Name: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition) by David J. Griffiths
ISBN: 9781107179868

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (2nd Edition) by David J. Griffiths

Changes and additions to the new edition of this classic textbook include: new chapter on Symmetries, new problems and examples, improved explanations, more numerical problems to be worked on a computer, new applications to solid state physics, consolidated treatment of time-dependent potentials.

What Hacker News says

sampoMar 2025

I think the best, and also most popular, textbook for a Quantum Mechanics 1 course is "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by David J. Griffiths. This is also what Claude says.

But you also need some math: Complex numbers, linear algebra, some basics of partial differential equations.

But a traditional university course in quantum mechanics aims at doing quantum mechanics in 3-dimensional space, to solve electron orbitals and energy levels of hydrogen atom. But all this 3-dimensional mathematics, you don't necessarily need if you just want to read about quantum computers. Maybe some quantum computers textbook has a presentation of the basics of quantum mechanics that leaves out the topics that traditional physics needs, because traditionally physics was interested in how atoms are build.

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sampoAug 2023

> For example, I've had experts in quantum field theory -- people who've spent years calculating path integrals of mind-boggling complexity -- ask me to explain the Bell inequality to them.

My favourite quantum mechanics textbook is Griffiths: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics. It is popular as a textbook for the first quantum mechanics course, which is typically in the second or third year of a physics curriculum. It has sections on EPR paradox and Bell's Theorem. First edition was published in 1994.

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orlandpmFeb 2022

_Algebraic Topology_ by Allen Hatcher. This is quite an advanced book, but it was the first topology book I picked up and it blew my mind. Without a serious math background you may only be able to read the first parts (some of chapters 0 and chapter 1), but even so it may amaze you. It was insane to see how much mathematical machinery can be built up to understand concepts as simple as “space” and “continuity.” Then these tools can be used to quickly prove facts about mind-boggling higher dimensional objects.

_Introduction to Quantum Mechanics_ by David Griffiths. Not CS or Math, but an amazing book because if you sit down and work through it it gives you a manageable intro to a completely non-intuitive and mysterious scientific field. Prerequisites are “only” multivariable calc and linear algebra.

_Algebra_ by Michael Artin. This was the book I decided to grind through at the right time to learn abstract algebra and get better at rigorous proofs, and it was worth it. Part of why I loved this book and subject is because it feels dry and mechanical at first, but if you work on it long enough you can see the beautiful bigger picture come together.

_Introduction to Topological Manifolds_ by John M. Lee. This was another “right book at the right time” for me. The title is a bit jargony, but it is a rigorous introduction to the foundational objects of modern geometry (namely topological spaces and manifolds in particular). Great warm-up for the first book on my list.

_Algebra: Chapter 0_ by Paulo Aluffi. Weird title, but the first few chapters are the best perspective on abstract algebra I’ve seen. He focuses early on categories in a useful and philosophically interesting way, which is unique.

_Gravitation_ by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler. Didn’t read the whole thing, but this book taught me a tensor is just a higher-order linear function. Who knew? Most physicists give really crappy explanations of tensors. Also I love that this book, affectionately known as the “phone book”, is so heavy that one imagines spacetime curving around it.

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godelskiDec 2021

It's because most are very dry and poorly written. There are some real gems out there though. So maybe we can list some here?

Here's some of my favorites:

- Statistical Rethinking : Richard McElreath (also great Twitter and online lectures)

- Introduction to Quantum Mechanics: Griffiths (anything he writes is good)

- Classical Dynamics of Particles and System : Stephen Thornton

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karlicossApr 2020

I'm not sure what's college level physics like, but for me (math/CS background) learning quantum physics was:

- Quantum algorithms and computing: "Quantum Computing Since Democritus" by Scott Aaronson [0] and "Quantum Computation and Quantum Information" by Nielsen and Chuang [1]. "Quantum Computer Science" by Mermin is really good too.

- Leonard Susskind's lectures on quantum mechanics [3]

- "Introduction to Quantum Mechanics" by David Griffiths [4] -- just your regular QM textbook. Recommended by many and I found the explanations clear and easy to follow

- also there are some recommendations by John Baez [5], that I've personally not checked out, but when Baez recommends something, it's good!

Note that I'm not a physicist and doing it only for fun, so would be interesting to hear from people with proper physics education!

[0] https://www.scottaaronson.com/democritus/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_Computation_and_Quantu...

[2] https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/quantum-computer-scienc...

[3] https://theoreticalminimum.com/courses/quantum-mechanics/201...

[4] https://physicspages.com/Griffiths%20QM.html

[5] http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/books.html#quantum_mechanics

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antogniniMar 2020

My personal recommendations for an undergraduate course in physics (based in large part off of my own undergrad curriculum):

Foundations:

1. Newtonian Mechanics by A.P. French (https://archive.org/details/NewtonianMechanics/mode/2up). This will give you a good foundation for what is to come.

2. Spacetime Physics by Taylor & Wheeler --- first edition if you can find it! It is much, much better than the second! Special relativity is conceptually strange, but mathematically pretty easy, so you can jump right into it after learning Newtonian mechanics. Have a little fun!

3. Electricity & Magnetism by Purcell. This book is a little unusual in that it derives magnetism from the laws of special relativity. This is the more natural approach than just asserting the laws of magnetism since magnetism is fundamentally a relativistic phenomenon.

4. Waves by Crawford. (https://archive.org/details/Waves_371/mode/2up) A bit hard to find in print, but a really excellent textbook. Waves are a fascinating topic because they come up in every area of physics, so a course focused around them has a huge number of applications.

5. Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by Griffiths. The best introduction to the topic you will find!

6. Thermal Physics by Kittel & Kroemer. I haven't actually found an introductory book on statistical physics that I'm crazy about, but this one isn't too bad.

That should last you some time. But once you're through with those and are looking for more, then here are some advanced topics:

7. Analytical Mechanics by Hand & Finch. This will teach you advanced Newtonian mechanics --- in particular Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics. There is a chapter on chaotic dynamics towards the end, too. Another option here is Classical Mechanics by Goldstein.

8. Introduction to Electrodynamics by Griffiths. More advanced E&M than Purcell. If you want to go further, then there's always Classical Electrodynamics by Jackson.

9. Principles of Quantum Mechanics by Shankar. This spends more time on the mathematical foundations of QM than Griffiths does and goes into the path integral formalism and touches on relativistic QM towards the end of the book.

10. A First Course in General Relativity by Schutz. There are arbitrarily advanced texts on GR, but I'd recommend starting off with something friendly like Schutz.

11. An Introduction to Elementary Particles by Griffiths. Not super advanced mathematically, but it's a good thing to read over to prepare you for more advanced QFT texts. The first chapter is especially good as a history of the development of particle physics.

12. Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell by Zee.

13. Modern Classical Physics by Thorne & Blandford. This is a tour de force. It's an enormous book but it really touches on everything that is left out by the above books. It covers optics, fluid dynamics, statistical physics, plasma physics, and more. (I'm currently reading through it and have only gotten through 6 chapters, but it's really an incredible textbook.)

14. Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity by Sethna. This is a really fun book, but almost all the material is in the problems.

Finally, and most importantly --- remember that physics is not a spectator sport! You must do problems. A lot of them --- and hard ones, too!

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