Schrödinger Equations in three dimensions

[MostlyHarmless]

I've come to the point in my homework discussing the above, and more specifically, energy levels, wave functions, excited states etc..

And while I can locate an appropriate formula and plug-n-chug, I'm finding that I have no clue what these equations and numbers actually mean. And(in my personal opinion..) this book is terrible. It seems as though, rather than giving clear concise derivations, detailed examples with redefinition of variables, the author is more interested in historical context and the physicist's personal details. Which, don't get me wrong, is really interesting, but the fact that the discovery of the Photoelectric effect annoyed Hertz isn't going to help me understand why incident light on metal emits electrons. I digress..

My point is, does anyone know of any good resources that would be more helpful than this book(or my brilliant professor whose accent is so thick I get almost nothing from lecture).

I figure having a good source to refer back to will be more efficient than asking a million questions here.

 

[WannabeNewton]

There aren't a lot of good QM books at the undergrad level (understatement) so you're going to have to settle for the best of the worst.

The best I know of is Zettili: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470026790/?tag=pfamazon01-20

If you can find that in your library or elsewhere you should be in good shape. In the family of undergrad QM books it's the one I've found unequivocally the most helpful.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0131118927/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Griffiths is also great so check it out if your library doesn't have Zettili.

You should also watch the IIT video lecture series on QM because they're quite brilliant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcmGYe39XG0&list=PL5A6DBFFBEFF3A92E

 

[Lavabug]

Griffiths gets a good rep, I've not read much of it but I think it's a little too verbose for my tastes.

Cohen-Tannoudji is my go-to reference, it literally has anything imagineable and builds everything from the ground up with lots of rigor. It gets labeled as 'graduate' level but I don't know why. If you have a solid background in linear algebra and calculus, everything in it should be understandable by the 2nd, 3rd or 4th read.

 

[wotanub]

I think Townsend is the best undergrad book, I read the whole thing and worked all the problems and never had trouble in QM. It's basically a gentler Sakurai (guess my favorite grad book).

I also agree that the IIT lectures are very good.

 

[SredniVashtar]

What is "this book"?

 

[Fusiontron]

Get Shankar. And only use 1 book for the class, don't mix them.

 

[MostlyHarmless]

Modern Physics Tipler/Llewellyn. I'll look into some of those