Ebook: Density matrix theory and applications

Written in a clear pedagogic style, this book deals with the application of density matrix theory to atomic and molecular physics. The aim is to precisely characterize sates by a vector and to construct general formulas and proofs of general theorems. The basic concepts and quantum mechanical fundamentals (reduced density matrices, entanglement, quantum correlations) are discussed in a comprehensive way. The discussion leads up to applications like coherence and orientation effects in atoms and molecules, decoherence and relaxation processes. This third edition has been updated and extended throughout and contains a completely new chapter exploring nonseparability and entanglement in two-particle spin-1/2 systems. The text discusses recent studies in atomic and molecular reactions. A new chapter explores nonseparability and entanglement in two-particle spin-1/2 systems.

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This book is the first in a series of three volumes devoted to quantum mechanics and to quantum field theory. It is self-contained, and the only prerequisites are knowledge of integral calculus and partial differential equations, as well as Newton's mechanics of point masses. New subjects are developed in requisite detail at the various points where they are required. The mathematics is at the same time explicit but kept in check, so that the reader does not get bogged down in annoying generalizations that might distract him or her from the physics. Each chapter is complemented by ten problems, and the student is strongly advised to try them all by himself or herself before looking at our full solutions in the third volume Basic Concepts.- General Density Matrix Theory.- Coupled Systems.- Irreducible Components of the Density Matrix.- Radiation from Polarized Atoms: Quantum Beats.- Some Applications.- The Role of Orientation and Alignment in Molecular Processes.- Quantum Theory of Relaxation