phy1520

Another aggregation of notes for phy1520, Graduate Quantum Mechanics.

December 15, 2015 phy1520, Uncategorized

I’ve posted a fourth (pre-exam) update of my aggregate notes for PHY1520H Graduate Quantum Mechanics, taught by Prof. Arun Paramekanti. In addition to what was noted previously, this contains the remainder of my lecture notes, more problem set solutions (not posted separately), and additional worked practice problems.

Most of the content was posted individually in the following locations, but those original documents will not be maintained individually any further.

Time reversal behavior of solutions to crystal spin Hamiltonian

December 15, 2015 phy1520 , , , ,

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Q: [1] pr 4.12

Solve the spin 1 Hamiltonian
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:20}
H = A S_z^2 + B(S_x^2 – S_y^2).
\end{equation}

Is this Hamiltonian invariant under time reversal?

How do the eigenkets change under time reversal?

Answer

In spinMatrices.nb the matrix representation of the Hamiltonian is found to be
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:40}
H =
\Hbar^2
\begin{bmatrix}
A & 0 & B \\
0 & 0 & 0 \\
B & 0 & A
\end{bmatrix}.
\end{equation}

The eigenvalues are
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:60}
\setlr{ 0, A – B, A + B},
\end{equation}

and the respective eigenvalues (unnormalized) are

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:80}
\setlr{
\begin{bmatrix}
0 \\
1 \\
0
\end{bmatrix},
\begin{bmatrix}
-1 \\
0 \\
1
\end{bmatrix},
\begin{bmatrix}
1 \\
0 \\
1 \\
\end{bmatrix}
}.
\end{equation}

Under time reversal, the Hamiltonian is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:100}
H \rightarrow A (-S_z)^2 + B ( (-S_x)^2 – (-S_y)^2 ) = H,
\end{equation}

so we expect the eigenkets for this Hamiltonian to vary by at most a phase factor. To check this, first recall that the time reversal action on a spin one state is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:120}
\Theta \ket{1, m} = (-1)^m \ket{1, -m},
\end{equation}

or

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:140}
\begin{aligned}
\Theta \ket{1,1} &= -\ket{1,-1} \\
\Theta \ket{1,0} &= \ket{1,0} \\
\Theta \ket{1,-1} &= -\ket{1,1}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Let’s write the eigenkets respectively as

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:160}
\begin{aligned}
\ket{0} &= \ket{1,0} \\
\ket{A-B} &= -\ket{1,-1} + \ket{1,1} \\
\ket{A+B} &= \ket{1,-1} + \ket{1,1}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Under the reversal operation, we should have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:crystalSpinHamiltonianTimeReversal:180}
\begin{aligned}
\Theta \ket{0} &\rightarrow \ket{1,0} \\
\Theta \ket{A-B} &= +\ket{1,-1} – \ket{1,1} \\
\Theta \ket{A+B} &= -\ket{1,-1} – \ket{1,1}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Up to a sign, the time reversed states match the unreversed states, which makes sense given the Hamiltonian invariance.

References

[1] Jun John Sakurai and Jim J Napolitano. Modern quantum mechanics. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.

Spin three halves spin interaction

December 15, 2015 phy1520 , , , ,

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Q: [1] pr 3.33

A spin \( 3/2 \) nucleus subjected to an external electric field has an interaction Hamiltonian of the form

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:20}
H = \frac{e Q}{2 s(s-1) \Hbar^2} \lr{
\lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 S_x^2
+\lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0 S_y^2
+\lr{\PDSq{z}{\phi}}_0 S_z^2
}.
\end{equation}

Show that the interaction energy can be written as

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:40}
A(3 S_z^2 – \BS^2) + B(S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2).
\end{equation}

Find the energy eigenvalues for such a Hamiltonian.

