This book is intended to provide a self-contained introduction to the principles of Quantum Mechanics, based on the analysis of measurement processes of microscopic systems and the introduction of the physical observables as generators of symmetry transformations. After standard training arguments the applications are mainly focused on atomic and nuclear phenomena, as they occur on a quite different space-time scale. Thus, the text flows from the simplest systems, i.e. proton-electron in the hydrogen atom and proton-neutron in the Deuteron nucleus, to the complex many- body systems, i.e. stable states of atoms and nuclei of the periodic table, and finally to infinite many-body systems, including atomic and nuclear fluids. A digression is made on the application to astrophysical compact systems. The textbook is suitable for upper undergraduate students and graduate students in physics and related majors. Additional questions and answers via app: Download the Springer Nature Flashcards app free of charge and use exclusive additional material to test your knowledge.

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Dr. U. Lombardo carried out his academic activity first as an Associate Professor and then as a Full Professor (1984-2015) in the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Catania (Italy), where he taught courses in Quantum Mechanics and Statistical Mechanics and headed the International PhD School in Nuclear and Particle Astrophysics. He was a research associate at INFN Sezione and Laboratori Nazionali del Sud (Catania), where he did research in Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics and promoted several research Projects funded by Italian and European Programmes. He retired in November 2015. Dr. Gianluca Giuliani earned his master's degree in physics and his PhD from the Department of Physics and Astronomy of the University of Catania (Italy). He has been Post-Doctoral Research Associate of the Cyclotron Institute of the Texas A&M University (USA). His main research interests concern dynamical models for Heavy Ion Collisions and Nuclear Reactions. On leave School of Nuclear Science and Technology of Lanzhou University (China).

Dr. Y. Niu earned her Bachelor's degree and her Phd from Peking University (China). She has been Research Assistant at China Academy of Engineering Physics, Post-Doc at National Institute of Nuclear Physics (Italy), and tenured researcher at Extreme Light Infrastructure-Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP). Since 2018, she is a full professor at the School of Nuclear Science and Technology of Lanzhou University (China). Her main research interests concern nuclear structure theory and nuclear astrophysics.