Quantum Legacies

Author : David Kaiser
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 357 pages
File Size : 55,6 Mb
Release : 2022-06-16
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226819990

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Quantum Legacies by David Kaiser Pdf

"Physicists have grappled with quantum theory for over a century. They have learned to wring precise answers from the theory's governing equations, and no experiment to date has found compelling evidence to contradict it. Even so, the conceptual apparatus remains stubbornly, famously bizarre. Physicists have tackled these conceptual uncertainties while navigating still larger ones: the rise of fascism, cataclysmic world wars and a new nuclear age, an unsteady Cold War stand-off and its unexpected end. Quantum Legacies introduces readers to physics' still-unfolding quest by treating iconic moments of discovery and debate among well-known figures like Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrèodinger, and Stephen Hawking, and many others whose contributions have indelibly shaped our understanding of nature"--

Author : Barry R. Parker
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 296 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2002
Category : Science
ISBN : UOM:39015056443131

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Quantum Legacy by Barry R. Parker Pdf

Popular science writer (and former physics professor) Parker presents a portrait of the scientists who developed the theory of quantum mechanics and explains the basic conceptual outlines of the theory. The mathematics of quantum theory are almost completely avoided. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Author : Kimball A Milton
Publisher : World Scientific
Page : 808 pages
File Size : 51,6 Mb
Release : 2000-05-25
Category : Science
ISBN : 9789814494502

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A Quantum Legacy by Kimball A Milton Pdf

Julian Schwinger (1918–1994) was one of the giants of 20th Century science. He contributed to a broad range of topics in theoretical physics, ranging from classical electrodynamics to quantum mechanics, from nuclear physics through quantum electrodynamics to the general theory of quantum fields. Although his mathematical prowess was legendary, he was fundamentally a phenomenologist. He received many awards, including the first Einstein Prize in 1951, and the Nobel Prize in 1965, which he shared with Richard Feynman and Sin-itiro Tomonaga for the self-consistent formulation of quantum electrodynamics into a practical theory. His more than 70 doctoral students have played a decisive role in the development of science in the second half of this century. This important volume includes many of Schwinger's most important papers, on the above and other topics, such as the theory of angular momentum and the theory of many-body systems. The papers collected here continue to underlie much of the work done by theoretical physicists today. Contents:Quantum ElectrodynamicsSpin and Angular MomentumNuclear PhysicsClassical Electrodynamics, Diffraction, and Synchrotron RadiationQuantum Field TheoryMany Body TheoryQuantum MechanicsImportance of ResearchMagnetic ChargeSource TheoryDeep Inelastic ScatteringCasimir EffectSupersymmetryStatistical Atom Readership: Theoretical physicists, mathematicians and historians of science. Keywords:Spin and Angular Momentum;Nuclear Physics;Microwave Radiation;Synchrotron Radiation;Electrodynamics;Quantum Electrodynamics;Renormalization Theory;Quantum Field Theory;Quantum Mechanics;Many-Body Theory;Magnetic Charge;Casimir Effect;Source TheoryReviews: “Overall the presentation is excellent: the introductions bring Schwinger's work to life.” Mathematics Abstracts “… it is hard to imagine what physics would be like at the end of the millennium without the contributions of Julian Schwinger, a private man but a great scientist and a superb teacher with dozens of the now best established theoretical physicists among his students, including three Nobel laureates …” CERN Courier “Schwinger's work was independent, brilliant and often very original.” Mathematical Reviews

Author : George S. Greenstein
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 157 pages
File Size : 46,7 Mb
Release : 2023-09-19
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262549301

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Quantum Strangeness by George S. Greenstein Pdf

