This volume examines the logic, theory and mathematics of quantum mechanics in a clear and thorough way.

This volume examines the logic, theory and mathematics of quantum mechanics in a clear and thorough way.

From the bestselling author of The Theoretical Minimum, a DIY introduction to the math and science of quantum physics First he taught you classical mechanics. Now, physicist Leonard Susskind has teamed up with data engineer Art Friedman to present the theory and associated mathematics of the strange world of quantum mechanics. In this follow-up to The Theoretical Minimum, Susskind and Friedman provide a lively introduction to this famously difficult field, which attempts to understand the behavior of sub-atomic objects through mathematical abstractions. Unlike other popularizations that shy away from quantum mechanics’ weirdness, Quantum Mechanics embraces the utter strangeness of quantum logic. The authors offer crystal-clear explanations of the principles of quantum states, uncertainty and time dependence, entanglement, and particle and wave states, among other topics, and each chapter includes exercises to ensure mastery of each area. Like The Theoretical Minimum, this volume runs parallel to Susskind’s eponymous Stanford University-hosted continuing education course. An approachable yet rigorous introduction to a famously difficult topic, Quantum Mechanics provides a tool kit for amateur scientists to learn physics at their own pace.

The twentieth century has witnessed a striking transformation in the un derstanding of the theories of mathematical physics. There has emerged clearly the idea that physical theories are significantly characterized by their abstract mathematical structure. This is in opposition to the tradi tional opinion that one should look to the specific applications of a theory in order to understand it. One might with reason now espouse the view that to understand the deeper character of a theory one must know its abstract structure and understand the significance of that struc ture, while to understand how a theory might be modified in light of its experimental inadequacies one must be intimately acquainted with how it is applied. Quantum theory itself has gone through a development this century which illustrates strikingly the shifting perspective. From a collection of intuitive physical maneuvers under Bohr, through a formative stage in which the mathematical framework was bifurcated (between Schrödinger and Heisenberg) to an elegant culmination in von Neumann's Hilbert space formulation the elementary theory moved, flanked even at the later stage by the ill-understood formalisms for the relativistic version and for the field-theoretic altemative; after that we have a gradual, but constant, elaboration of all these quantal theories as abstract mathematical struc tures (their point of departure being von Neumann's formalism) until at the present time theoretical work is heavily preoccupied with the manip ulation of purely abstract structures.

This volume provides a broad perspective on the state of the art in the philosophy and conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. Its essays take their starting point in the work and influence of Itamar Pitowsky, who has greatly influenced our understanding of what is characteristically non-classical about quantum probabilities and quantum logic, and this serves as a vantage point from which they reflect on key ongoing debates in the field. Readers will find a definitive and multi-faceted description of the major open questions in the foundations of quantum mechanics today, including: Is quantum mechanics a new theory of (contextual) probability? Should the quantum state be interpreted objectively or subjectively? How should probability be understood in the Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics? What are the limits of the physical implementation of computation? The impact of this volume goes beyond the exposition of Pitowsky’s influence: it provides a unique collection of essays by leading thinkers containing profound reflections on the field. Chapter 1. Classical logic, classical probability, and quantum mechanics (Samson Abramsky) Chapter 2. Why Scientific Realists Should Reject the Second Dogma of Quantum Mechanic (Valia Allori) Chapter 3. Unscrambling Subjective and Epistemic Probabilities (Guido Bacciagaluppi) Chapter 4. Wigner’s Friend as a Rational Agent (Veronika Baumann, Časlav Brukner) Chapter 5. Pitowsky's Epistemic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics and the PBR Theorem (Yemima Ben-Menahem) Chapter 6. On the Mathematical Constitution and Explanation of Physical Facts (Joseph Berkovitz) Chapter 7. Everettian probabilities, the Deutsch-Wallace theorem and the Principal Principle (Harvey R. Brown, Gal Ben Porath) Chapter 8. ‘Two Dogmas’ Redu (Jeffrey Bub) Chapter 9. Physical Computability Theses (B. Jack Copeland, Oron Shagrir) Chapter 10. Agents in Healey’s Pragmatist Quantum Theory: A Comparison with Pitowsky’s Approach to Quantum Mechanics (Mauro Dorato) Chapter 11. Quantum Mechanics As a Theory of Observables and States and, Thereby, As a Theory of Probability (John Earman, Laura Ruetsche) Chapter 12. The Measurement Problem and two Dogmas about Quantum Mechanic (Laura Felline) Chapter 13. There Is More Than One Way to Skin a Cat: Quantum Information Principles In a Finite World(Amit Hagar) Chapter 14. Is Quantum Mechanics a New Theory of Probability? (Richard Healey) Chapter 15. Quantum Mechanics as a Theory of Probability (Meir Hemmo, Orly Shenker) Chapter 16. On the Three Types of Bell's Inequalities (Gábor Hofer-Szabó) Chapter 17. On the Descriptive Power of Probability Logic (Ehud Hrushovski) Chapter 18. The Argument against Quantum Computers (Gil Kalai) Chapter 19. Why a Relativistic Quantum Mechanical World Must be Indeterministic (Avi Levy, Meir Hemmo) Chapter 20. Subjectivists about Quantum Probabilities Should be Realists about Quantum States (Wayne C. Myrvold) Chapter 21. The Relativistic Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument (Michael Redhead) Chapter 22. What price statistical independence? How Einstein missed the photon.(Simon Saunders) Chapter 23. How (Maximally) Contextual is Quantum Mechanics? (Andrew W. Simmons) Chapter 24. Roots and (Re)Sources of Value (In)Definiteness Versus Contextuality (Karl Svozil) Chapter 25: Schrödinger’s Reaction to the EPR Paper (Jos Uffink) Chapter 26. Derivations of the Born Rule (Lev Vaidman) Chapter 27. Dynamical States and the Conventionality of (Non-) Classicality (Alexander Wilce).

