I introduce an important way to think about and construct a DCM: by implementing a yaw–pitch–roll sequence of rotations on a model aircraft. This does away with the widespread but rather involved method of describing the relative orientation of two axis sets by drawing them with a common origin. For this, we must distinguish the idea of a rotation in a sequence being about either a ‘space-fixed’ axis or a ‘carried-along’ axis. Users of these terms tend to fall into two groups, ‘active’ and ‘passive’. I state the ‘fundamental theorem of rotation sequences’, which does away with any need for the reader to stand in one group or the other. I also discuss the extraction of Euler angles from a DCM, and examine infinitesimal rotations. I discuss two methods of interpolating from an initial to a final orientation; one of these is used widely in computer graphics, but both methods must be discussed for the computer-graphics method to be understood. I end with a calculation of the position and attitude of a robot arm.

An important set of coordinates to understand is that of our oblate Earth. I derive the equations transforming latitude/longitude/height to and from the ECEF cartesian axes. I use the model aircraft of a previous chapter as an aid to visualise the rotation sequences that are useful for calculating NED or ENU coordinates at a given point on or near Earth’s surface. I use these in a detailed example of sighting a distant aircraft. This leads to a description of the ‘DIS standard’ designed for such scenarios. I also use these ideas in a detailed example of estimating Earth’s gravity at a given point, which is necessary for implementing inertial navigation systems.

A short chapter that describes the book’s content. It covers the core principles, and discusses some ways in which the book’s description of them differs from that of less technical descriptions.

I introduce quaternions by recounting the story of how Hamilton discovered them, but in far more detail than other authors give. This detail is necessary for the reader to understand why Hamilton wrote his quaternion equations in the way that he did. I describe the role of quaternions in rotation, show how to convert between them and matrices, and discuss their role in modern computer graphics. I describe a modern problem in detail whereby Hamilton’s original definition has been ‘hijacked’ in a way that has now produced much confusion. I end by describing how quaternions play a role in topology and quantum mechanics.

Applications ofnon-degenerate and degenerate perturbation theory to problems in one and three dimensions; study of the nuclear finite-size effect on the spectrum of hydrogen-like atoms; hydrogen atom in an external electric field: Stark effect and induced electric dipole moment; derivation of Brillouin--Wigner perturbation theory; variational calculations of the hydrogen and helium atoms; Born-Oppenheimer approximation; variational calculation of the $H_{\text{s}}^{+}$ molecular ion; estimation of bound-state energies of a Hamiltonian with the variational method.

The state space of a quantum system is defined; kets and bras are introduced, and their inner and outer products are defined; adjoint, hermitian , and unitary operators are introduced; representations of states and operators on discrete and/or continuous bases are discussed; the properties of commuting hermitian operators are examined; tensor products are defined.

Applications of the postulates are discussed in a number of problems; the interaction representation is defined.

Derivation of the Born approximation and criteria for its validity; applications of the Born approximation to scattering in Coulomb and Yukawa potentials; derivation of the optical theorem; perturbative expansion of the scattering wave function and scattering amplitude; scattering in a hard-sphere potential at low and high energy; scattering in potential well and resonances; partial wave expansion of the integral equation for scattering in a central potential; scattering in a spin-dependent potential; phase shifts in Born approximation; effective range theory; phase shifts at high energy and the eikonal approximation for the scattering amplitude.

The orbital angular momentum operator is defined and its commutation relations with the position and momentum operators, and generally with vector operators, are obtained; the relationship between the square of the momentum operator and the square of the orbital angular momentum is derived; the spectrum of the square and z-component of the orbital angular momentum is obtained by solving the Schröedinger equation near the origin; the radial equation is derived and the spherical harmonics are obtained as solutions of the associated Legendre equation.

Examples of addition of two angular momenta; derivation of the addition formula for two spherical harmonics; implications of conservation of angular momentum and parity for two-body decays; addition of three angular momenta.

The lowering, raising, and number operators are defined and their properties are studied; the eigenfunctions of the harmonic oscillator Hamiltonian are derived; coherent or quasi-classical states are obtained and their properties examined. Several applications are discussed, including, among others, the isotropic harmonic oscillator in N dimensions and a model for a one-dimensional crystal.

Scattering in one dimension is discussed in terms of wave packets; reflection, transmission, and tunneling probabilities are defined; the WKB method to calculate these probabilities is introduced; the S-matrix for scattering in one dimension is defined; the phase-shift method for one-dimensional parity-invariant potentials is introduced; applications to various combinations of finite and infinite barriers with delta-function potentials are examined.

Spinor wave functions; classical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian of a charged particle in an electromagnetic field, and its quantum Hamiltonian; gauge invariance; spin magnetic moment in a uniform magnetic field; magnetic resonance; the Stern--Gerlach experiment; neutron interferometry and rotations of spinor wave functions; treatment of a particle in a uniform magnetic field with and without the inclusion of spin degrees of freedom; Ahronov--Bohm effect for a charged spinless particle confined in a cylindrical shell.

Several experimental facts cannot be explained by classical physics (Newtonian mechanics and Maxwell’s equations): the observed black-body radiation spectrum, the stability of atoms and associated spectral lines, the heat capacities of solids, and several others. The problems posed in this chapter are meant to illustrate and analyze the failure of classical physics in explaining these phenomena and how this failure points to the need for a radically new treatment.