In view of the fact that there is an abundance of excellent textbooks and monographs already on the market, it takes some special motivation of purpose, if not presumptuousness, to write yet another book on quantum theory. In the present case, the motivation was to fill a need of graduate students in theoretical physics that became apparent to me while teaching intermediate and advanced topics in quantum theory, during the last ten years or so, at universities in Europe, England, and the United States of America. I observed that there is dire need for a text which, although incomplete in many ways, is unified in style and presentation and could lead the student, in a gentle manner, from the realm of basic quantum mechanics (in which he already acquired a working knowledge) to the peaks of present day research methods and concepts. While it is possible to cover every single step of this process by the appropriate chapter of one or more well-known textbooks, I came to feel that a single volume, concentrating on ideas and basic methods, would serve a legitimate purpose.

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