The odd quantum / Sam Treiman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Treiman, Sam B.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quantum theory.

Physical Description:

viii, 262 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, [1999]

Summary:

This is a rare and much-needed book: a concise but comprehensive account of quantum mechanics written by a respected physicist for popular science readers, Sam Treiman is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Princeton University and is internationally renowned for his work in particle physics. In The Odd Quantum, he makes the basic concepts and practices of quantum mechanics accessible to nonspecialists, combining mastery of the material with clear, elegant prose, infectious enthusiasm, and just enough mathematics to convey the actual substance, methods, and oddities of a field that can be as baffling as it is important

Treiman opens with an overview of quantum mechanics and of the strengths and weaknesses of the pre-quantum world of classical physics. He explains how and why the work of Planck, Einstein, Bohr, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Born, and de Broglie, among others, revealed early this century that the constituent parts of atoms follow laws radically different from those of Newtonian mechanics. He reviews the governing mathematical structure of quantum mechanics, its accepted rules of interpretation, and, in particular, its implications and oddities. Treiman pays special attention to the features of the quantum world that defy everyday instinct and experience, including the wonders of particle creation and destruction, the probabilistic character of nature and the related uncertainty principle, and the remarkable fact that particles of a green species come in strictly exact copies. The book guides us through both non-relativistic and relativistic quantum theory. Treiman also touches on special relativity, the basic building blocks of matter, and the deep philosophical problems thatemerge from quantum mechanics -- notably, the question of how probabilities become facts.

Weaving together impeccable and up-to-date science, engaging writing, and a talent for clear explanation honed over Treiman's distinguished career as a physicist and teacher, The Odd Quantum is a remarkable survey of a field that changed the course of modern scientific and philosophical thought.

Contents:

Beginnings

2. Classical Background 27

Newton's law

Gravity

Energy

Electromagnetism

Special Relativity

3. The "Old" Quantuin Mechanics 61

Electromagnetic Waves

Blackbody Radiation

Early Spectroscopy

The Rutherford Atom

Bohr's Quantum Model

De Broglie's Matter Waves

4. Foundations 80

The Two-Slit Experiment

Schroedinger's Wave Equation

Probabilistic Interpretation

A Brief Survey of the Rules

Commuting Observables

The Uncertainty Principle

Momentum

The Operator Concept

Angular Momentum

Aspects of Energy

5. Some Quantum Classics 119

The Free Particle

Particle in a Box

The Harmonic Oscillator

Central Potentials Generally

The One-Electron Atom

The Infinite Solenoid

Decay Processes

6. Identical Particles 149

Symmetry, Antisymmetry Rules

The Pauli Principle

The Fermi Gas

Atoms

More on Identical Bosons

7. What's Going On? 173

8. The Building Blocks 191

Particles in Collision, Particles in Decay

Accelerators

Patterns and Regularities

Basic Ingredients

9. Quantum Fields 231

Free Fields, Free Particles

Interactions

Feynman Diagrams

Virtual Particles

The Standard Model in Diagrams

Again, What's Going On?.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [255]-256) and index.

ISBN:

0691009260

0691103003

OCLC:

40964913