The aim of this graduate-level textbook is to present and explain， at other than a superficial level， modem ab initio approaches to the calculation of the electronic structure and properties of molecules。 The first three chapters contain introductory material culminating in a thorough discussion of the Hartree-Fock approximation。The remaining four chapters describe a variety of more sophisticated approaches， which improve upon this approximation。
Among the highlights of the seven chapters are （1） a review of the mathematics （mostly matrix algebra） required for the rest of the book， （2） an introduction to the basic techniques， ideas， and notations of quantum chemistry， （3） a thorough discussion of the Hartree-Fock approximation， （4） a treatment of configuration interaction （Cl） and approaches incorporating electron correlation， （5） a description of the independent electron pair approximation and a variety of more sophisticated approaches that incorporate coupling between pairs， （6） a consideration of the perturbative approach to the calculation of the correlation energy of many-electron systems and （7） a brief introduction to the use of the one-particle many-body Green's function in quantum chemistry。
Over 150 exercises， designed to help the reader acquire a working knowledge of the material， are embedded in the text。 The book is largely self-contained and requires no prerequisite other than a solid undergraduate physical chemistry course; however， some exposure to quantum chemistry will enhance the student's appreciation of the material。 Clear and well-written， this text is ideal for the second semester of a two-semester course in quantum chemistry， or for a special topics course。