Download or read book The Quantum Mechanics Conundrum written by Gennaro Auletta and published by Springer. This book was released on 2019-08-17 with total page 879 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive volume gives a balanced and systematic treatment of both the interpretation and the mathematical-conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. It is written in a pedagogical style and addresses many thorny problems of fundamental physics. The first aspect concerns Interpretation. The author raises the central problems: formalism, measurement, non-locality, and causality. The main positions on these subjects are presented and critically analysed. The aim is to show that the main schools can converge on a core interpretation. The second aspect concerns Foundations. Here it is shown that the whole theory can be grounded on information theory. The distinction between information and signal leads us to integrating quantum mechanics and relativity. Category theory is presented and its significance for quantum information shown; the logic and epistemological bases of the theory are assessed. Of relevance to all physicists and philosophers with an interest in quantum theory and its foundations, this book is destined to become a classic work.
Download or read book Quantum Mechanics written by Gennaro Auletta and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-04-16 with total page 759 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The important changes quantum mechanics has undergone in recent years are reflected in this approach for students. A strong narrative and over 300 worked problems lead the student from experiment, through general principles of the theory, to modern applications. Stepping through results allows students to gain a thorough understanding. Starting with basic quantum mechanics, the book moves on to more advanced theory, followed by applications, perturbation methods and special fields, and ending with developments in the field. Historical, mathematical and philosophical boxes guide the student through the theory. Unique to this textbook are chapters on measurement and quantum optics, both at the forefront of current research. Advanced undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from this perspective on the fundamental physical paradigm and its applications. Online resources including solutions to selected problems, and 200 figures, with colour versions of some figures, are available at www.cambridge.org/Auletta.
Download or read book What Is Real written by Adam Becker and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-03-20 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A thorough, illuminating exploration of the most consequential controversy raging in modern science." --New York Times Book Review An Editor's Choice, New York Times Book Review Longlisted for PEN/E.O. Wilson Prize for Literary Science Writing Longlisted for Goodreads Choice Award Every physicist agrees quantum mechanics is among humanity's finest scientific achievements. But ask what it means, and the result will be a brawl. For a century, most physicists have followed Niels Bohr's solipsistic and poorly reasoned Copenhagen interpretation. Indeed, questioning it has long meant professional ruin, yet some daring physicists, such as John Bell, David Bohm, and Hugh Everett, persisted in seeking the true meaning of quantum mechanics. What Is Real? is the gripping story of this battle of ideas and the courageous scientists who dared to stand up for truth. "An excellent, accessible account." --Wall Street Journal "Splendid. . . . Deeply detailed research, accompanied by charming anecdotes about the scientists." --Washington Post
Download or read book John S Bell on the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics written by J. S. Bell and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2001 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the most complete collection of John S Bell's research papers, review articles and lecture notes on the foundations of quantum mechanics. Some of this material has hitherto been difficult to access. The book also appears in a paperback edition, aimed at students and young researchers.This volume will be very useful to researchers in the foundations and applications of quantum mechanics.
Download or read book The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics written by Daniel F. Styer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2000-02-24 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is an exceptionally accessible, accurate, and non-technical introduction to quantum mechanics. After briefly summarizing the differences between classical and quantum behaviour, this engaging account considers the Stern-Gerlach experiment and its implications, treats the concepts of probability, and then discusses the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox and Bell's theorem. Quantal interference and the concept of amplitudes are introduced and the link revealed between probabilities and the interference of amplitudes. Quantal amplitude is employed to describe interference effects. Final chapters explore exciting new developments in quantum computation and cryptography, discover the unexpected behaviour of a quantal bouncing-ball, and tackle the challenge of describing a particle with no position. Thought-provoking problems and suggestions for further reading are included. Suitable for use as a course text, The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics enables students to develop a genuine understanding of the domain of the very small. It will also appeal to general readers seeking intellectual adventure.
