The more I read about quantum mechanics the less i understand, and I'm absolutely unable to get into a proper learning path because it requires mathematics beyond my level and for which I'm not able to develop a taste on my own.
Of course I'm not interested in doing calculations but to appreciate quantum physics you have to know what the formalism behind are about and physicists are unable to explain it in simple terms for reasons I think I make out but can't properly formulate.
As an alternative path, Quantum Models of Cognition and Decision [1], may offer a less steep learning curve for the fact "you are the quantum system" and as such get to have actual experience with phenomena discussed in this book. To clear up the new-age vibe introduced in the last sentence, I think studying the maths through a phenomenon whose ambiguity is not questioned as a metaphysical abyss but is accepted as just being here in its mundane simplicity (semantic ambiguity in daily language use, that kind of thing) alleviates a lot of trouble in grasping what the maths mean in a physics course. Also the book is written for people coming from the fields related to psychology so it's a lot more approachable.
The math behind Quantum Mechanics is surprisingly simple, mostly just the linear algebra you learned in High School with some fun Greek symbols thrown in. (I'm convinced mathematicians just can't help themselves with tossing in more Greek letters just so the papers look more impressive)
In any event check out "The Mathematics of Quantum Mechanics" by Martin Laforest [1]. Free PDF online, totally readable and easy to follow with typical High School math background.
From that link: “But what about when we want to describe physical quantities that have continuous values, such as the position of a particle along a line? In this case, we need a vector space of infinite and continuous dimension. Turns out that it’s possible to define a Hilbert space on the set of continuous functions, e.g., f (x) = x3 + 2x + 1. This is referred to as “wave mechanics” and we won’t cover it in this book.”
Of course I'm not interested in doing calculations but to appreciate quantum physics you have to know what the formalism behind are about and physicists are unable to explain it in simple terms for reasons I think I make out but can't properly formulate.
As an alternative path, Quantum Models of Cognition and Decision [1], may offer a less steep learning curve for the fact "you are the quantum system" and as such get to have actual experience with phenomena discussed in this book. To clear up the new-age vibe introduced in the last sentence, I think studying the maths through a phenomenon whose ambiguity is not questioned as a metaphysical abyss but is accepted as just being here in its mundane simplicity (semantic ambiguity in daily language use, that kind of thing) alleviates a lot of trouble in grasping what the maths mean in a physics course. Also the book is written for people coming from the fields related to psychology so it's a lot more approachable.
[1] http://bacon.umcs.lublin.pl/~lukasik/wp-content/uploads/2010...