Operational Quantum Physics offers a systematic presentation of quantum mechanics which makes exhaustive use of the full probabilistic structure of this theory. Accordingly the notion of an observable as a positive operator valued (POV) measure is explained in great detail, and the ensuing quantum measurement theory is developed and applied both to a resolution of long-standing conceptual and interpretational puzzles in the foundations of quantum mechanics, and to an analysis of various recent fundamental experiments. The book, or different parts of it, may be of interest to advanced students or researchers in quantum physics, to philosophers of physics, and to mathematicians working in operator valued measures.

Operational Quantum Physics offers a systematic presentation of quantum mechanics which makes exhaustive use of the full probabilistic structure of this theory. Accordingly the notion of an observable as a positive operator valued (POV) measure is explained in great detail, and the ensuing quantum measurement theory is developed and applied both to a resolution of long-standing conceptual and interpretational puzzles in the foundations of quantum mechanics, and to an analysis of various recent fundamental experiments. The book, or different parts of it, may be of interest to advanced students or researchers in quantum physics, to philosophers of physics, and to mathematicians working in operator valued measures.

This is a book about the Hilbert space formulation of quantum mechanics and its measurement theory. It contains a synopsis of what became of the Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics since von Neumann’s classic treatise with this title. Fundamental non-classical features of quantum mechanics—indeterminacy and incompatibility of observables, unavoidable measurement disturbance, entanglement, nonlocality—are explicated and analysed using the tools of operational quantum theory. The book is divided into four parts: 1. Mathematics provides a systematic exposition of the Hilbert space and operator theoretic tools and relevant measure and integration theory leading to the Naimark and Stinespring dilation theorems; 2. Elements develops the basic concepts of quantum mechanics and measurement theory with a focus on the notion of approximate joint measurability; 3. Realisations offers in-depth studies of the fundamental observables of quantum mechanics and some of their measurement implementations; and 4. Foundations discusses a selection of foundational topics (quantum-classical contrast, Bell nonlocality, measurement limitations, measurement problem, operational axioms) from a measurement theoretic perspective. The book is addressed to physicists, mathematicians and philosophers of physics with an interest in the mathematical and conceptual foundations of quantum physics, specifically from the perspective of measurement theory.

This book provides the first unified overview of the burgeoning research area at the interface between Quantum Foundations and Quantum Information. Topics include: operational alternatives to quantum theory, information-theoretic reconstructions of the quantum formalism, mathematical frameworks for operational theories, and device-independent features of the set of quantum correlations. Powered by the injection of fresh ideas from the field of Quantum Information and Computation, the foundations of Quantum Mechanics are in the midst of a renaissance. The last two decades have seen an explosion of new results and research directions, attracting broad interest in the scientific community. The variety and number of different approaches, however, makes it challenging for a newcomer to obtain a big picture of the field and of its high-level goals. Here, fourteen original contributions from leading experts in the field cover some of the most promising research directions that have emerged in the new wave of quantum foundations. The book is directed at researchers in physics, computer science, and mathematics and would be appropriate as the basis of a graduate course in Quantum Foundations.

In this undergraduate textbook, now in its 2nd edition, the author develops the quantum theory from first principles based on very simple experiments: a photon traveling through beam splitters to detectors, an electron moving through magnetic fields, and an atom emitting radiation. From the physical description of these experiments follows a natural mathematical description in terms of matrices and complex numbers. The first part of the book examines how experimental facts force us to let go of some deeply held preconceptions and develops this idea into a description of states, probabilities, observables, and time evolution. The quantum mechanical principles are illustrated using applications such as gravitational wave detection, magnetic resonance imaging, atomic clocks, scanning tunneling microscopy, and many more. The first part concludes with an overview of the complete quantum theory. The second part of the book covers more advanced topics, including the concept of entanglement, the process of decoherence or how quantum systems become classical, quantum computing and quantum communication, and quantum particles moving in space. Here, the book makes contact with more traditional approaches to quantum physics. The remaining chapters delve deeply into the idea of uncertainty relations and explore what the quantum theory says about the nature of reality. The book is an ideal accessible introduction to quantum physics, tested in the classroom, with modern examples and plenty of end-of-chapter exercises.

The nonlocality phenomena exhibited by entangled quantum systems are certainly one of the most extraordinary aspects of quantum theory. This book discusses this phe nomenon according to several points of view, i.e., according to different interpretations of the mathematics of the quantum formalism. The several interpretations of the Copenhagen interpretation, the many worlds, the de Broglie-Bohm, quantum logics, the decohering by the environment approach and the histories approach interpretations are scrutinized and criticized in detail. Recent results on cryptography, quantum bit commitment, quantum erasers and teleportation are also presented and discussed. In preparing the book we benefited from discussions with many people, but we would like, in particular, to express our gratitude to Professor B. d'Espagnat for his useful comments and suggestions. We are grateful also to Ms. L. Gentry EI-Dash for the English revision, to Dr. 1. E. Maiorino for the production of the figures and a careful reading of the manuscript, and for the statI of Plenum for advice and for having produced a nice book. Finally, the authors thank FAPESP (contract no. I 99612657-0) for a grant making this book possible. A. A. ORIB AND W. A. RODRIGUES, JR.

This title gives students a good understanding of how quantum mechanics describes the material world. The text stresses the continuity between the quantum world and the classical world, which is merely an approximation to the quantum world.

Operational Quantum Theory I is a distinguished work on quantum theory at an advanced algebraic level. The classically oriented hierarchy with objects such as particles as the primary focus, and interactions of these objects as the secondary focus is reversed with the operational interactions as basic quantum structures. Quantum theory, specifically nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, is developed from the theory of Lie group and Lie algebra operations acting on both finite and infinite dimensional vector spaces. In this book, time and space related finite dimensional representation structures and simple Lie operations, and as a non-relativistic application, the Kepler problem which has long fascinated quantum theorists, are dealt with in some detail. Operational Quantum Theory I features many structures which allow the reader to better understand the applications of operational quantum theory, and to provide conceptually appropriate descriptions of the subject. Operational Quantum Theory I aims to understand more deeply on an operational basis what one is working with in nonrelativistic quantum theory, but also suggests new approaches to the characteristic problems of quantum mechanics.