A:

Reordering
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:60}
\begin{aligned}
S_{+} &= S_x + i S_y \\
S_{-} &= S_x – i S_y,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

gives
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:80}
\begin{aligned}
S_x &= \inv{2} \lr{ S_{+} + S_{-} } \\
S_y &= \inv{2i} \lr{ S_{+} – S_{-} }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

The squared spin operators are
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:100}
\begin{aligned}
S_x^2
&=
\inv{4} \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 + S_{+} S_{-} + S_{-} S_{+} } \\
&=
\inv{4} \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 + 2( S_x^2 + S_y^2 ) } \\
&=
\inv{4} \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 + 2( \BS^2 – S_z^2 ) },
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:120}
\begin{aligned}
S_y^2
&=
-\inv{4} \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 – S_{+} S_{-} – S_{-} S_{+} } \\
&=
-\inv{4} \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 – 2( S_x^2 + S_y^2 ) } \\
&=
-\inv{4} \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 – 2( \BS^2 – S_z^2 ) }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

This gives
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:140}
\begin{aligned}
H &= \frac{e Q}{2 s(s-1) \Hbar^2} \biglr{ \inv{4} \lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 + 2( \BS^2 – S_z^2 ) }
-\lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0 \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 – 2( \BS^2 – S_z^2 ) }
+\lr{\PDSq{z}{\phi}}_0 S_z^2 } \\
&= \frac{e Q}{2 s(s-1) \Hbar^2} \biglr{ \inv{4} \lr{ \lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 -\lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0 } \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 }
+ \inv{2} \lr{ \lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 + \lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0 } \BS^2
+ \lr{ \lr{\PDSq{z}{\phi}}_0 – \inv{2} \lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 – \inv{2} \lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0 } S_z^2
}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

For a static electric field we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:160}
\spacegrad^2 \phi = -\frac{\rho}{\epsilon_0},
\end{equation}

but are evaluating it at a point away from the generating charge distribution, so \( \spacegrad^2 \phi = 0 \) at that point. This gives

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:180}
H
=
\frac{e Q}{4 s(s-1) \Hbar^2}
\biglr{
\inv{2} \lr{ \lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 -\lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0
} \lr{ S_{+}^2 + S_{-}^2 }
+
\lr{
\lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 + \lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0
} (\BS^2 – 3 S_z^2)
},
\end{equation}

so
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:200}
A =
-\frac{e Q}{4 s(s-1) \Hbar^2} \lr{
\lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 + \lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0
}
\end{equation}
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:220}
B =
\frac{e Q}{8 s(s-1) \Hbar^2}
\lr{ \lr{\PDSq{x}{\phi}}_0 – \lr{\PDSq{y}{\phi}}_0 }.
\end{equation}

A: energy eigenvalues

Using sakuraiProblem3.33.nb, matrix representations for the spin three halves operators and the Hamiltonian were constructed with respect to the basis \( \setlr{ \ket{3/2}, \ket{1/2}, \ket{-1/2}, \ket{-3/2} } \)

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:240}
\begin{aligned}
S_{+} &=
\Hbar
\begin{bmatrix}
0 & \sqrt{3} & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 2 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & \sqrt{3} \\
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
\end{bmatrix} \\
S_{-} &=
\Hbar
\begin{bmatrix}
0 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
\sqrt{3} & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 2 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & \sqrt{3} & 0 \\
\end{bmatrix} \\
S_x &=
\Hbar
\begin{bmatrix}
0 & \sqrt{3}/2 & 0 & 0 \\
\sqrt{3}/2 & 0 & 1 & 0 \\
0 & 1 & 0 & \sqrt{3}/2 \\
0 & 0 & \sqrt{3}/2 & 0 \\
\end{bmatrix} \\
S_y &=
i \Hbar
\begin{bmatrix}
0 & -\ifrac{\sqrt{3}}{2} & 0 & 0 \\
\ifrac{\sqrt{3}}{2} & 0 & -1 & 0 \\
0 & 1 & 0 & -\ifrac{\sqrt{3}}{2} \\
0 & 0 & \ifrac{\sqrt{3}}{2} & 0 \\
\end{bmatrix} \\
S_z &=
\frac{\Hbar}{2}
\begin{bmatrix}
3 & 0 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 1 & 0 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & -1 & 0 \\
0 & 0 & 0 & -3 \\
\end{bmatrix} \\
H &=
\begin{bmatrix}
3 A & 0 & 2 \sqrt{3} B & 0 \\
0 & -3 A & 0 & 2 \sqrt{3} B \\
2 \sqrt{3} B & 0 & -3 A & 0 \\
0 & 2 \sqrt{3} B & 0 & 3 A \\
\end{bmatrix}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

