Modern quantum mechanics
by Jun John Sakurai · first published 1985
70% recommend30% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Graduate-level quantum mechanics text praised for its clear treatment of foundations, such as the opening chapter on the Stern-Gerlach experiment and spin; suited to physicists and serious self-learners.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A very standard textbook followed globally for undergraduate and graduate school quantum physics courses.
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…Theory of Computation, by Mike Sipser Many of the physics books I've read over the years (though now a hacker I be, I started as a scientist... still am at heart). Not one in particular, except maybe Modern Quantum Mechanics by Sakurai, and Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics by Sussman & Wisdom The Lord of the Rings trilogy Role-playing game manuals, especially D&D 2nd edition (just the current edition…
on “Books That Changed My Life” ↗Mine is Sakurai's "Modern Quantum Mechanics." But it sounds like you're really asking which book would be good for you to learn about quantum mechanics and also the Standard Model of particle physics.
on “Particle mystery: physicists confirm the muon is more magnetic than predicted” ↗…pencil, in the late 1980s, at Harvard. Books such as Purcell, "Electricity and Magnetism", Reif, "Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics", Liboff, "Introductory Quantum Mechanics", Sakurai, "Modern Quantum Mechanics", Ashcroft and Mermin, "Solid State Physics", Brown and Churchill, "Complex Variables and Applications", and "Fourier Series and Boundary Value Problems".
on “Did you learn STEM with paper books or digital ones?” ↗…haven't found much details about the actual physical experiments around the spin of electrons (and certainly not of other particles). The Stern-Gerlach experiment (1922) is what you're looking for. "Modern Quantum Mechanics" by Sakurai opens with an explanation of this experiment and its consequences.
on “Why do many math books have so much detail and so little enlightenment? (2010)” ↗Certainly a matter of taste. I'd recommend "Modern Quantum Mechanics" from Sakurai.
on “The Era of Quantum Computing Is Here. Outlook: Cloudy” ↗…is more confusing and about which there is a lot of terribly incorrect discussion online. I would recommend another source with some nice diagrams though, like hyperphysics, or the opening chapter of Modern Quantum Mechanics by Sakurai (although it's a graduate level book, the opening chapter is simple enough).
on “Stern-Gerlach Experiment” ↗…Quantum Field Theory Purcell - Electricity and Magnetism Ryden - Introduction to Cosmology Sakurai - Modern Quantum Mechanics (up to chapter 5, after which Sakurai dies and the editors put his notes together) Sussman and Wisdom - Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics Sipser…
on “Ask HN: What are your favorite physics sites, documentaries, books?” ↗…example you can split a ray of neutrons, direct each beam throu a different path with different height and then make them collide and see the interference pattern. (The details are in the book of Sakurai "Modern Quantum Mechanics" pp127-129, with data from an experiment of Colella, Overhauser, Werner (1975).) It is possible to create systems that combine 1/3, but they are almost corner cases and most of the time the other combinations…
on “Conway's Game of Life, using floating point values instead of integers” ↗…being useful. I have a few others in the series, very handy. "The reader who has read the book but cannot do the exercises has learned nothing." -- J.J. Sakurai (Incidentally, I tried reading Sakurai's Modern Quantum Mechanics on my own once and was immediately curb stomped. Lots of prep work required for that one...)
on “Ask HN: How do I learn math/physics in my thirties?” ↗…split creates a superposition and each half has a different gravity potential, changing the orientation of the experiment produce different interference patterns. (The details are in the book of Sakurai "Modern Quantum Mechanics" pp127-129, with data from an experiment of Colella, Overhauser, Werner (1975).) I don't understand why the old experiment was not enough to falsify this theory.
on “Gravity is unlikely to be the cause of quantum collapse, experiment suggests” ↗Physics? Yes. Feynman Lectures On Physics and Computation. Landau & Lifshitz. If you like SICP you might like SICM. Nielsen & Chuang's Quantum Computation and Quantum Information then Faulkner's Modern Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Information General advice take a look at the references in works you've recently read and look for lower level topics that interest you, after repeating a few times you'll find your way…
on “Why does kinetic energy increase quadratically, not linearly, with speed? (2011)” ↗