Download or read book World According To Quantum Mechanics The Why The Laws Of Physics Make Perfect Sense After All Second Edition written by Ulrich Mohrhoff and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2018-10-12 with total page 501 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'The authors should be recognised for their efforts to present a mathematically rigorous introduction to Quantum Mechanics (QM) in a form that has broad appeal; there are not many introductory QM texts that would cover, for example, decoherence. I think many educators would appreciate this book, especially those interested in courses that combine science and philosophy.'Contemporary PhysicsApart from providing a lucid introduction to the mathematical formalism and conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics, we explain why the laws of physics have the form that they do. In addition, we present a new and unique look at the quantum world, steering clear of two common errors: the error of the ψ-ontologists, who reify a calculational tool; and the error of the anti-realists, for whom physical theories are simply devices for expressing regularities among observations.The new edition of this acclaimed text adds around 200 pages on a variety of topics, such as how the founders sought to make sense of quantum mechanics, Kant's theory of science, QBism, Everettian quantum mechanics, de Broglie-Bohm theory, environmental decoherence, contextuality, nonlocality, and the paradox of subjectivity — the curious fact that the world seems to exist twice, once for us, in our minds, and once by itself, independently of us.
Download or read book Conceptual Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics written by Bernard D'espagnat and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2018-03-05 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Mechanics provides a detailed view of the conceptual foundations and problems of quantum physics, and a clear and comprehensive account of the fundamental physical implications of the quantum formalism. This book deals with nonseparability, hidden variable theories, measurement theories and several related problems. Mathematical arguments are presented with an emphasis on simple but adequately representative cases. The conclusion incorporates a description of a set of relationships and concepts that could compose a legitimate view of the world.
Download or read book Something Deeply Hidden written by Sean Carroll and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER As you read these words, copies of you are being created. Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of twentieth-century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything. Most physicists haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: Physics has been in crisis since 1927. Quantum mechanics has always had obvious gaps—which have come to be simply ignored. Science popularizers keep telling us how weird it is, how impossible it is to understand. Academics discourage students from working on the "dead end" of quantum foundations. Putting his professional reputation on the line with this audacious yet entirely reasonable book, Carroll says that the crisis can now come to an end. We just have to accept that there is more than one of us in the universe. There are many, many Sean Carrolls. Many of every one of us. Copies of you are generated thousands of times per second. The Many-Worlds theory of quantum behavior says that every time there is a quantum event, a world splits off with everything in it the same, except in that other world the quantum event didn't happen. Step-by-step in Carroll's uniquely lucid way, he tackles the major objections to this otherworldly revelation until his case is inescapably established. Rarely does a book so fully reorganize how we think about our place in the universe. We are on the threshold of a new understanding—of where we are in the cosmos, and what we are made of.
Download or read book The Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics written by Bryce Seligman Dewitt and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-03-08 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A novel interpretation of quantum mechanics, first proposed in brief form by Hugh Everett in 1957, forms the nucleus around which this book has developed. In his interpretation, Dr. Everett denies the existence of a separate classical realm and asserts the propriety of considering a state vector for the whole universe. Because this state vector never collapses, reality as a whole is rigorously deterministic. This reality, which is described jointly by the dynamical variables and the state vector, is not the reality customarily perceived; rather, it is a reality composed of many worlds. By virtue of the temporal development of the dynamical variables, the state vector decomposes naturally into orthogonal vectors, reflecting a continual splitting of the universe into a multitude of mutually unobservable but equally real worlds, in each of which every good measurement has yielded a definite result, and in most of which the familiar statistical quantum laws hold. The volume contains Dr. Everett's short paper from 1957, "'Relative State' Formulation of Quantum Mechanics," and a far longer exposition of his interpretation, entitled "The Theory of the Universal Wave Function," never before published. In addition, other papers by Wheeler, DeWitt, Graham, and Cooper and Van Vechten provide further discussion of the same theme. Together, they constitute virtually the entire world output of scholarly commentary on the Everett interpretation. Originally published in 1973. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.
