Björn Pötter

Elementary
Mathematical
Methods in Physics

(in german)

Spektrum Akademischer Verlag
1997, 284 p., 75 fig.
ISBN 3-8274-0115-1

more infos

The Idea

The idea behind the book is to teach undergraduates the mathematical tools they need to succesfully master their physics studies, by explaining elementary Quantum Mechanics.

This seems unusual, since Quantum Mechanics normally is tought as an advanced course. I have observed though that all basic mathematical tools needed in Physics, such as basics about linear vector spaces, linear differential equations, fourier transforms, vector analysis or simple partial differential equations, can be introduced in a convienient and straightforward way by studying simple examples in Quantum Mechanics. As a by-product, the student always imediatley knows, why he or she is learning a particular mathematical technique.

It is not as difficult as it sounds to learn how to do calculations in Quantum Mechanics. Learning how to practically work with a theory is, in my opinion, always a good way to learn the theory itself.


Errata

Also available here is a list of errata that is updated frequently. You are encouraged to report any further typos and errors to poetter@mail.desy.de


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