Heisenberg S Quantum Mechanics

This book provides a detailed account of quantum theory with a much greater emphasis on the Heisenberg equations of motion and the matrix method. No other texts have come close to discuss quantum theory in terms of depth of coverage. The book features a deeper treatment of the fundamental concepts such as the rules of constructing quantum mechanical operators and the classical-quantal correspondence; the exact and approximate methods based on the Heisenberg equations; the determinantal approach to the scattering theory and the LSZ reduction formalism where the latter method is used to obtain the transition matrix. The uncertainty relations for a number of different observables are derived and discussed. A comprehensive chapter on the quantization of systems with nonlocalized interaction is included. Exact solvable models, and approximate techniques for solution of realistic many-body problems are also considered. The book takes a unified look in the final chapter, examining the question of measurement in quantum theory, with an introduction to the Bell's inequalities.

Nobel Laureate discusses quantum theory, uncertainty, wave mechanics, work of Dirac, Schroedinger, Compton, Einstein, others. "An authoritative statement of Heisenberg's views on this aspect of the quantum theory." — Nature.

Quantum mechanics is widely considered to be the scientific theory that is one's best choice for the fundamental and universal explanation of the physical world. The conceptual structure used in this theory varies dramatically from that of classical physics. After all, the transition from classical to quantum physics is a true revolution in people's understanding of the physical universe. One striking feature of the distinction between classical and quantum physics is that while classical mechanics assumes that precise simultaneous values can be assigned to all physical quantities, quantum mechanics, on the other hand, rejects this possibility, the classic example being the momentum and position of a particle.

Quantum mechanics has raised in an acute form three problems which go to the heart of man's relationship with nature through experimental science: (r) the public objectivity of science, that is, its value as a universal science for all investigators; (2) the empirical objectivity of scientific objects, that is, man's ability to construct a precise or causal spatio-temporal model of microscopic systems; and finally (3), the formal objectivity of science, that is, its value as an expression of what nature is independently of its being an object of human knowledge. These are three aspects of what is generally called the "crisis of objec tivity" or the "crisis of realism" in modern physics. This crisis is. studied in the light of Werner Heisenberg's work. Heisenberg was one of the architects of quantum mechanics, and we have chosen his writings as the principal source-material for this study. Among physicists of the microscopic domain, no one except perhaps Bohr has expressed himself so abundantly and so profoundly on the philosophy of science as Heisenberg. His writings, both technical and non-technical, show an awareness of the mysterious element in scientific knowledge, far from the facile positivism of Bohr and others of his contemporaries. The mystery of human knowledge and human SUbjectivity is for him an abiding source of wonder.

This book is a distillation of Prof T Y Wu's fifty years of experience teaching quantum theory to many generations of physicists. Starting with chapters on classical physics and the old quantum theory, Prof Wu quickly develops Heisenberg's matrix mechanics and the Schroedinger equation. After a detailed treatment of the general formulation of quantum theory, standard discussions on Perturbation Theory and the Hydrogen Atom follow. A fairly exhaustive treatment of the Zeeman effect is to be found in these chapter. Many electron atoms are treated expertly. The former is treated with great depth; the latter is a good introduction to the subject.