The second edition of Griffiths's "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" features significant updates compared to the first edition, particularly a completely rewritten Chapter 3 focusing on quantum mechanics formalism. Enhancements include streamlined content for better instructor presentation, increased accessibility for students, and the addition of 75 new problems and 12 new worked examples. The second edition also introduces computer-based material using Mathematica, making it more relevant for contemporary teaching methods.
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David J. Griffiths said:In preparing the second edition I have tried to retain as much as possible the spirit of the first. The only wholesale change is Chapter 3, which was much too long and diverting; it has been completely rewritten, with the background material on finite-dimensional vector spaces (a subject with which most students at this level are already comfortable) relegated to the Appendix. I have added some examples in Chapter 2 (and fixed the awkward definition of raising and lowering operators fro the harmonic oscillator). In later chapters I have made as few changes as I could, even preserving the numbering of problems and equations, where possible. The treatment is streamlined in places (a better introduction to angular momentum in Chapter 4, for instance, a simpler proof of the adiabatic theorem in Chapter 10, and a new section on partial wave phase shifts in Chapter 11). Inevitably, the second edition is a bit longer than the first, which I regret, but I hope it is cleaner and more accessible.