These twelve articles discuss aspects of quantum mechanics that owe their origin to the work of P. A. M. Dirac.

This book is devoted to aspects of the foundations of quantum mechanics in which probabilistic and statistical concepts play an essential role. The main part of the book concerns the quantitative statistical theory of quantum measurement, based on the notion of positive operator-valued measures. During the past years there has been substantial progress in this direction, stimulated to a great extent by new applications such as Quantum Optics, Quantum Communication and high-precision experiments. The questions of statistical interpretation, quantum symmetries, theory of canonical commutation relations and Gaussian states, uncertainty relations as well as new fundamental bounds concerning the accuracy of quantum measurements, are discussed in this book in an accessible yet rigorous way. Compared to the first edition, there is a new Supplement devoted to the hidden variable issue. Comments and the bibliography have also been extended and updated.

Aimed at graduate students and researchers, this book covers the key aspects of the modern quantum theory of solids, including up-to-date ideas such as quantum fluctuations and strong electron correlations. It presents in the main concepts of the modern quantum theory of solids, as well as a general description of the essential theoretical methods required when working with these systems. Diverse topics such as general theory of phase transitions, harmonic and anharmonic lattices, Bose condensation and superfluidity, modern aspects of magnetism including resonating valence bonds, electrons in metals, and strong electron correlations are treated using unifying concepts of order and elementary excitations. The main theoretical tools used to treat these problems are introduced and explained in a simple way, and their applications are demonstrated through concrete examples.

The theory of quantum fields on curved spacetimes has attracted great attention since the discovery, by Stephen Hawking, of black-hole evaporation. It remains an important subject for the understanding of such contemporary topics as inflationary cosmology, quantum gravity and superstring theory. This book provides, for mathematicians, an introduction to this field of physics in a language and from a viewpoint which such a reader should find congenial. Physicists should also gain from reading this book a sound grasp of various aspects of the theory, some of which have not been particularly emphasised in the existing review literature. The topics covered include normal-mode expansions for a general elliptic operator, Fock space, the Casimir effect, the 'Klein' paradox, particle definition and particle creation in expanding universes, asymptotic expansion of Green's functions and heat kernels, and renormalisation of the stress tensor. The style is pedagogic rather than formal; some knowledge of general relativity and differential geometry is assumed, but the author does supply background material on functional analysis and quantum field theory as required. The book arose from a course taught to graduate students and could be used for self-study or for advanced courses in relativity and quantum field theory.

This textbook gives a connected mathematical derivation of the important mathematical results, concentrating on the central ideas without including elaborate detail or unnecessary rigour, and explaining in the simplest terms the symbols and concepts which confront the researcher in solid state, nuclear or high-energy physics.

One of the aims of this book is to explain in a basic manner the seemingly difficult issues of mathematical structure using some specific examples as a guide. In each of the cases considered, a comprehensible physical problem is approached, to which the corresponding mathematical scheme is applied, its usefulness being duly demonstrated. The authors try to fill the gap that always exists between the physics of quantum field theories and the mathematical methods best suited for its formulation, which are increasingly demanding on the mathematical ability of the physicist. Contents: Survey of Path Integral Quantization and Regularization Techniques; The Zeta-Function Regularization Method; Generalized Spectra and Spectral Functions on Non-Commutative Spaces; Spectral Functions of Laplace Operator on Locally Symmetric Spaces; Spinor Fields; Field Fluctuations and Related Variances; The Multiplicative Anomaly; Applications of the Multiplicative Anomaly; The Casimir Effect. Readership: Mathematical and high energy physicists.

Quantum field theory (QFT) provides the framework for many fundamental theories in modern physics, and over the last few years there has been growing interest in its historical and philosophical foundations. This anthology on the foundations of QFT brings together 15 essays by well-known researchers in physics, the philosophy of physics, and analytic philosophy.Many of these essays were first presented as papers at the conference “Ontological Aspects of Quantum Field Theory”, held at the Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF), Bielefeld, Germany. The essays contain cutting-edge work on ontological aspects of QFT, including: the role of measurement and experimental evidence, corpuscular versus field-theoretic interpretations of QFT, the interpretation of gauge symmetry, and localization.This book is ideally suited to anyone with an interest in the foundations of quantum physics, including physicists, philosophers and historians of physics, as well as general readers interested in philosophy or science.

Over the last century quantum field theory has made a significant impact on the formulation and solution of mathematical problems and inspired powerful advances in pure mathematics. However, most accounts are written by physicists, and mathematicians struggle to find clear definitions and statements of the concepts involved. This graduate-level introduction presents the basic ideas and tools from quantum field theory to a mathematical audience. Topics include classical and quantum mechanics, classical field theory, quantization of classical fields, perturbative quantum field theory, renormalization, and the standard model. The material is also accessible to physicists seeking a better understanding of the mathematical background, providing the necessary tools from differential geometry on such topics as connections and gauge fields, vector and spinor bundles, symmetries and group representations.

This textbook presents quantum mechanics at the junior/senior undergraduate level. It is unique in that it describes not only quantum theory, but also presents five laboratories that explore truly modern aspects of quantum mechanics. These laboratories include "proving" that light contains photons, single-photon interference, and tests of local realism. The text begins by presenting the classical theory of polarization, moving on to describe the quantum theory of polarization. Analogies between the two theories minimize conceptual difficulties that students typically have when first presented with quantum mechanics. Furthermore, because the laboratories involve studying photons, using photon polarization as a prototypical quantum system allows the laboratory work to be closely integrated with the coursework. Polarization represents a two-dimensional quantum system, so the introduction to quantum mechanics uses two-dimensional state vectors and operators. This allows students to become comfortable with the mathematics of a relatively simple system, before moving on to more complicated systems. After describing polarization, the text goes on to describe spin systems, time evolution, continuous variable systems (particle in a box, harmonic oscillator, hydrogen atom, etc.), and perturbation theory. The book also includes chapters which describe material that is frequently absent from undergraduate texts: quantum measurement, entanglement, quantum field theory and quantum information. This material is connected not only to the laboratories described in the text, but also to other recent experiments. Other subjects covered that do not often make their way into undergraduate texts are coherence, complementarity, mixed states, the density operator and coherent states. Supplementary material includes further details about implementing the laboratories, including parts lists and software for running the experiments. Computer simulations of some of the experiments are available as well. A solutions manual for end-of-chapter problems is available to instructors.