A physicist's efforts to understand the enigma that is quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is one of the glories of our age. The theory lies at the heart of modern society. Quantum mechanics is one of our most valuable forecasters—a “great predictor.” It has immeasurably altered our conception of the natural world. Its philosophical implications are earthshaking. But quantum mechanics steadfastly refuses to speak of many things; it deals in probabilities rather than giving explicit descriptions. It never explains. Einstein, one of its creators, considered the theory incomplete. Even now, many years after the creation of quantum mechanics, physicists continue to argue about it. Astrophysicist George Greenstein has been both fascinated and confused by quantum mechanics for his entire career. In this book, he describes, engagingly and accessibly, his efforts to understand the enigma that is quantum mechanics. The fastest route to the insight into the ultimate nature of reality revealed by quantum mechanics, Greenstein writes, is through Bell's Theorem, which concerns reality at the quantum level; and Bell's 1964 discovery drives Greenstein's quest. Greenstein recounts a scientific odyssey that begins with Einstein, continues with Bell, and culminates with today's push to develop an industry of quantum machines. Along the way, he discusses spin, entanglement, experimental metaphysics, and quantum teleportation, often with easy-to-grasp analogies. We have known for decades that the world of the quantum was strange, but, Greenstein says, not until John Bell came along did we know just how strange.

Author : L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Publisher : Tor Books
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 45,9 Mb
Release : 2020-07-21
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 9781250229212

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Quantum Shadows by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. Pdf

Bestselling author of The Mongrel Mage, L. E. Modesitt, Jr's Quantum Shadows blends science fiction, myth, and legend in an adventure that pits old gods and new against one another in a far future world. On a world called Heaven, the ten major religions of mankind each have its own land governed by a capital city and ruled by a Hegemon. That Hegemon may be a god, or a prophet of a god. Smaller religions have their own towns or villages of belief. Corvyn, known as the Shadow of the Raven, contains the collective memory of humanity’s Falls from Grace. With this knowledge comes enormous power. When unknown power burns a mysterious black image into the holy place of each House of the Decalivre, Corvyn must discover what entity could possibly have that much power. The stakes are nothing less than another Fall, and if he doesn't stop it, mankind will not rise from the ashes. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Author : Philip Ball
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 382 pages
File Size : 48,6 Mb
Release : 2020-10-14
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226755106

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Beyond Weird by Philip Ball Pdf

“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.

Author : Jim Baggott,John L. Heilbron
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 353 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2024-04-25
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780192846105

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Quantum Drama by Jim Baggott,John L. Heilbron Pdf

Quantum mechanics is an extraordinarily successful scientific theory. It is also completely baffling. From the moment of its inception, its founders struggled to understand its meaning. This struggle was most famously encapsulated in the debate between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein; Quantum Drama tells the story of their engagement and its legacy.

Author : David Kaiser
Publisher : W.W. Norton & Company
Page : 372 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2012-06-29
Category : Counterculture
ISBN : 039334231X

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How the Hippies Saved Physics by David Kaiser Pdf

Today, quantum information theory is among the most exciting scientific frontiers, attracting billions of dollars in funding and thousands of talented researchers. But as MIT physicist and historian David Kaiser reveals, this cutting-edge field has a surprisingly psychedelic past. How the Hippies Saved Physics introduces us to a band of freewheeling physicists who defied the imperative to "shut up and calculate" and helped to rejuvenate modern physics. For physicists, the 1970s were a time of stagnation. Jobs became scarce, and conformity was encouraged, sometimes stifling exploration of the mysteries of the physical world. Dissatisfied, underemployed, and eternally curious, an eccentric group of physicists in Berkeley, California, banded together to throw off the constraints of the physics mainstream and explore the wilder side of science. Dubbing themselves the "Fundamental Fysiks Group," they pursued an audacious, speculative approach to physics. They studied quantum entanglement and Bell's Theorem through the lens of Eastern mysticism and psychic mind-reading, discussing the latest research while lounging in hot tubs. Some even dabbled with LSD to enhance their creativity. Unlikely as it may seem, these iconoclasts spun modern physics in a new direction, forcing mainstream physicists to pay attention to the strange but exciting underpinnings of quantum theory. A lively, entertaining story that illuminates the relationship between creativity and scientific progress, How the Hippies Saved Physics takes us to a time when only the unlikeliest heroes could break the science world out of its rut.

