Re: Quantum physics study - Where to begin?

nasaiya wrote:
> I am very interested in studying quantum physics but i don't really know
> where to start. Most of it seems to be over my head but i believe its
> because i just don't have the proper background information. Is an
> advanced knowledge of regular physics important? What other prerequisites
> are needed to fully understand?
>
> I'm not able to take a colledge course so i'm looking for a good place to
> begin say here or on the internet.

What you read first depends to some extent on what you want to get
out of it. And where you plan to go with it.

If it is only ever going to be a hobby interest, then read the first
book
or web site you find that you can understand and that interests you.

There are several introductory QM texts, at various levels of math
difficulty.
For example, there's one by French and Taylor called "An Introduction
to Quantum Physics" published by MIT press. This one is used by second
year university students. They probably will not have had Lagrangian
or Hamiltonian formulation of classical physics.

If you want to do something professionally with it, then you should be
asking professionals in the area you are interested in. For example,
if you wanted to get into quantum computing then the quantum computing
folks are the best to ask. Or, if you wanted to study, say, how some
process like magnetic resonance imaging works, then you get a different
pile of books. Or if you are interested in the foundations of QM, then
yet a different pile of books.

So, where do you plan to go with your studies?
Socks

.

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