Cohen-Tannoudji or Shankar's textbooks in QM?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the comparison of two quantum mechanics textbooks: "Quantum Mechanics" by Cohen-Tannoudji and "Principles of Quantum Mechanics" by Shankar. Participants explore the strengths and weaknesses of each book, including their comprehensiveness, exercise quality, and suitability as references for undergraduate courses.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Homework-related
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant inquires about the pros and cons of choosing either Cohen-Tannoudji or Shankar, specifically regarding exercise quality and thoroughness in covering the undergraduate course.
  • Another participant suggests consulting a teacher for recommendations, indicating that exercises may depend on the course structure.
  • Some participants mention that Cohen-Tannoudji's book appears more comprehensive based on Amazon reviews, while others express a preference for Shankar.
  • A participant mentions owning Sakurai's textbook but believes Shankar may be a better choice.
  • Recommendations for supplementary materials include problem and solutions books and Schaum's outline for exercises.
  • One participant questions whether the 2006 two-volume set of Cohen-Tannoudji includes new content or only corrections to errors.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing opinions on which textbook is superior, with no consensus reached on the best choice. Some favor Cohen-Tannoudji for its comprehensiveness, while others prefer Shankar for its approach.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference external reviews and personal experiences, but the discussion lacks definitive conclusions about the textbooks' relative merits.

Who May Find This Useful

This discussion may be useful for students deciding between quantum mechanics textbooks, educators seeking recommendations, and those looking for supplementary materials for self-study.

MathematicalPhysicist
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So what are the pros and cons for choosing either QM by tannoudji or principles of QM by shankar?
which one has more exercise and also interesting problems and which covers the QM undergraduate course more thoroughly?
Which is better as a reference? and other enquiries that i will have as i see the replies coming in.
 
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Yes I gave a glance at amazon reviews, it seems that tannoudji's is more comprehensive than shankar, but still if there are people here who tried shankar and/or tannoudji's books, could you address my questions in the opening post?

thanks in advance.
 
I would have to ask your teacher what he thinks is best. Maybe the excersises in your course will be made by your teacher etc. But as I said, I would go for Shankar.

maybe you want to check out a "problem and solutions" book for exersices if you want to do self studies. Also google for answers and solutions made by teachers for the most common textbooks if you want, because they are seldom included in textbooks. (The library is also good)

And I also think that this is a good intro-book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471489441/?tag=pfamazon01-20
it contains all you need, the introduction to the needs of QM, QM-formalism in dirac notation, shrödinger eq, one dimensional problems: boxes and harmonic oscillator, angular momenta, 3dim problems, perturbation and scattering. + solved problems and lots of excersices
 
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Also a very good introductory book is:
"Griffiths D.J., Introduction to quantum mechanics"
 
Well I think I would stick with my two options, but thanks for the other books' recommedations.
As a matter of fact from one of the websites of the course griffiths' book is the main text and the two I've mentioned are the more comprehensive texts.
for exercises there's also schaum's outline which from reviews i read is good for exercises, so this would be my option for loan from the library.
Now another question of mine, is tannoudji's 2006 2 volume set, has new entries in the volumes, or it's just errors corrections?

thanks in advance.
 

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