Quantum Logic deals with the foundations of quantum mechanics and, related to it, the behaviour of finite, discrete deterministic systems. The quantum logical approach is particulalry suitable for the investigation and exclusion of certain hidden parameter models of quantum mechanics. Conversely, it can be used to embed quantum universes into classical ones. It is also highly relevant for the characterization of finite automation. This book has been written with a broad readership in mind. Great care has been given to the motivation of the concepts and to the explicit and detailed discussions of examples.

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.

Although ideas from quantum physics play an important role in many parts of modern mathematics, there are few books about quantum mechanics aimed at mathematicians. This book introduces the main ideas of quantum mechanics in language familiar to mathematicians. Readers with little prior exposure to physics will enjoy the book's conversational tone as they delve into such topics as the Hilbert space approach to quantum theory; the Schrödinger equation in one space dimension; the Spectral Theorem for bounded and unbounded self-adjoint operators; the Stone–von Neumann Theorem; the Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin approximation; the role of Lie groups and Lie algebras in quantum mechanics; and the path-integral approach to quantum mechanics. The numerous exercises at the end of each chapter make the book suitable for both graduate courses and independent study. Most of the text is accessible to graduate students in mathematics who have had a first course in real analysis, covering the basics of L2 spaces and Hilbert spaces. The final chapters introduce readers who are familiar with the theory of manifolds to more advanced topics, including geometric quantization.

Quantum mechanics is said to be the most successful physical theory ever. It is, in fact, unique in its success when applied to concrete physical problems. On the other hand, however, it raises profound conceptual problems that are equally unprecedented. Quantum logic, the topic of this volume, can be described as an attempt to cast light on the puzzle of quantum mechanics from the point of view of logic. Since its inception in the famous 1936 paper by Birkhoff and von Neumann entitled, "The logic of quantum mechanics, quantum logic has undergone an enormous development. Various schools of thought and approaches have emerged, and there are a variety of technical results. The chapters of this volume constitute a comprehensive presentation of the main schools, approaches and results in the field of quantum logic. - Authored by eminent scholars in the field - Material presented is of recent origin representing the frontier of the subject - Provides the most comprehensive and varied discussion of Quantum Mechanics available

Note: The three volumes are not sequential but rather independent of each other and largely self-contained.Basic Matters is a first introduction to quantum mechanics that does not assume any prior knowledge of the subject. The emphasis is on the general structure as the necessary foundation of any understanding. Starting from the simplest quantum phenomenon, the Stern-Gerlach experiment with its choice between two discrete outcomes, and ending with one-dimensional continuous systems, the physical concepts and notions as well as the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics are developed in successive, manageable steps. The presentation is modern inasmuch as the natural language of the trade - Dirac's kets and bras and so on - is introduced early, and the temporal evolution is dealt with in a picture-free manner, with Schrodinger's and Heisenberg's equations of motion side by side and on equal footing.The reader of Simple Systems is not expected to be familiar with the material in Basic Matters, but should have the minimal knowledge of a standard brief introduction to quantum mechanics with its typical emphasis on one-dimensional position wave functions. The step to Dirac's more abstract and much more powerful formalism is taken immediately, followed by reviews of quantum kinematics and quantum dynamics. The important standard examples (force-free motion, constant force, harmonic oscillator, hydrogen-like atoms) are then treated in considerable detail, whereby a nonstandard perspective is offered wherever it is deemed feasible and useful. A final chapter is devoted to approximation methods, from the Hellmann-Feynman theorem to the WKB quantization rule.Perturbed Evolution has a closer link to Simple Systems than that volume has to Basic Matters, but any reader familiar with the subject matter of a solid introduction to quantum mechanics - such as Dirac's formalism of kets and bras, Schrodinger's and Heisenberg's equations of motion, and the standard examples that can be treated exactly, with harmonic oscillators and hydrogen-like atoms among them - can cope with the somewhat advanced material of this volume. The basics of kinematics and dynamics are reviewed at the outset, including discussions of Bohr's principle of complementarity and Schwinger's quantum action principle. The Born series, the Lippmann-Schwinger equation, and Fermi's golden rule are recurring themes in the treatment of the central subject matter - the evolution in the presence of perturbing interactions for which there are no exact solutions as one has them for the standard examples in Simple Systems. The scattering by a localized potential is regarded as a perturbed evolution of a particular kind and is dealt with accordingly. The unique features of the scattering of indistinguishable quantum objects illustrate the nonclassical properties of bosons and fermions and prepare the groundwork for a discussion of multi-electron atoms."