Practicing The Correspondence Principle In The Old Quantum Theory

Author : Martin Jähnert
Publisher : Springer
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2019-06-20
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030133009

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Practicing the Correspondence Principle in the Old Quantum Theory by Martin Jähnert Pdf

This book presents a history of the correspondence principle from a new perspective. The author provides a unique exploration of the relation between the practice of theory and conceptual development in physics. In the process, he argues for a new understanding of the history of the old quantum theory and the emergence of quantum mechanics. The analysis looks at how the correspondence principle was disseminated and how the principle was applied as a research tool during the 1920s. It provides new insights into the interaction between theoretical tools and scientific problems and shows that the use of this theoretical tool changed the tool itself in a process of transformation through implementation. This process, the author claims, was responsible for the conceptual development of the correspondence principle. This monograph connects to the vast literature in the history of science, which analyzed theoretical practices as based on tacit knowledge, skills, and calculation techniques. It contributes to the historical understanding of quantum physics and the emergence of quantum mechanics. Studying how physicists used a set of tools to solve problems, the author spells out the ‟skillful guessing” that went into the making of quantum theoretical arguments and argues that the integration and implementation of technical resources was a central driving force for the conceptual and theoretical transformation in the old quantum theory.

Author : Michel Janssen,Anthony Duncan
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 817 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2023-08-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780198883913

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Constructing Quantum Mechanics Volume 2 by Michel Janssen,Anthony Duncan Pdf

This is the second of two volumes on the genesis of quantum mechanics in the first quarter of the 20th century. It covers the period 1923-1927. After covering some of the difficulties the old quantum theory had run into by the early 1920s as well as the discovery of the exclusion principle and electron spin, it traces the emergence of two forms of the new quantum mechanics, matrix mechanics and wave mechanics, in the years 1923-27. It then shows how the new theory took care of some of the failures of the old theory and put its successes on a more solid basis. Finally, it shows how in 1927 the two forms of the new theory were unified, first through statistical transformation theory, then through the Hilbert space formalism. This volume provides a detailed analysis of the classic papers by Heisenberg, Born, Jordan, Dirac, De Broglie, Einstein, Schrödinger, von Neumann and other authors. Drawing on the correspondence of these and other physicists, their later reminiscences and the extensive secondary literature on the “quantum revolution”, this volume places these papers in the context of the discussions out of which modern quantum mechanics emerged. It argues that the genesis of modern quantum mechanics can be seen as the construction of an arch on a scaffold provided by the old quantum theory, discarded once the arch could support itself.

Author : Arne Schirrmacher
Publisher : Springer
Page : 120 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2019-08-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030227272

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Establishing Quantum Physics in Göttingen by Arne Schirrmacher Pdf

Quantum mechanics – the grandiose theory that describes nature down to the submicroscopic level – was first formulated in Göttingen in 1925. How did this come about and why is it that Göttingen became the pre-eminent location for a revolution in physics? This book is the first to investigate the wide range of factors that were pivotal for quantum physics to be established in Göttingen. These include the process of generational change of physics professors, the hopes of mathematicians seeking new fields of research, and a new understanding of the interplay of experiment, theory and philosophy.

Author : A. O. Bolivar
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2013-04-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783662096499

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Quantum-Classical Correspondence by A. O. Bolivar Pdf

At what level of physical existence does "quantum behavior" begin? How does it develop from classical mechanics? This book addresses these questions and thereby sheds light on fundamental conceptual problems of quantum mechanics. It elucidates the problem of quantum-classical correspondence by developing a procedure for quantizing stochastic systems (e.g. Brownian systems) described by Fokker-Planck equations. The logical consistency of the scheme is then verified by taking the classical limit of the equations of motion and corresponding physical quantities. Perhaps equally important, conceptual problems concerning the relationship between classical and quantum physics are identified and discussed. Graduate students and physical scientists will find this an accessible entrée to an intriguing and thorny issue at the core of modern physics.

Author : Michael Eckert
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 98 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2020-12-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783030620349

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Establishing Quantum Physics in Munich by Michael Eckert Pdf

This book traces the history of Arnold Sommerfeld’s famous “nursery of theoretical physics” at the University of Munich and demonstrates the centrality of developing personal and institutional networks for the emergence of quantum theory. Sommerfeld, originally a mathematician with little interest in theoretical physics, was a somewhat unlikely choice for a chair of theoretical physics when he was appointed in 1906. However, he quickly reoriented his research focus towards physics, forstering a keen interest in experimental research. Possibly even more important for the development of quantum theory in the coming years was his exceptional talent as a charismatic teacher and prolific networker, which turned Munich into a central node in the fast-growing network of quantum physicists in the 1920s. It is no coincidence that the two most talented “child prodigies” of 1920s quantum physics, Wolfgang Pauli and Werner Heisenberg, were his students, nor that by the end of the decade about a dozen of Sommerfeld’s former disciples held chairs in theoretical physics. The book is directed at historians of science and physics, as well as all those interested in the history of science diplomacy and networking. The book is part of a series of publications on the early network of quantum physics. These works emerged from an expansive study on the quantum revolution as a major transformation of physical knowledge undertaken by the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science and the Fritz Haber Institute (2006–2012). For more on this project, see the dedicated Feature Story, The Networks of Early Quantum Theory, at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, https://www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/feature-story/networks-early-quantum-theory

