UNITEXT for Physics

This textbook offers an introduction to statistical mechanics, special relativity, and quantum physics, developed from lecture notes for the "Quantum Physics" course at the University of Padua. Beginning with a brief review of classical statistical mechanics in the first chapter, the book explores special and general relativity in the second chapter. The third chapter delves into the historical analysis of light quantization, while the fourth chapter discusses Niels Bohr's quantization of energy levels and electromagnetic transitions. The Schrödinger equation is investigated in the fifth chapter. Chapter Six covers applications of quantum mechanics, including the quantum particle in a box, quantum particle in harmonic potential, quantum tunneling, stationary perturbation theory, and time-dependent perturbation theory. Chapter Seven outlines the basic axioms of quantum mechanics. Chapter Eight focuses on quantum atomic physics, emphasizing electron spin and utilizing the Dirac equation for theoretical justification. The ninth chapter explains quantum mechanics principles for identical particles at zero temperature, while Chapter Ten extends the discussion to quantum particles at finite temperature. Chapter Eleven provides insights into quantum information and entanglement, and the twelfth chapter explains the path integral approach to quantum mechanics.

The book is the result of some years of teaching a course in Physics Modeling in Economics and Finance to M.Sc. students of Physics/Astrophysics and Eng. Physics. It is devoted to show economics and finance as a part of a physics system by its own right and, with that, to provide students with the basic tools to face a career in finance or in research developing physics models to a very unusual system that we call “an economy,” but made of interactions, geometry, equilibrium, and inflation. It goes from understanding the fundamental of basic mathematics to explaining complex systems where it stops working; from the physics’ meaning of money to derivative valuation; and from statistical physics to the physics of inflationary systems.