The energy eigenvalues are found to be

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:spinThreeHalvesNucleus:260}
E = \pm \Hbar^2 \sqrt{9 A^2 + 12 B^2 },
\end{equation}

with two fold degeneracies for each eigenvalue.

References

[1] Jun John Sakurai and Jim J Napolitano. Modern quantum mechanics. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.

Angular momentum expectation values

December 14, 2015 phy1520 ,

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Q: [1] pr 3.18

Compute the expectation values for the first and second powers of the angular momentum operators with respect to states \( \ket{lm} \).

A:

We can write the expectation values for the \( L_z \) powers immediately

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:20}
\expectation{L_z}
= m \Hbar,
\end{equation}

and

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:40}
\expectation{L_z^2} = (m \Hbar)^2.
\end{equation}

For the x and y components first express the operators in terms of the ladder operators.

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:60}
\begin{aligned}
L_{+} &= L_x + i L_y \\
L_{-} &= L_x – i L_y.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Rearranging gives

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:80}
\begin{aligned}
L_x &= \inv{2} \lr{ L_{+} + L_{-} } \\
L_y &= \inv{2i} \lr{ L_{+} – L_{-} }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

The first order expectations \( \expectation{L_x}, \expectation{L_y} \) are both zero since \( \expectation{L_{+}} = \expectation{L_{-}} \). For the second order expectation values we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:100}
\begin{aligned}
L_x^2
&= \inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} + L_{-} } \lr{ L_{+} + L_{-} } \\
&= \inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} L_{+} + L_{-} L_{-} + L_{+} L_{-} + L_{-} L_{+} } \\
&= \inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} L_{+} + L_{-} L_{-} + 2 (L_x^2 + L_y^2) } \\
&= \inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} L_{+} + L_{-} L_{-} + 2 (\BL^2 – L_z^2) },
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

and
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:120}
\begin{aligned}
L_y^2
&= -\inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} – L_{-} } \lr{ L_{+} – L_{-} } \\
&= -\inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} L_{+} + L_{-} L_{-} – L_{+} L_{-} – L_{-} L_{+} } \\
&= -\inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} L_{+} + L_{-} L_{-} – 2 (L_x^2 + L_y^2) } \\
&= -\inv{4} \lr{ L_{+} L_{+} + L_{-} L_{-} – 2 (\BL^2 – L_z^2) }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Any expectation value \( \bra{lm} L_{+} L_{+} \ket{lm} \) or \( \bra{lm} L_{-} L_{-} \ket{lm} \) will be zero, leaving

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:140}
\begin{aligned}
\expectation{L_x^2}
&=
\expectation{L_y^2} \\
&=
\inv{4} \expectation{2 (\BL^2 – L_z^2) } \\
&=
\inv{2} \lr{ \Hbar^2 l(l+1) – (\Hbar m)^2 }.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Observe that we have
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:angularMomentumExpectation:160}
\expectation{L_x^2}
+
\expectation{L_y^2}
+
\expectation{L_z^2}
=
\Hbar^2 l(l+1)
=
\expectation{\BL^2},
\end{equation}

which is the quantum mechanical analogue of the classical scalar equation \( \BL^2 = L_x^2 + L_y^2 + L_z^2 \).

References

[1] Jun John Sakurai and Jim J Napolitano. Modern quantum mechanics. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.

