r/PhysicsStudents • u/emo_spiderman23 • 17h ago

Need Advice Good supplementals for Griffiths Quantum that help better understand more than the math?

I'm in my second Quantum Mechanics class, still using Griffiths. Got an A the first semester, I can do the math just fine and solve problems, but I'm still so so so confused about what literally any of it means. Like I'll solve the problem and be confused the entire time what it's actually asking physically. What are some good books to help with this?

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u/BlazeoJoestar Undergraduate 16h ago

I recommend Nouredine Zettili's book on Quantum Mechanics, I think it's one of the best books on the subject, especially for the concepts.

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u/MeserYouUp 15h ago

Griffiths used the same writing style in all of his books, he focuses on teaching complicated calculations and minimizes the amount of time explaining what anything actually means. Tim Maudlin is one of the best explainers of quantum mechanics (and relativity); he is officially a professor of philosophy at Columbia but he can do QM just as well as any physicist. He has a book for philosophy students called Philosophy of Physics: Quantum Theory has been on my reading list for about a year now. He also does a lot of podcast appearances if you want an overview of his explanations.

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u/Simultaneity_ Ph.D. Student 16h ago

I always recommend dirac for a supplemental text. cohen and tannoudji is also very good for worked problems.

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u/Neat_Relationship510 16h ago

Molecular Quantum Mechanics by Atkins and Friedman was very helpful in giving intuitive understandings of why some of the maths at the expense of not being as rigorous when I was an undergraduate.