Thomas F. Jordan or “Quantum mechanics in simple matrix form” by the same author. – ZeroTheHero Jun 17 '22 at 00:48
  • @ZeroTheHero thank you very much! – Kani Pen Jun 17 '22 at 00:53
  • 2
    As a mathematician interested in the interactions of math and physics (and number theory), I'd recommend not going down a formal road of studying "operator theory", since this is a thing that has taken on a life of its own, and is not particularly friendly to physics. Instead, at your leisure, "back-fill" the mathematical operator theory that gives rigor to the physics computations that you have to do, and know how to do, even if you can't justify them. :) And distribution theory, etc... – paul garrett Jun 17 '22 at 01:24
  • Possible duplicates: https://physics.stackexchange.com/q/33215/2451 and links therein. – Qmechanic Jun 17 '22 at 01:27

0 Answers0