Quantum Concepts In Physics

Innovative account of the origins of quantum mechanics told from a historical perspective, for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers.

Quirky Quantum Concepts explains the more important and more difficult concepts in theoretical quantum mechanics, especially those which are consistently neglected or confusing in many common expositions. The emphasis is on physical understanding, which is necessary for the development of new, cutting edge science. In particular, this book explains the basis for many standard quantum methods, which are too often presented without sufficient motivation or interpretation. The book is not a simplification or popularization: it is real science for real scientists. Physics includes math, and this book does not shy away from it, but neither does it hide behind it. Without conceptual understanding, math is gibberish. The discussions here provide the experimental and theoretical reasoning behind some of the great discoveries, so the reader may see how discoveries arise from a rational process of thinking, a process which Quirky Quantum Concepts makes accessible to its readers. Quirky Quantum Concepts is therefore a supplement to almost any existing quantum mechanics text. Students and scientists will appreciate the combination of conversational style, which promotes understanding, with thorough scientific accuracy.

Innovative account of the origins of quantum mechanics told from a historical perspective, for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and researchers.

This book is based on a conference held at Oxford in the Spring of 1984 to discuss Quantum Gravity. As an assessment of the present status of quantum theory which also considers future developments, this book should provide much stimulating material for both researchers and post graduate students in theortical and mathematical physics.

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.

Taking a conceptual approach to the subject, Concepts in Quantum Mechanics provides complete coverage of both basic and advanced topics. Following in the footsteps of Dirac's classic work Principles of Quantum Mechanics, it explains all themes from first principles.The authors present alternative ways of representing the state of a physical system,

There are many excellent books on quantum theory from which one can learn to compute energy levels, transition rates, cross sections, etc. The theoretical rules given in these books are routinely used by physicists to compute observable quantities. Their predictions can then be compared with experimental data. There is no fundamental disagreement among physicists on how to use the theory for these practical purposes. However, there are profound differences in their opinions on the ontological meaning of quantum theory. The purpose of this book is to clarify the conceptual meaning of quantum theory, and to explain some of the mathematical methods which it utilizes. This text is not concerned with specialized topics such as atomic structure, or strong or weak interactions, but with the very foundations of the theory. This is not, however, a book on the philosophy of science. The approach is pragmatic and strictly instrumentalist. This attitude will undoubtedly antagonize some readers, but it has its own logic: quantum phenomena do not occur in a Hilbert space, they occur in a laboratory.

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.