This is a unique 21st-century monograph that reveals a basic, yet deep understanding of the universe, as well as the human mind and body ?? all from the perspective of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.This book starts with both non-mathematical and mathematical preliminaries. It presents the basics of both non-relativistic and relativistic quantum mechanics, and introduces Feynman path integrals and their application to quantum fields and string theory, as well as some non-quantum applications. It then describes the quantum universe in the form of loop quantum gravity and quantum cosmology. Lastly, the book turns to the human body and mind, applying quantum theory to electro-muscular stimulation and consciousness. It can be used as a graduate (or advanced undergraduate) textbook for a two-semester course in quantum physics and its modern applications. Some parts of the book can also be used by engineers, biologists, psychologists and computer scientists, as well as applied mathematicians, both in industry and academia.

This is a unique 21st-century monograph that reveals a basic, yet deep understanding of the universe, as well as the human mind and body — all from the perspective of quantum mechanics and quantum field theory.This book starts with both non-mathematical and mathematical preliminaries. It presents the basics of both non-relativistic and relativistic quantum mechanics, and introduces Feynman path integrals and their application to quantum fields and string theory, as well as some non-quantum applications. It then describes the quantum universe in the form of loop quantum gravity and quantum cosmology. Lastly, the book turns to the human body and mind, applying quantum theory to electro-muscular stimulation and consciousness.It can be used as a graduate (or advanced undergraduate) textbook for a two-semester course in quantum physics and its modern applications. Some parts of the book can also be used by engineers, biologists, psychologists and computer scientists, as well as applied mathematicians, both in industry and academia.

New Trends in Control Theory is a graduate-level monographic textbook. It is a contemporary overview of modern trends in control theory. The introductory chapter gives the geometrical and quantum background, which is a necessary minimum for comprehensive reading of the book. The second chapter gives the basics of classical control theory, both linear and nonlinear. The third chapter shows the key role that Euclidean group of rigid motions plays in modern robotics and biomechanics. The fourth chapter gives an overview of modern quantum control, from both theoretical and measurement perspectives. The fifth chapter presents modern control and synchronization methods in complex systems and human crowds. The appendix provides the rest of the background material complementary to the introductory chapter. The book is designed as a one-semester course for engineers, applied mathematicians, computer scientists and physicists, both in industry and academia. It includes a most relevant bibliography on the subject and detailed index.

The book Complexity and Control: Towards a Rigorous Behavioral Theory of Complex Dynamical Systems is a graduate-level monographic textbook, intended to be a novel and rigorous contribution to modern Complexity Theory.This book contains 11 chapters and is designed as a one-semester course for engineers, applied and pure mathematicians, theoretical and experimental physicists, computer and economic scientists, theoretical chemists and biologists, as well as all mathematically educated scientists and students, both in industry and academia, interested in predicting and controlling complex dynamical systems of arbitrary nature.

Mathematics of Autonomy provides solid mathematical foundations for building useful Autonomous Systems. It clarifies what makes a system autonomous rather than simply automated, and reveals the inherent limitations of systems currently incorrectly labeled as autonomous in reference to the specific and strong uncertainty that characterizes the environments they operate in. Such complex real-world environments demand truly autonomous solutions to provide the flexibility and robustness needed to operate well within them.This volume embraces hybrid solutions to demonstrate extending the classes of uncertainty autonomous systems can handle. In particular, it combines physical-autonomy (robots), cyber-autonomy (agents) and cognitive-autonomy (cyber and embodied cognition) to produce a rigorous subset of trusted autonomy: Cyber-Physical-Cognitive autonomy (CPC-autonomy).The body of the book alternates between underlying theory and applications of CPC-autonomy including 'Autonomous Supervision of a Swarm of Robots' , 'Using Wind Turbulence against a Swarm of UAVs' and 'Unique Super-Dynamics for All Kinds of Robots (UAVs, UGVs, UUVs and USVs)' to illustrate how to effectively construct Autonomous Systems using this model. It avoids the wishful thinking that characterizes much discussion related to autonomy, discussing the hard limits and challenges of real autonomous systems. In so doing, it clarifies where more work is needed, and also provides a rigorous set of tools to tackle some of the problem space.

