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My Favorite Textbooks

  • David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, 2nd Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA, USA (2004).

  • This book is very good for beginners in quantum mechanics. Dr. Griffiths was a Ph.D. student of Sidney Coleman (famous for Coleman¨CMandula theorem, slave bosons, etc.) at Harvard, and he taught at Reed college later. His three textbooks are all excellent. Remember to do the problems in this book, because they are extremely helpful.
  • David V. George, Principles of Quantum Chemistry, Pergamon Press, Elmsford, NY, USA (1972).

  • This very old book attracted me very much. It was designed for undergraduate student in chemistry. Although it is named "Quantum Chemistry", it in fact spent lots of time on basic quantum mechanics. The introduction to quantum mechanics in this book is very practical in that it aims at atoms and molecules. I think students in Electrical Engineering may also find this book useful because it involves many examples and it does not involve too much abstract stuff (well, study quantum mechanics like a student majored in chemistry). Besides, the description is very clear and readable.
  • Jun John Sakurai, Modern Quantum Mechanics, Revised Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA, USA (1994).

  • A more advanced textbook on quantum mechanics. If you have studied Griffiths' then this is fine. The text is beautiful and will strengthen your understanding.
  • M. Ali Omar, Elementary Solid State Physics: Principles and Applications, 4th Edition, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA, USA (1994).

  • This book is the most friendly textbook on introductory-level solid-state physics that I have ever seen. The explanations are very clear and it is good for beginners.
  • Peter William Atkins and Julio de Paula, Physical Chemistry, 7th Edition, W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, NY, USA (2001).

  • Atkin's textbook on physical chemistry is a classic and I like it. It has now the 9th Edition already.
  • Carl H. Hamann, Andrew Hamnett and Wolf Vielstich, Electrochemistry, 2nd Edition, Wiley-VCH (2007).

  • A clear book on electrochemistry and deserves recommendation.
  • Sadri Hassani, Mathematical Physics, Springer, New York, NY, USA (1999).

  • Hassani's book is well-written. In addition, it focuses on physical problems. I recommend this book for self-study of mathematical physics.
  • Patrik Fazekas, Lecture Notes on Electron Correlation and Magnetism, World Scientific Publishing Company, Singapore (1999).

  • An introductory book to correlated electron system. This is a good starting point to enter condensed matter physics. Fazekas' introduction avoided the lengthy and advanced math, but still gave the clear physical picture.
  • Wolfgang Nolting, Fundamentals of Many-Body Physics, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg (2009).

  • Nolting really did a great job in describing many-body physics to students. The book is more friendly than other similar books and it is extremely well-written. Good for self-study on condensed matter physics.
  • L. D. Landau and E. M. Lifshitz, Mechanics, 3rd Edition, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK (1976).

  • A very thin book in Landau's theoretical physics series. Electrical engineering does not touch theoretical mechanics much, but it is important to master the Hamilton mechanics and Lagrange mechanics before studying quantum mechanics. The first few chapters (and the chapter of Hamilton mechanics) of this book serve as a quick introduction. The Hamilton mechanics is a prerequisite for non-relativistic quantum mechanics.
  • David J. Griffiths, Introduction to Elementary Particles, 2nd Edition, Wiley-VCH (2008).

  • An interesting book to read. It is good to know elementary particles.