Understanding quantum mechanics

Author(s)

• Omnès, Roland

Bibliographic Information

Understanding quantum mechanics

Roland Omnès

Princeton University Press, c1999

Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [295]-301) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Here Roland Omnes offers a clear, up-to-date guide to the conceptual framework of quantum mechanics. In an area that has provoked much philosophical debate, Omnes has achieved high recognition for his Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton 1994), a book for specialists. Now the author has transformed his own theory into a short and readable text that enables beginning students and experienced physicists, mathematicians, and philosophers to form a comprehensive picture of the field while learning about the most recent advances. This new book presents a more streamlined version of the Copenhagen interpretation, showing its logical consistency and completeness. The problem of measurement is a major area of inquiry, with the author surveying its history from Planck to Heisenberg before describing the consistent-histories interpretation. He draws upon the most recent research on the decoherence effect (related to the modern resolution of the famous Schrodinger's cat problem) and an exact formulation of the correspondence between quantum and particle physics (implying a derivation of classical determinism from quantum probabilism). Interpretation is organized with the help of a universal and sound language using so-called consistent histories. As a language and a method, it can now be shown to be free of ambiguity and it makes interpretation much clearer and closer to common sense.

Table of Contents

PrefacePt. 1The Genesis of Quantum Mechanics1Ch. 1The Discovery of Planck's Constant3Ch. 2The Bohr Atom11Ch. 3Matrix Mechanics22Ch. 4Wave Mechanics30Pt. 2A Short History of Interpretation37Ch. 5The Copenhagen Interpretation41Ch. 6Interpretation after Copenhagen55Ch. 7The Present State of Interpretation69Pt. 3Reconstructing Interpretation87Ch. 8Principles90Ch. 9Quantum Properties103Ch. 10Classical Properties110Ch. 11Classical Dynamics124Ch. 12Histories134Ch. 13The State of a System144Ch. 14Consistent Histories157Ch. 15Complementarity169Ch. 16Recovering Common Sense183Ch. 17The Decoherence Effect196Ch. 18Theory of Decoherence208Ch. 19Decoherence and Measurements221Ch. 20Fundamental Questions235Ch. 21Measurements257Ch. 22Experiments267Notes and Comments285References295Index303

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

• NCID: BA4129275X
• ISBN:
  • 0691004358
• LCCN: 98042442
• Country Code: us
• Title Language Code: eng
• Text Language Code: eng
• Place of Publication: Princeton, N.J.
• Pages/Volumes: xiii, 307 p.
• Size: 24 cm
• Classification:
  • LCC : QC174.12
  • DC21 : 530.12
• Subject Headings:
  • LCSH : Quantum theory