More than nothing : a history of the vacuum in theoretical physics, 1925-1980 / Aaron Sidney Wright.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wright, Aaron S., author.

Series:

Oxford scholarship online.

Oxford scholarship online

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Relativistic quantum theory--History.

Relativistic quantum theory.

Positrons.

Physics--Philosophy--History.

Physics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (425 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2024]

Summary:

Across decades and disciplines, 'More Than Nothing' offers a scoping history of the vacuum as a lens into the development of modern physics.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title

Title

Copyright

Dedication

Contents

Journal Abbreviations

Acknowledgments

1 The Vacuum in Practice

1.1 Suprise, Paradox, and Practice

1.2 Scope and Framing

1.2.1 Theoretical Physics

1.2.2 Objects of Theory

1.2.3 Narrative Overview

1.2.4 Paths Not Taken

1.3 Prologue: The Aether, Gone and Back Again

2 Paul Dirac's Seas and Bubbles

2.1 Introduction

2.2 Relativistic and Many-Electron Theory

2.2.1 Compton Effects

2.2.2 (Relativity) Quantum Mechanics

2.2.3 The Quantum Theory of the Electron

2.3 "Hole" Theory

2.3.1 Radiation Theory and Waller

2.3.2 Permutations of Hartree's Approximation

2.3.3 Protons and X-ray Levels

2.3.4 A New Kind of Particle

2.4 Theory of the Positron

3 Nascent Pairs and Virtual Possibilities

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Radiation Theory

3.3 Furry and Oppenheimer

3.3.1 Pedagogy between the Lines

3.3.2 Furry and Oppenheimer's Nascent State

3.3.3 Crumbs of Comfort

3.4 Heisenberg and Euler's Virtual Possibilities

3.4.1 Heisenberg and Dirac

3.4.2 "Virtual" Possibilities and Perturbations in Leipzig

3.5 Weisskopf and the Consolidation of "Hole" Theory

3.5.1 Leapfrogging Experiment

3.5.2 A Textbook of Subtraction Physics

3.5.3 The Vacuum as Resource

3.6 Conclusion

4 Weisskopf, Schwinger, Feynman: Vacuum Loops and Fluctations

4.1 Introduction

4.2 Weisskopf 's Fluctations

4.2.1 Spontaneous Emission and Line Widths

4.2.2 Uncertainty and Fluctuations

4.2.3 Weisskopf 's Perturbative Vacuum

4.3 Schwinger's QFT

4.3.1 Complementary Fluctuations

4.3.2 Calculating with Schwinger's QED (1948-1949)

4.3.3 Conservatism

4.4 Feynman's Vacuum Loops

4.4.1 The "Theory of Holes"

4.4.2 Cutting Rings into Trees

4.5 Conclusion

5 John Archibald Wheeler: Everything from Nothing.

5.1 Introduction

5.2 Philosophy of Approach to Elementary Particle Problem

5.3 Zero-rest-mass Fields

5.4 Quantum Foam

5.5 Natural Philosophy

5.6 Increasing Abstraction: Superspace

5.7 Pregeometry

5.8 Conclusion

6 Roger Penrose's Impossible Diagrams

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Spacetime Diagrams

6.3 Impossible Objects

6.4 The Bounds of Infinite Space

6.4.1 Boundary Conditions across Borders

6.4.2 An Atlas of Spacetime

6.4.3 Quantum/Relativistic/Cosmological/Astronomical Spacetimes

6.4.4 Narratives of Creation and Collapse

6.5 Conclusion

7 Sidney Coleman's False Vacuum

7.1 Introduction: Story and Symmetry

7.2 Partial Symmetries

7.3 Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

7.4 Secret Symmetry

7.5 Vacuum Stories

7.5.1 Classical Technique

7.5.2 True Fathers of the False Vacuum

7.5.3 Fate of the False Vacuum

7.6 Conclusion

8 Epilogue

9The Void

9.1 Overview

9.2 The Momentary Vacuum

9.3 The Real Vacuum

Appendix APerturbations

A.1 A Definition

A.2 An Example

Appendix BFluctuations

B.1 Mean-squared Fluctuations

B.2 Relativistic Fluctuations

Bibliography

Archives Consulted

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on May 21, 2024).

ISBN:

0-19-006283-5

0-19-006281-9

OCLC:

1422232884