Beyond measure : modern physics, philosophy, and the meaning of quantum theory / Jim Baggott.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Baggott, Jim, 1957-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Quantum theory.

Physics--Philosophy.

Physics.

Physical Description:

xvi, 379 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2004.

Contents:

Part I Discovery

1 An act of desperation 3

Newton's legacy 4

Light at the turn of the century 5

Black-body radiation and the ultraviolet catastrophe 9

Planck's radiation formula 12

Quanta 15

This is wrong... 18

Bohr's theory of the atom 19

Discontinuous physics 22

2 Farewell to certainty 24

Wave-particle duality 24

Einstein and Bohr in conflict 27

Postscript: electron diffraction and interference 27

Wave mechanics 28

Interpreting the wave functions 31

Matrix mechanics 34

Heisenberg's uncertainty principle 36

3 An absolute wonder 40

Pauli's exclusion principle and the self-rotating electron 41

Electron spin 42

Dirac's theory 43

Quantum electrodynamics 45

Shelter Island 47

Sum-over-histories 47

Feynman diagrams 49

Quarks and the standard model 53

Part II Formalism

4 Quantum rules 59

The axiomatization of physics 61

Vector spaces 62

Quantum states 64

Operators and observables 65

Complementary observables 66

The time evolution of state vectors 67

The expansion theorem 68

Projection amplitudes 70

Indistinguishable particles 71

Fermions and bosons 72

5 Quantum measurement 75

Quantum probabilities 76

Linear polarization 78

Photon-polarization states 79

Photon spin 80

Von Neumann's theory of measurement 83

The 'collapse of the wavefunction' 84

State preparation 86

Entangled states 87

Which way did it go? 89

The bomb factory 90

Part III Meaning

6 The schism 97

The scientific method 98

The problem of induction 99

Logical positivism and the rejection of metaphysics 101

The Copenhagen interpretation 103

Complementarity 106

There is no quantum world 108

The aim and structure of physical theory 109

Social constructivism and incommensurability 112

The rational character of reality 114

The schism: realism versus anti-realism 116

7 A bolt from the blue 120

The fifth Solvay Conference 121

Is quantum mechanics consistent? 123

The photon box experiment 126

Is quantum mechanics complete? 129

A reasonable definition of reality 131

Spooky action at a distance 132

Einstein attacks quantum theory 132

Einstein separability 134

Entangled states and Schrodinger's cat 135

8 Bell's theorem and local reality 140

Einstein on hidden variables 141

A simple example 142

Von Neumann's 'impossibility proof' 144

Bohm's version of the EPR experiment 146

Correlated photons 148

Quantum versus hidden variable correlations 150

Bell's theorem 153

Generalization of Bell's inequality 158

Part IV Experiment

9 Quantum non-locality 163

Cascade emission 164

The Aspect experiments 165

Parametric down-conversion 169

Long-distance entanglement 170

How fast is 'instantaneous'? 171

Testing non-locality without inequalities 171

Closing the locality loophole 176

Closing the efficiency loophole 178

10 Complementarity and entanglement 181

Delayed choice 182

Wheeler's 'Great Smoky Dragon' 184

Watching the electrons 185

The one-atom maser 188

Which way did it go (again)? 189

But what if we don't look? 191

Scully's pizza 193

Superluminal communications? 197

Qubits and quantum computing 198

Quantum cryptography 200

Quantum teleportation 201

Was Einstein wrong? 202

Was Bohr right? 203

Part V Alternatives

11 Pilot waves, potentials, and propensities 207

De Broglie's pilot waves 209

Quantum potentials 210

A causal explanation of quantum phenomena 212

Quantum theory and historical contingency 216

The implicate order 218

Popper's propensities 219

12 An irreversible act 223

The arrow of time 224

Time asymmetry and quantum measurement 226

From being to becoming 227

Decoherence 228

The problem of objectification 233

GRW theory 234

Penrose and the geometry of space-time 236

Macroscopic realism 237

Superpositions of distinct macroscopic states 238

13 I think, therefore... 242

Von Neumann's theory of measurement (revisited) 242

Wigner's friend 244

The ghost in the machine 245

Multiple drafts 247

The physical basis of consciousness 249

Al 252

Consciousness and objective reduction 254

Free will and determinism 255

The mind of God? 257

14 Many worlds, one universe 263

Relative states 264

The branching world 265

'Schizophrenia' with a vengeance 266

Parallel worlds and 'schizophrenic' neutrons 267

The non-existence of non-locality 270

Quantum suicide: dead again? 272

Time travel 273

Many minds 275

The quantum theory of the universe 276

Consistent histories 279

Quantum gravity 283

1 Maxwell's equations and the speed of light 291

2 Black-body radiation and the origin of the quantum 294

3 Atomic theory and the emergence of quantum numbers 297

4 Special relativity and de Broglie's hypothesis 300

5 Schrodinger's wave equation 302

6 Dirac's relativistic quantum theory of the electron 305

7 The expectation value 307

8 Complementary observables and the uncertainty principle 309

9 The expansion theorem and quantum projections 311

10 State vectors and classical unit vectors 314

11 Quantum indistinguishability: fermions and bosons 316

12 Projection amplitudes for photon-polarization states 318

13 Quantum measurement and expectation values 322

14 Complementary observables of two-particle states 324

15 Quantum measurement and the infinite regress 325

16 Von Neumann's 'impossibility proof' 327

17 Photon spin correlations 329

18 Quantum versus local hidden variable correlations 332

19 Bell's inequality 335

20 Bell's inequality for non-ideal cases 337

21 Three-photon GHZ states 339

22 The Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt form of Bell's inequality 343

23 'Which Way' versus interference: testing complementarity 345

24 The quantum eraser 347

25 Beam me up, Scotty 350

26 The de Broglie-Bohm theory 352

27 Neutron worlds 355.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page (pages [357]-363) and indexes.

ISBN:

0198529279

0198525362

OCLC:

52486237