Introduction to quantum mechanics

Quantum Mechanics (Winter, 2012)

Lecture Playlist

  1. Introduction to quantum mechanics

  2. The basic logic of quantum mechanics

  3. Vector spaces and operators

  4. Time evolution of a quantum system

  5. Uncertainty, unitary evolution, and the Schrödinger equation

  6. Entanglement

  7. Entanglement and the nature of reality

  8. Particles moving in one dimension and their operators

  9. Fourier analysis applied to quantum mechanics and the uncertainty principle

  10. The uncertainty principle and classical analogs

January 9, 2012

Professor Susskind opens the course by describing the non-intuitive nature of quantum mechanics.  With the discovery of quantum mechanics, the fundamental laws of physics moved into a realm that defies human intuition or visualization.  Quantum mechanics can only be understood deeply by studying the abstract mathematics that describe it.

Professor Susskind then moves on to describe how the space of states for quantum mechanics, and the rules for updating those states, are fundamentally different from those of classical mechanics.  For quantum mechanics, the space of states is a vector space versus a set of states for classical mechanics.  He then then describes the basic mathematics of vector spaces.

Topics: 
  • The non-intuitive logic of quantum mechanics
  • Vector spaces
  • Rules for updating states
  • Quantum preparation and measurement are the same operation
  • Mathematics of abstract vector spaces
References