Author : Guido Bacciagaluppi,Olivier Darrigol,Olival Freire Jr
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 1311 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2022
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780198844495

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The Oxford Handbook of the History of Quantum Interpretations by Guido Bacciagaluppi,Olivier Darrigol,Olival Freire Jr Pdf

Crucial to most research in physics, as well as leading to the development of inventions such as the transistor and the laser, quantum mechanics approaches its centenary with an impressive record. However, the field has also long been the subject of ongoing debates about the foundations and interpretation of the theory, referred to as the quantum controversy. This Oxford Handbook offers a historical overview of the contrasts which have been at the heart of quantum physics for the last 100 years. Drawing on the wide-ranging expertise of several contributors working across physics, history, and philosophy, the handbook outlines the main theories and interpretations of quantum physics. It goes on to tackle the key controversies surrounding the field, touching on issues such as determinism, realism, locality, classicality, information, measurements, mathematical foundations, and the links between quantum theory and gravity. This engaging introduction is an essential guide for all those interested in the history of scientific controversies and history of quantum physics. It also provides a fascinating examination of the potential of quantum physics to influence new discoveries and advances in fields such quantum information and computing.

Author : Anthony Duncan,Michel Janssen
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 512 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2019-08-29
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780192584229

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Constructing Quantum Mechanics by Anthony Duncan,Michel Janssen Pdf

Constructing Quantum Mechanics is the first of two volumes on the genesis of quantum mechanics. This volume traces the early contributions by Planck, Einstein, and Bohr, all showing the need for drastic changes to the physics of their day. It examines the efforts by Sommerfeld and others to develop a new theory, now known as the old quantum theory. After some striking successes, this theory ran into serious difficulties and ended up serving as the scaffold on which the arch of modern quantum mechanics was built. This volume breaks new ground, both in its treatment of the work of Sommerfeld and his associates, and by offering new perspectives on classic papers by Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and others. Paying close attention to both primary and secondary sources, Constructing Quantum Mechanics provides an in-depth analysis of the heroic struggle to come to terms with the wealth of mostly spectroscopic data that eventually gave us modern quantum mechanics.

Author : George Frederick James Temple
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 136 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 1961
Category : Quantum theory
ISBN : UCAL:B4510929

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The General Principles of Quantum Theory by George Frederick James Temple Pdf

Author : George Temple
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 131 pages
File Size : 52,9 Mb
Release : 2014-04-29
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317698838

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The General Principles of Quantum Theory by George Temple Pdf

Published in 1934, this monograph was one of the first introductory accounts of the principles which form the physical basis of the Quantum Theory, considered as a branch of mathematics. The exposition is restricted to a discussion of general principles and does not attempt detailed application to the wide domain of atomic physics, although a number of special problems are considered in elucidation of the principles. The necessary fundamental mathematical methods – the theory of linear operators and of matrics – are developed in the first chapter so this could introduce anyone to the new theory. This is an interesting snapshot of scientific history.

Author : Mohsen Razavy
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 678 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2011
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789814304115

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Heisenberg's Quantum Mechanics by Mohsen Razavy Pdf

This book is focusing on presenting the matrix mechanics as it was discovered by Heisenberg, Jordan, Born and Pauli, and bringing it up to date with contributions by a number af prominent physicists from the intervening years (partly citated from the preface of the book)

Author : Slobodan Perovic
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2021-10
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226798332

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From Data to Quanta by Slobodan Perovic Pdf

"Niels Bohr was a central figure in quantum physics, well-known for his work on atomic structure and his contributions to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. In this book, philosopher Slobodan Perović explores the way Bohr practiced and understood physics, and the implications of this for our understanding of modern science, especially contemporary quantum experimental physics. Perović's method of studying Bohr is philosophical-historical, and his aim is to make sense of both Bohr's understanding of physics and his method of inquiry. He argues that in several important respects, Bohr's vision of physics was driven by his desire to develop a comprehensive perspective on key features of experimental observation as well as emerging experimental work. Perović uncovers how Bohr's distinctive breakthrough contributions are characterized by a multi-layered, phased approach of building on basic experimental insights inductively to develop intermediary and overarching hypotheses. The strengths and limitations of this approach, in contrast to the mathematically or metaphysically driven approaches of other physicists at the time, made him a thoroughly distinctive kind of theorist and scientific leader. Once we see that Bohr played the typical role of a laboratory mediator, and excelled in the inductive process this required, we can fully understand the way his work was generated, the role it played in developing novel quantum concepts, and its true limitations, as well as current adherence to and use of Bohr's complementarity approach among contemporary experimentalists"--

