What Is Real?

Author: Adam Becker
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465096069
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 418

Book Description
"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

The Physics of Quantum Mechanics

Author: James Binney
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199688575
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 408

Book Description
This title gives students a good understanding of how quantum mechanics describes the material world. The text stresses the continuity between the quantum world and the classical world, which is merely an approximation to the quantum world.

My First Book of Quantum Physics

Author: Sheddad Kaid-Salah Ferrón
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781787080102
Category : Quantum theory
Languages : en
Pages : 48

Book Description
Everything around us - trees, buildings, food, light, water, air and even ourselves - is composed of minute particles, smaller than a nanometre (a billionth of a metre). Quantum physics is the science of these particles and without it none of our electronic devices, from smartphones to computers and microwave ovens, would exist. But quantum physics also pushes us to the very boundaries of what we know about science, reality and the structure of the universe. The world of quantum physics is an amazing place, where quantum particles can do weird and wonderful things, acting totally unlike the objects we experience in day-to-day life. How can atoms exist in two places at once? And just how can a cat be dead and alive at the same time? Find out more with this entertaining illustrated guide to the fascinating, mysterious world of quantum physics.

Beyond Weird

Author: Philip Ball
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022655838X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

Book Description
“Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.” Since Niels Bohr said this many years ago, quantum mechanics has only been getting more shocking. We now realize that it’s not really telling us that “weird” things happen out of sight, on the tiniest level, in the atomic world: rather, everything is quantum. But if quantum mechanics is correct, what seems obvious and right in our everyday world is built on foundations that don’t seem obvious or right at all—or even possible. An exhilarating tour of the contemporary quantum landscape, Beyond Weird is a book about what quantum physics really means—and what it doesn’t. Science writer Philip Ball offers an up-to-date, accessible account of the quest to come to grips with the most fundamental theory of physical reality, and to explain how its counterintuitive principles underpin the world we experience. Over the past decade it has become clear that quantum physics is less a theory about particles and waves, uncertainty and fuzziness, than a theory about information and knowledge—about what can be known, and how we can know it. Discoveries and experiments over the past few decades have called into question the meanings and limits of space and time, cause and effect, and, ultimately, of knowledge itself. The quantum world Ball shows us isn’t a different world. It is our world, and if anything deserves to be called “weird,” it’s us.

Compendium of Quantum Physics

Author: Daniel Greenberger
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3540706267
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 901

Book Description
With contributions by leading quantum physicists, philosophers and historians, this comprehensive A-to-Z of quantum physics provides a lucid understanding of key concepts of quantum theory and experiment. It covers technical and interpretational aspects alike, and includes both traditional and new concepts, making it an indispensable resource for concise, up-to-date information about the many facets of quantum physics.

Fundamentals of Quantum Physics

Author: Pedro Pereyra
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642293786
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 329

Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive course of quantum mechanics for undergraduate and graduate students. After a brief outline of the innovative ideas that lead up to the quantum theory, the book reviews properties of the Schrödinger equation, the quantization phenomena and the physical meaning of wave functions. The book discusses, in a direct and intelligible style, topics of the standard quantum formalism like the dynamical operators and their expected values, the Heisenberg and matrix representation, the approximate methods, the Dirac notation, harmonic oscillator, angular momentum and hydrogen atom, the spin-field and spin-orbit interactions, identical particles and Bose-Einstein condensation etc. Special emphasis is devoted to study the tunneling phenomena, transmission coefficients, phase coherence, energy levels splitting and related phenomena, of interest for quantum devices and heterostructures. The discussion of these problems and the WKB approximation is done using the transfer matrix method, introduced at a tutorial level. This book is a textbook for upper undergraduate physics and electronic engineering students.

An Introduction to Quantum Physics

Author: Stefanos Trachanas
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 3527412476
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 564

Book Description
This modern textbook offers an introduction to Quantum Mechanics as a theory that underlies the world around us, from atoms and molecules to materials, lasers, and other applications. The main features of the book are: Emphasis on the key principles with minimal mathematical formalism Demystifying discussions of the basic features of quantum systems, using dimensional analysis and order-of-magnitude estimates to develop intuition Comprehensive overview of the key concepts of quantum chemistry and the electronic structure of solids Extensive discussion of the basic processes and applications of light-matter interactions Online supplement with advanced theory, multiple-choice quizzes, etc.

Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics

Author: Frederick W. Byron
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486135063
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 674

Book Description
Graduate-level text offers unified treatment of mathematics applicable to many branches of physics. Theory of vector spaces, analytic function theory, theory of integral equations, group theory, and more. Many problems. Bibliography.

Quantum Physics

Author: Marc Humphrey
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1615643621
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 405

Book Description
Quantum physics explores the behavior of matter and energy at the molecular, atomic, nuclear, and even smaller levels. Idiot's Guides: Quantum Physics explores this very complex topic, while making it easy-to-understand for science enthusiasts and students alike. It skips the complicated math and dives right in to all of the concepts, paradoxes, and implications that make quantum physics so fascinating. Topics include quantum vs. classical physics, the famous double-slit experiment, quantum wave function, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the Schrodinger's cat thought experiment, quantum entanglement, competing interpretations, quantum gravity, and much more.

Quantum Physics

Author: A.I Lvovsky
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3662565846
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

Book Description
This textbook is intended to accompany a two-semester course on quantum mechanics for physics students. Along with the traditional material covered in such a course (states, operators, Schrödinger equation, hydrogen atom), it offers in-depth discussion of the Hilbert space, the nature of measurement, entanglement, and decoherence – concepts that are crucial for the understanding of quantum physics and its relation to the macroscopic world, but rarely covered in entry-level textbooks. The book uses a mathematically simple physical system – photon polarization – as the visualization tool, permitting the student to see the entangled beauty of the quantum world from the very first pages. The formal concepts of quantum physics are illustrated by examples from the forefront of modern quantum research, such as quantum communication, teleportation and nonlocality. The author adopts a Socratic pedagogy: The student is guided to develop the machinery of quantum physics independently by solving sets of carefully chosen problems. Detailed solutions are provided.