Quantum Physics: Fundamentals and Applications

by Olivier Pujol, Robert Carles

Overview

An impressively comprehensive textbook adopting a phenomenological approach to quantum physics. The chapters cover everything from basic definitions of key concepts to detailed discussions of the underlying theoretical framework, walking students step-by-step through the necessary mathematics and drawing clear connections between the theory and the most important modern research applications including quantum optics, fluids, nanophysics, entanglement, information, and relativity. With this book, students and researchers will have access to hundreds of real-world examples, exercises, and illustrations to support and expand their understanding. Instructors can tailor the content to suit the length and level of their course and will have access to an online solutions manual with fully worked solutions to all 300+ exercises in the book. Other online resources include Python simulations, additional exercises, and detailed appendices.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781009549585
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/28/2026
Pages:	843
Product dimensions:	0.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Olivier Pujol is Associate Professor of Physics at Lille University and senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (fundamental chair). In 2008, he received the Ph.D. award from the French Academy of Sciences and since 2012 he has been a Collaborator of Honor at León University. He also taught in Africa (Senegal). Professor Pujol has authored 60+ research articles, co-written five university level textbooks and regularly reviews manuscripts for peer-reviewed journals in research and pedagogy.

Robert Carles is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Toulouse University. From 1995 to 2002 he was director of the solid-state physics lab and served as the Scientific Advisor to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Italy (2002-2004). Professor Carles is the co-author of 130+ research articles and several books, including Électromagnétisme (Dunod, 2008), Quantique (De Boeck, 2014), and Spectroscopies Vibrationnelles (Edition des archives contemporaines, 2020). Professor Carles also taught in Europe, Tunisia, and Brazil.

Table of Contents

Preface; Constants, Notation, Units and Dimensions; 1. What is quantum physics?; 2. Early quantisation: of light–-matter interactions; 3. Light absorption and emission: Einstein's coefficients; 4. Modern aspects of photons; 5. De Broglie's hypothesis and Heisenberg's spatial inequality; 6. Schrödinger's equation: scattering (or free) states; 7. Tunnelling and one-dimensional scattering; 8. Confinement and bound states; 9. Harmonic oscillators; 10. Coupled oscillators or quantum wells; 11. The transfer matrix approach; 12. Rotation and angular momentum; 13. Two-state systems and spin; 14. Postulates and formalism of quantum physics; 15. Sy indistinguishability and identical systems; 16. Symmetries and conservation laws; 17. Conservative systems; 18. Combination of angular momenta; 19. Stationary perturbations and approximation methods; 20. Atoms and molecules; 21. Quantum description of solids; 22. Reduced-dimensional systems and nanophysics; 23. Nuclei and 'Particles': clusters; 24. Quantum scattering in three dimensions; 25. Non-conservative systems: induced transitions and relaxation; 26. Entanglement, measurement and decoherence; 27. Electromagnetic field quantisation; 28. Quantum physics and special relativity; Afterword; Further reading; Glossary; Index.