Quantum theory as an emergent phenomenon : the statistical mechanics of matrix models as the precursor of quantum field theory

Bibliographic Information

Quantum theory as an emergent phenomenon : the statistical mechanics of matrix models as the precursor of quantum field theory

Stephen L. Adler

Cambridge University Press, 2004

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Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Quantum mechanics is our most successful physical theory. However, it raises conceptual issues that have perplexed physicists and philosophers of science for decades. This 2004 book develops an approach, based on the proposal that quantum theory is not a complete, final theory, but is in fact an emergent phenomenon arising from a deeper level of dynamics. The dynamics at this deeper level are taken to be an extension of classical dynamics to non-commuting matrix variables, with cyclic permutation inside a trace used as the basic calculational tool. With plausible assumptions, quantum theory is shown to emerge as the statistical thermodynamics of this underlying theory, with the canonical commutation/anticommutation relations derived from a generalized equipartition theorem. Brownian motion corrections to this thermodynamics are argued to lead to state vector reduction and to the probabilistic interpretation of quantum theory, making contact with phenomenological proposals for stochastic modifications to Schroedinger dynamics.

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgement
  • Introduction and overview
  • 1. Trace dynamics: the classical Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics of matrix models
  • 2. Additional generic conserved quantities
  • 3. Trace dynamics models with global supersymmetry
  • 4. Statistical mechanics of matrix models
  • 5. The emergence of quantum field dynamics
  • 6. Brownian motion corrections to Schroedinger dynamics
  • 7. Discussion and outlook
  • Appendices
  • References.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details
  • NCID
    BA69267613
  • ISBN
    • 0521831946
  • LCCN
    2003064019
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Cambridge, U.K.
  • Pages/Volumes
    xi, 225 p.
  • Size
    26 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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