Author : Olival Freire Jr,Guido Bacciagaluppi,Olivier Darrigol,Thiago Hartz,Christian Joas,Alexei Kojevnikov,Osvaldo Pessoa Jr
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 1104 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2022-03-07
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780192582980

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The Oxford Handbook of the History of Quantum Interpretations by Olival Freire Jr,Guido Bacciagaluppi,Olivier Darrigol,Thiago Hartz,Christian Joas,Alexei Kojevnikov,Osvaldo Pessoa 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 : Thomas S. Kuhn
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 400 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 1987-01-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226458007

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Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity, 1894-1912 by Thomas S. Kuhn Pdf

"A masterly assessment of the way the idea of quanta of radiation became part of 20th-century physics. . . . The book not only deals with a topic of importance and interest to all scientists, but is also a polished literary work, described (accurately) by one of its original reviewers as a scientific detective story."—John Gribbin, New Scientist "Every scientist should have this book."—Paul Davies, New Scientist

Author : José G. Perillán
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 366 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2021
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780198864967

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Science Between Myth and History by José G. Perillán Pdf

Science Between Myth and History explores scientific storytelling and its implications on the teaching, practice, and public perception of science. In communicating their science, scientists tend to use historical narratives for important rhetorical purposes. This text explores the implications of doing this.

Author : Sheilla Jones
Publisher : Dundurn
Page : 343 pages
File Size : 43,9 Mb
Release : 2008-04-05
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780887623318

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The Quantum Ten by Sheilla Jones Pdf

Theoretical physics is in trouble. At least that’s the impression you’d get from reading a spate of recent books on the continued failure to resolve the 80-year-old problem of unifying the classical and quantum worlds. The seeds of this problem were sewn eighty years ago when a dramatic revolution in physics reached a climax at the 1927 Solvay conference in Brussels. It's the story of a rush to formalize quantum physics, the work of just a handful of men fired by ambition, philosophical conflicts and personal agendas. Sheilla Jones paints an intimate portrait of the ten key figures who wrestled with the mysteries of the new science of the quantum, along with a powerful supporting cast of famous (and not so famous) colleagues. The Brussels conference was the first time so many of the “quantum ten” had been in the same place: Albert Einstein, the lone wolf; Niels Bohr, the obsessive but gentlemanly father figure; Max Born, the anxious hypochondriac; Werner Heisenberg, the intensely ambitious one; Wolfgang Pauli, the sharp-tongued critic with a dark side; Paul Dirac, the silent Englishman; Erwin Schrödinger, the enthusiastic womanizer; Prince Louis de Broglie, the French aristocrat; Pascual Jordan, the ardent Aryan nationalist, who was not invited; and Paul Ehrenfest, who was witness to it all. This is the story of quantum physics that has never been told, an equation-free investigation into the turbulent development of the new science and its very fallible creators, including little-known details of the personal relationship between the deeply troubled Ehrenfest and his dear friend Albert Einstein. Jones weaves together the personal and the scientific in a heartwarming—and heartbreaking—story of the men who struggled to create quantum physics ... a story of passion, tragedy, ambition and science.

Author : Arthur Fine
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 233 pages
File Size : 40,6 Mb
Release : 2009-02-25
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780226923260

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The Shaky Game by Arthur Fine Pdf

In this new edition, Arthur Fine looks at Einstein's philosophy of science and develops his own views on realism. A new Afterword discusses the reaction to Fine's own theory. "What really led Einstein . . . to renounce the new quantum order? For those interested in this question, this book is compulsory reading."—Harvey R. Brown, American Journal of Physics "Fine has successfully combined a historical account of Einstein's philosophical views on quantum mechanics and a discussion of some of the philosophical problems associated with the interpretation of quantum theory with a discussion of some of the contemporary questions concerning realism and antirealism. . . . Clear, thoughtful, [and] well-written."—Allan Franklin, Annals of Science "Attempts, from Einstein's published works and unpublished correspondence, to piece together a coherent picture of 'Einstein realism.' Especially illuminating are the letters between Einstein and fellow realist Schrödinger, as the latter was composing his famous 'Schrödinger-Cat' paper."—Nick Herbert, New Scientist "Beautifully clear. . . . Fine's analysis is penetrating, his own results original and important. . . . The book is a splendid combination of new ways to think about quantum mechanics, about realism, and about Einstein's views of both."—Nancy Cartwright, Isis

Author : Roper Stote Donnison Roper
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 992 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 1847
Category : Electronic
ISBN : BL:A0026598209

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A Treatise Upon the Law of Legacies. Fourth Edition by Roper Stote Donnison Roper Pdf

Author : Slobodan Perovic
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 251 pages
File Size : 53,8 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"--