Download or read book Quantum Ontology written by Peter J. Lewis and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-06-13 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Metaphysicians should pay attention to quantum mechanics. Why? Not because it provides definitive answers to many metaphysical questions-the theory itself is remarkably silent on the nature of the physical world, and the various interpretations of the theory on offer present conflicting ontological pictures. Rather, quantum mechanics is essential to the metaphysician because it reshapes standard metaphysical debates and opens up unforeseen new metaphysical possibilities. Even if quantum mechanics provides few clear answers, there are good reasons to think that any adequate understanding of the quantum world will result in a radical reshaping of our classical world-view in some way or other. Whatever the world is like at the atomic scale, it is almost certainly not the swarm of particles pushed around by forces that is often presupposed. This book guides readers through the theory of quantum mechanics and its implications for metaphysics in a clear and accessible way. The theory and its various interpretations are presented with a minimum of technicality. The consequences of these interpretations for metaphysical debates concerning realism, indeterminacy, causation, determinism, holism, and individuality (among other topics) are explored in detail, stressing the novel form that the debates take given the empirical facts in the quantum domain. While quantum mechanics may not deliver unconditional pronouncements on these issues, the range of possibilities consistent with our knowledge of the empirical world is relatively small-and each possibility is metaphysically revisionary in some way. This book will appeal to researchers, students, and anybody else interested in how science informs our world-view.
Download or read book What s the Matter with Waves written by William Parkinson and published by Morgan & Claypool Publishers. This book was released on 2018-04-06 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like rocket science or brain surgery, quantum mechanics is pigeonholed as a daunting and inaccessible topic, which is best left to an elite or peculiar few. This classification was not earned without some degree of merit. Depending on perspective; quantum mechanics is a discipline or philosophy, a convention or conundrum, an answer or question. Authors have run the gamut from hand waving to heavy handed in hopes to dispel the common beliefs about quantum mechanics, but perhaps they continue to promulgate the stigma. The focus of this particular effort is to give the reader an introduction, if not at least an appreciation, of the role that linear algebra techniques play in the practical application of quantum mechanical methods. It interlaces aspects of the classical and quantum picture, including a number of both worked and parallel applications. Students with no prior experience in quantum mechanics, motivated graduate students, or researchers in other areas attempting to gain some introduction to quantum theory will find particular interest in this book.
Download or read book Quantum Dialogue written by Mara Beller and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Science is rooted in conversations," wrote Werner Heisenberg, one of the twentieth century's great physicists. In Quantum Dialogue, Mara Beller shows that science is rooted not just in conversation but in disagreement, doubt, and uncertainty. She argues that it is precisely this culture of dialogue and controversy within the scientific community that fuels creativity. Beller draws her argument from her radical new reading of the history of the quantum revolution, especially the development of the Copenhagen interpretation. One of several competing approaches, this version succeeded largely due to the rhetorical skills of Niels Bohr and his colleagues. Using extensive archival research, Beller shows how Bohr and others marketed their views, misrepresenting and dismissing their opponents as "unreasonable" and championing their own not always coherent or well-supported position as "inevitable." Quantum Dialogue, winner of the 1999 Morris D. Forkosch Prize of the Journal of the History of Ideas, will fascinate everyone interested in how stories of "scientific revolutions" are constructed and "scientific consensus" achieved. "[A]n intellectually stimulating piece of work, energised by a distinct point of view."—Dipankar Home, Times Higher Education Supplement "[R]emarkable and original. . . . [Beller's] arguments are thoroughly supported and her conclusions are meticulously argued. . . . This is an important book that all who are interested in the emergence of quantum mechanics will want to read."—William Evenson, History of Physics Newsletter
Download or read book Quantum written by Jim Al-Khalili and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson. This book was released on 2012-10-25 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Schrodinger's cat to Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, this book untangles the weirdness of the quantum world. Quantum mechanics underpins modern science and provides us with a blueprint for reality itself. And yet it has been said that if you're not shocked by it, you don't understand it. But is quantum physics really so unknowable? Is reality really so strange? And just how can cats be half-alive and half-dead at the same time? Our journey into the quantum begins with nature's own conjuring trick, in which we discover that atoms -- contrary to the rules of everyday experience -- can exist in two locations at once. To understand this we travel back to the dawn of the twentieth century and witness the birth of quantum theory, which over the next one hundred years was to overthrow so many of our deeply held notions about the nature of our universe. Scientists and philosophers have been left grappling with its implications every since.