Expectation of spherically symmetric 3D potential derivative

December 14, 2015 phy1520 , , , , , ,

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Q: [1] pr 5.16

For a particle in a spherically symmetric potential \( V(r) \) show that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:20}
\Abs{\psi(0)}^2 = \frac{m}{2 \pi \Hbar^2} \expectation{ \frac{dV}{dr} },
\end{equation}

for all s-states, ground or excited.

Then show this is the case for the 3D SHO and hydrogen wave functions.

A:

The text works a problem that looks similar to this by considering the commutator of an operator \( A \), later set to \( A = p_r = -i \Hbar \PDi{r}{} \) the radial momentum operator. First it is noted that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:40}
0 = \bra{nlm} \antisymmetric{H}{A} \ket{nlm},
\end{equation}

since \( H \) operating to either the right or the left is the energy eigenvalue \( E_n \). Next it appears the author uses an angular momentum factoring of the squared momentum operator. Looking earlier in the text that factoring is found to be

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:60}
\frac{\Bp^2}{2m}
= \inv{2 m r^2} \BL^2 – \frac{\Hbar^2}{2m} \lr{ \PDSq{r}{} + \frac{2}{r} \PD{r}{} }.
\end{equation}

With
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:80}
R = – \frac{\Hbar^2}{2m} \lr{ \PDSq{r}{} + \frac{2}{r} \PD{r}{} }.
\end{equation}

we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:100}
\begin{aligned}
0
&= \bra{nlm} \antisymmetric{H}{p_r} \ket{nlm} \\
&= \bra{nlm} \antisymmetric{\frac{\Bp^2}{2m} + V(r)}{p_r} \ket{nlm} \\
&= \bra{nlm} \antisymmetric{\inv{2 m r^2} \BL^2 + R + V(r)}{p_r} \ket{nlm} \\
&= \bra{nlm} \antisymmetric{\frac{-\Hbar^2 l (l+1)}{2 m r^2} + R + V(r)}{p_r} \ket{nlm}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Let’s consider the commutator of each term separately. First

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:120}
\begin{aligned}
\antisymmetric{V}{p_r} \psi
&=
V p_r \psi
–
p_r V \psi \\
&=
V p_r \psi
–
(p_r V) \psi
–
V p_r \psi \\
&=
–
(p_r V) \psi \\
&=
i \Hbar \PD{r}{V} \psi.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Setting \( V(r) = 1/r^2 \), we also have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:160}
\antisymmetric{\inv{r^2}}{p_r} \psi
=
-\frac{2 i \Hbar}{r^3} \psi.
\end{equation}

Finally
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:180}
\begin{aligned}
\antisymmetric{\PDSq{r}{} + \frac{2}{r} \PD{r}{} }{ \PD{r}{}}
&=
\lr{ \partial_{rr} + \frac{2}{r} \partial_r } \partial_r
–
\partial_r \lr{ \partial_{rr} + \frac{2}{r} \partial_r } \\
&=
\partial_{rrr} + \frac{2}{r} \partial_{rr}
–
\lr{
\partial_{rrr} -\frac{2}{r^2} \partial_r + \frac{2}{r} \partial_{rr}
} \\
&=
-\frac{2}{r^2} \partial_r,
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

so
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:200}
\antisymmetric{R}{p_r}
=-\frac{2}{r^2} \frac{-\Hbar^2}{2m} p_r
=\frac{\Hbar^2}{m r^2} p_r.
\end{equation}

Putting all the pieces back together, we’ve got
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:220}
\begin{aligned}
0
&= \bra{nlm} \antisymmetric{\frac{-\Hbar^2 l (l+1)}{2 m r^2} + R + V(r)}{p_r} \ket{nlm} \\
&=
i \Hbar
\bra{nlm} \lr{
\frac{\Hbar^2 l (l+1)}{m r^3} – \frac{i\Hbar}{m r^2} p_r +
\PD{r}{V}
}
\ket{nlm}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Since s-states are those for which \( l = 0 \), this means

