Which Quantum Mechanics Book is Best for GRE Self Study?

[Crush1986]

Hello,

I'm taking the GRE this coming fall. Unfortunately my university doesn't do QM until your senior year. Which means I won't see much QM in school until after I take the GRE. I want to study up some this summer to increase my chances of getting a good score. What book would you suggest that is easy for self study and would also prepare me for the GRE type questions?

Thanks for any help.

 

[The Bill]

I'd recommend Shankar's Principles of Quantum Mechanics. While you're working through it, keep a stack of old GRE Physics quantum mechanics problems next to it to use as supplemental exercises to the text.

 

[Crush1986]

I'd recommend Shankar's Principles of Quantum Mechanics. While you're working through it, keep a stack of old GRE Physics quantum mechanics problems next to it to use as supplemental exercises to the text.

Thank you, I'll look into it!

 

[dsatkas]

How can someone recommend Shankar to a person who hasn't even attended an introductory QM course is beyond me. I have seen so many times in the forum people recommend advanced texts to beginners that i don't know what to say. Either I'm just a bad student (i'm certainly not great) or people like to show off or something else I'm not quite sure of.

 

[Crush1986]

How can someone recommend Shankar to a person who hasn't even attended an introductory QM course is beyond me. I have seen so many times in the forum people recommend advanced texts to beginners that i don't know what to say. Either I'm just a bad student (i'm certainly not great) or people like to show off or something else I'm not quite sure of.

Is Shankar a graduate text or advanced undergrad? The only QM I have seen is from Halliday and Resnick :/ well and a slight bit more my professor threw in since he thought the book was way too light. Do you think this book would be far too advanced?

 

[The Bill]

Shankar can be used for introductory QM, but it is often used as a first year graduate text, yes. The most common undergraduate text is Griffiths, but I hesitate to recommend it, because though it starts off clear and well, it is muddled and confusing in some important middle and later sections.

Shankar may be a bit difficult, but it is also self contained. It doesn't assume you've had an introductory course. If you want a more traditional, slower, Schrödinger-first introduction, Albert Messiah's text is a Dover publication now. If you want a relatively easy introduction to the Dirac formalism, Marvin Chester's Primer of Quantum Mechanics is also a Dover publication now.

Chester + Shankar would be a decent introduction, giving a thorough grounding in the subject. I'd work through them in parallel rather than one after the other, since Chester is all about learning about state vectors and measurements, and Shankar deals thoroughly with the practical applications thereof.

But, Messiah is a decent traditional introduction as well. Look at the GRE Physics sample tests, and look at the tables of contents of the textbooks you're considering to see which ones cover the material at a pace you're comfortable with.

 

[Crush1986]

Shankar can be used for introductory QM, but it is often used as a first year graduate text, yes. The most common undergraduate text is Griffiths, but I hesitate to recommend it, because though it starts off clear and well, it is muddled and confusing in some important middle and later sections.

Shankar may be a bit difficult, but it is also self contained. It doesn't assume you've had an introductory course. If you want a more traditional, slower, Schrödinger-first introduction, Albert Messiah's text is a Dover publication now. If you want a relatively easy introduction to the Dirac formalism, Marvin Chester's Primer of Quantum Mechanics is also a Dover publication now.

Chester + Shankar would be a decent introduction, giving a thorough grounding in the subject. I'd work through them in parallel rather than one after the other, since Chester is all about learning about state vectors and measurements, and Shankar deals thoroughly with the practical applications thereof.

But, Messiah is a decent traditional introduction as well. Look at the GRE Physics sample tests, and look at the tables of contents of the textbooks you're considering to see which ones cover the material at a pace you're comfortable with.

Ok I'll check it out. It looks like it's available in my universities library. Thanks!