Download or read book Helgoland written by Carlo Rovelli and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2021-05-25 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Named a Best Book of 2021 by the Financial Times and a Best Science Book of 2021 by The Guardian “Rovelli is a genius and an amazing communicator… This is the place where science comes to life.” ―Neil Gaiman “One of the warmest, most elegant and most lucid interpreters to the laity of the dazzling enigmas of his discipline...[a] momentous book” ―John Banville, The Wall Street Journal A startling new look at quantum theory, from the New York Times bestselling author of Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, The Order of Time, and Anaximander. One of the world's most renowned theoretical physicists, Carlo Rovelli has entranced millions of readers with his singular perspective on the cosmos. In Helgoland, he examines the enduring enigma of quantum theory. The quantum world Rovelli describes is as beautiful as it is unnerving. Helgoland is a treeless island in the North Sea where the twenty-three-year-old Werner Heisenberg made the crucial breakthrough for the creation of quantum mechanics, setting off a century of scientific revolution. Full of alarming ideas (ghost waves, distant objects that seem to be magically connected, cats that appear both dead and alive), quantum physics has led to countless discoveries and technological advancements. Today our understanding of the world is based on this theory, yet it is still profoundly mysterious. As scientists and philosophers continue to fiercely debate the meaning of the theory, Rovelli argues that its most unsettling contradictions can be explained by seeing the world as fundamentally made of relationships rather than substances. We and everything around us exist only in our interactions with one another. This bold idea suggests new directions for thinking about the structure of reality and even the nature of consciousness. Rovelli makes learning about quantum mechanics an almost psychedelic experience. Shifting our perspective once again, he takes us on a riveting journey through the universe so we can better comprehend our place in it.
Download or read book Bell s Theorem Quantum Theory and Conceptions of the Universe written by Menas Kafatos and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-03-09 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bell's Theorem and its associated implications for the nature of the physical world remain topics of great interest. For this reason many meetings have been recently held on the interpretation of quantum theory and the implications of Bell's Theorem. Generally these meetings have been held primarily for quantum physicists and philosophers of science who have been or are actively working on the topic. Nevertheless, other philosophers of science, mathematicians, engineers as well as members of the general public have increasingly taken interest in Bell's Theorem and its implications. The Fall Workshop held at George Mason University on October 21 and 22, 1988 and titled "Bell's Theorem, Quantum Theory and Conceptions of the Universe" was of a more general scope. Not only it attracted experts in the field, it also covered other topics such as the implications of quantum non-locality for the nature of consciousness, cosmology, the anthropic principle, etc. topics usually not covered in previous meetings of this kind. The meeting was attended by more than one hundred ten specialists and other interested people from all over the world. The purpose of the meeting was not to provide a definitive answer to the general questions raised by Bell's Theorem. It is likely that the debate will go on for quite a long time. Rather, it was meant to contribute to the important dialogue between different disciplines.
Download or read book GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED written by E. F. Schumacher and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 1978-05-31 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author of the world wide best-seller, Small Is Beautiful, now tackles the subject of Man, the World, and the Meaning of Living. Schumacher writes about man's relation to the world. man has obligations -- to other men, to the earth, to progress and technology, but most importantly himself. If man can fulfill these obligations, then and only then can he enjoy a real relationship with the world, then and only then can he know the meaning of living. Schumacher says we need maps: a "map of knowledge" and a "map of living." The concern of the mapmaker--in this instance, Schumacher--is to find for everything it's proper place. Things out of place tend to get lost; they become invisible and there proper places end to be filled by other things that ought not be there at all and therefore serve to mislead. A Guide for the Perplexed teaches us to be our own map makers. This constantly surprising, always stimulating book will be welcomed by a large audience, including the many new fans who believe strongly in what Schumacher has to say.
Download or read book Quantum Aspects of Life written by Derek Abbott and published by Imperial College Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 469 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book presents the hotly debated question of whether quantum mechanics plays a non-trivial role in biology. In a timely way, it sets out a distinct quantum biology agenda. The burgeoning fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, quantum technology, and quantum information processing are now strongly converging. The acronym BINS, for Bio-Info-Nano-Systems, has been coined to describe the synergetic interface of these several disciplines. The living cell is an information replicating and processing system that is replete with naturally-evolved nanomachines, which at some level require a quantum mechanical description. As quantum engineering and nanotechnology meet, increasing use will be made of biological structures, or hybrids of biological and fabricated systems, for producing novel devices for information storage and processing and other tasks. An understanding of these systems at a quantum mechanical level will be indispensable.
