Group Theory in Quantum Mechanics: An Introduction to Its Present Usage

Introduces research students in physics and chemistry to the three main uses of group theory in quantum mechanics: to label energy levels and the corresponding eigenstates; to discuss qualitatively the splitting of energy levels starting from an approximate Hamiltonian and adding correction terms; and to aid in the evaluation of matrix elements of all kinds. The book requires a previous course in quantum theory, but the matrix algebra is included as an appendix. A series of examples of varying levels of difficulty follows each chapter.