This volume examines the limitations of mathematical logic and proposes a new approach to logic intended to overcome them. To this end, the book compares mathematical logic with earlier views of logic, both in the ancient and in the modern age, including those of Plato, Aristotle, Bacon, Descartes, Leibniz, and Kant. From the comparison it is apparent that a basic limitation of mathematical logic is that it narrows down the scope of logic confining it to the study of deduction, without providing tools for discovering anything new. As a result, mathematical logic has had little impact on scientific practice. Therefore, this volume proposes a view of logic according to which logic is intended, first of all, to provide rules of discovery, that is, non-deductive rules for finding hypotheses to solve problems. This is essential if logic is to play any relevant role in mathematics, science and even philosophy. To comply with this view of logic, this volume formulates several rules of discovery, such as induction, analogy, generalization, specialization, metaphor, metonymy, definition, and diagrams. A logic based on such rules is basically a logic of discovery, and involves a new view of the relation of logic to evolution, language, reason, method and knowledge, particularly mathematical knowledge. It also involves a new view of the relation of philosophy to knowledge. This book puts forward such new views, trying to open again many doors that the founding fathers of mathematical logic had closed historically. trigger

This book explores the role of scientific evidence within United Nations (UN) deliberation by examining the negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), endorsed by Member States in 2015. Using the SDGs as a case study, this book addresses a key gap in our understanding of the role of evidence in contemporary international policy-making. It is structured around three overarching questions: (1) how does scientific evidence influence multilateral policy development within the UN General Assembly? (2) how did evidence shape the goals and targets that constitute the SDGs?; and (3) how did institutional arrangements and non-state actor engagements mediate the evidence-to-policy process in the development of the SDGs? The ultimate intention is to tease out lessons on global policy-making and to understand the influence of different evidence inputs and institutional factors in shaping outcomes. To understand the value afforded to scientific evidence within multilateral deliberation, a conceptual framework is provided drawing upon literature from policy studies and political science, including recent theories of evidence-informed policy-making and new institutionalism. It posits that the success or failure of evidence informing global political processes rests upon the representation and access of scientific stakeholders, levels of community organisation, the framing and presentation of evidence, and time, including the duration over which evidence and key conceptual ideas are presented. Cutting across the discussion is the fundamental question of whose evidence counts and how expertise is defined? The framework is tested with specific reference to three themes that were prominent during the SDG negotiation process; public health (articulated in SDG 3), urban sustainability (articulated in SDG 11), and data and information systems (which were a cross-cutting theme of the dialogue). Within each, scientific communities had specific demands and through an exploration of key literature, including evidence inputs and UN documentation, as well as through key informant interviews, the translation of these scientific ideas into policy priorities is uncovered. The intended audiences of this book include academic practitioners studying evidence to policy processes, multilateral negotiation and/or UN policy planning. The book also intends to provide useful insights for policy makers, including UN diplomats, officials and staff working to improve the quality of evidence communication and uptake within multilateral institutions. Finally, it aims to support the whole global academic and scientific community, including students of public policy and political science, by providing insights on how to input into, influence, and even shape international evidence-informed policy-making.

'This is about gob-smacking science at the far end of reason ... Take it nice and easy and savour the experience of your mind being blown without recourse to hallucinogens' Nicholas Lezard, Guardian For most people, quantum theory is a byword for mysterious, impenetrable science. And yet for many years it was equally baffling for scientists themselves. In this magisterial book, Manjit Kumar gives a dramatic and superbly-written history of this fundamental scientific revolution, and the divisive debate at its core. Quantum theory looks at the very building blocks of our world, the particles and processes without which it could not exist. Yet for 60 years most physicists believed that quantum theory denied the very existence of reality itself. In this tour de force of science history, Manjit Kumar shows how the golden age of physics ignited the greatest intellectual debate of the twentieth century. Quantum theory is weird. In 1905, Albert Einstein suggested that light was a particle, not a wave, defying a century of experiments. Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle and Erwin Schrodinger's famous dead-and-alive cat are similarly strange. As Niels Bohr said, if you weren't shocked by quantum theory, you didn't really understand it. While "Quantum" sets the science in the context of the great upheavals of the modern age, Kumar's centrepiece is the conflict between Einstein and Bohr over the nature of reality and the soul of science. 'Bohr brainwashed a whole generation of physicists into believing that the problem had been solved', lamented the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Murray Gell-Mann. But in "Quantum", Kumar brings Einstein back to the centre of the quantum debate. "Quantum" is the essential read for anyone fascinated by this complex and thrilling story and by the band of brilliant men at its heart.

Fascinating facts and mind-boggling science of the human body. Built from the debris of exploding stars that floated through space for billions of years, and controlled by a brain with more possible connections than there are atoms in the universe, the human body is the most incredible thing in existence.