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:240}
\begin{aligned}
\expectation{\PD{r}{V}}
&= \frac{i\Hbar}{m } \expectation{ \inv{r^2} p_r } \\
&= \frac{\Hbar^2}{m } \expectation{ \inv{r^2} \PD{r}{} } \\
&= \frac{\Hbar^2}{m } \int_0^\infty dr \int_0^\pi d\theta \int_0^{2 \pi} d\phi r^2 \sin\theta \psi^\conj(r,\theta, \phi) \inv{r^2} \PD{r}{\psi(r,\theta,\phi)}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

Since s-states are spherically symmetric, this is
\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:260}
\expectation{\PD{r}{V}}
= \frac{4 \pi \Hbar^2}{m } \int_0^\infty dr \psi^\conj \PD{r}{\psi}.
\end{equation}

That integral is

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:280}
\int_0^\infty dr \psi^\conj \PD{r}{\psi}
=
\evalrange{\Abs{\psi}^2}{0}{\infty} – \int_0^\infty dr \PD{r}{\psi^\conj} \psi.
\end{equation}

With the hydrogen atom, our radial wave functions are real valued. It’s reasonable to assume that we can do the same for other real-valued spherical potentials. If that is the case, we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:300}
2 \int_0^\infty dr \psi^\conj \PD{r}{\psi}
=
\Abs{\psi(0)}^2,
\end{equation}

and

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:320}
\boxed{
\expectation{\PD{r}{V}}
= \frac{2 \pi \Hbar^2}{m } \Abs{\psi(0)}^2,
}
\end{equation}

which completes this part of the problem.

A: show this is the case for the 3D SHO and hydrogen wave functions

For a hydrogen like atom, in atomic units, we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:360}
\begin{aligned}
\expectation{
\PD{r}{V}
}
&=
\expectation{
\PD{r}{} \lr{ -\frac{Z e^2}{r} }
} \\
&=
Z e^2
\expectation
{
\inv{r^2}
} \\
&=
Z e^2 \frac{Z^2}{n^3 a_0^2 \lr{ l + 1/2 }} \\
&=
\frac{\Hbar^2}{m a_0} \frac{2 Z^3}{n^3 a_0^2} \\
&=
\frac{2 \Hbar^2 Z^3}{m n^3 a_0^3}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

On the other hand for \( n = 1 \), we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:380}
\begin{aligned}
\frac{2 \pi \Hbar^2}{m} \Abs{R_{10}(0)}^2 \Abs{Y_{00}}^2
&=
\frac{2 \pi \Hbar^2}{m} \frac{Z^3}{a_0^3} 4 \inv{4 \pi} \\
&=
\frac{2 \Hbar^2 Z^3}{m a_0^3},
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

and for \( n = 2 \), we have

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:400}
\begin{aligned}
\frac{2 \pi \Hbar^2}{m} \Abs{R_{20}(0)}^2 \Abs{Y_{00}}^2
&=
\frac{2 \pi \Hbar^2}{m} \frac{Z^3}{8 a_0^3} 4 \inv{4 \pi} \\
&=
\frac{\Hbar^2 Z^3}{4 m a_0^3}.
\end{aligned}
\end{equation}

These both match the potential derivative expectation when evaluated for the s-orbital (\( l = 0 \)).

For the 3D SHO I verified the ground state case in the Mathematica notebook sakuraiProblem5.16bSHO.nb

There it was found that

\begin{equation}\label{eqn:symmetricPotentialDerivativeExpectation:420}
\expectation{\PD{r}{V}}
= \frac{2 \pi \Hbar^2}{m } \Abs{\psi(0)}^2
= 2 \sqrt{\frac{m \omega ^3 \Hbar}{ \pi }}
\end{equation}

References

[1] Jun John Sakurai and Jim J Napolitano. Modern quantum mechanics. Pearson Higher Ed, 2014.