Author : Cathryn Carson
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 559 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2010-01-11
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 9780521821704

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Heisenberg in the Atomic Age by Cathryn Carson Pdf

The end of the Second World War opened a new era for science in public life. Heisenberg in the Atomic Age explores the transformations of science's public presence in the postwar Federal Republic of Germany. It shows how Heisenberg's philosophical commentaries, circulating in the mass media, secured his role as science's public philosopher, and it reflects on his policy engagements and public political stands, which helped redefine the relationship between science and the state. With deep archival grounding, the book tracks Heisenberg's interactions with intellectuals from Heidegger to Habermas and political leaders from Adenauer to Brandt. It also traces his evolving statements about his wartime research on nuclear fission for the National Socialist regime. Working between the history of science and German history, the book's central theme is the place of scientific rationality in public life - after the atomic bomb, in the wake of the Third Reich.

Author : Malcolm Longair
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 463 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2013-01-31
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781107310919

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Quantum Concepts in Physics by Malcolm Longair Pdf

Written for advanced undergraduates, physicists, and historians and philosophers of physics, this book tells the story of the development of our understanding of quantum phenomena through the extraordinary years of the first three decades of the twentieth century. Rather than following the standard axiomatic approach, this book adopts a historical perspective, explaining clearly and authoritatively how pioneers such as Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Pauli and Dirac developed the fundamentals of quantum mechanics and merged them into a coherent theory, and why the mathematical infrastructure of quantum mechanics has to be as complex as it is. The author creates a compelling narrative, providing a remarkable example of how physics and mathematics work in practice. The book encourages an enhanced appreciation of the interaction between mathematics, theory and experiment, helping the reader gain a deeper understanding of the development and content of quantum mechanics than any other text at this level.

Author : Alan C. Love,William Wimsatt
Publisher : U of Minnesota Press
Page : 421 pages
File Size : 47,7 Mb
Release : 2019-09-03
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781452961620

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Beyond the Meme by Alan C. Love,William Wimsatt Pdf

Interdisciplinary perspectives on cultural evolution that reject meme theory in favor of a complex understanding of dynamic change over time How do cultures change? In recent decades, the concept of the meme, posited as a basic unit of culture analogous to the gene, has been central to debates about cultural transformation. Despite the appeal of meme theory, its simplification of complex interactions and other inadequacies as an explanatory framework raise more questions about cultural evolution than it answers. In Beyond the Meme, William C. Wimsatt and Alan C. Love assemble interdisciplinary perspectives on cultural evolution, providing a nuanced understanding of it as a process in which dynamic structures interact on different scales of size and time. By focusing on the full range of evolutionary processes across distinct contexts, from rice farming to scientific reasoning, this volume demonstrates how a thick understanding of change in culture emerges from multiple disciplinary vantage points, each of which is required to understand cultural evolution in all its complexity. The editors provide an extensive introductory essay to contextualize the volume, and Wimsatt contributes a separate chapter that systematically organizes the conceptual geography of cultural processes and phenomena. Any adequate account of the transmission, elaboration, and evolution of culture must, this volume argues, recognize the central roles that cognitive and social development play in cultural change and the complex interplay of technological, organizational, and institutional structures needed to enable and coordinate these processes. Contributors: Marshall Abrams, U of Alabama at Birmingham; Claes Andersson, Chalmers U of Technology; Mark A. Bedau, Reed College; James A. Evans, U of Chicago; Jacob G. Foster, U of California, Los Angeles; Michel Janssen, U of Minnesota; Sabina Leonelli, U of Exeter; Massimo Maiocchi, U of Chicago; Joseph D. Martin, U of Cambridge; Salikoko S. Mufwene, U of Chicago; Nancy J. Nersessian, Georgia Institute of Technology and Harvard U; Paul E. Smaldino, U of California, Merced; Anton Törnberg, U of Gothenburg; Petter Törnberg, U of Amsterdam; Gilbert B. Tostevin, U of Minnesota.

Author : Slobodan Perovic
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 2021-10-01
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226798479

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From Data to Quanta by Slobodan Perovic Pdf

The first comprehensive philosophical and historical account of the experimental foundations of Niels Bohr’s practice of physics. Niels Bohr was a central figure in quantum physics, well known for his work on atomic structure and his contributions to the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. In this book, philosopher of science Slobodan Perovic explores the way Bohr practiced and understood physics, and analyzes its implications for our understanding of modern science. Perovic develops a novel approach to Bohr’s understanding of physics and his method of inquiry, presenting an exploratory symbiosis of historical and philosophical analysis that uncovers the key aspects of Bohr’s philosophical vision of physics within a given historical context. To better understand the methods that produced Bohr’s breakthrough results in quantum phenomena, Perovic clarifies the nature of Bohr’s engagement with the experimental side of physics and lays out the basic distinctions and concepts that characterize his approach. Rich and insightful, Perovic’s take on the early history of quantum mechanics and its methodological ramifications sheds vital new light on one of the key figures of modern physics.