Quantum Physics: A First Encounter: Interference, Entanglement, and Reality - Hardcover

Scarani, Valerio

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198570473 ISBN 13: 9780198570479

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2006

Synopsis

Quantum physics is often perceived as a weird and abstract theory, which physicists must use in order to make correct predictions. But many recent experiments have shown that the weirdness of the theory simply mirrors the weirdness of phenomena: it is Nature itself, and not only our description of it, that behaves in an astonishing way. This book selects those, among these typical quantum phenomena, whose rigorous description requires neither the formalism, nor an important background in physics.

The first part of the book deals with the phenomenon of single-particle interference, covering the historical questions of wave-particle duality, objective randomness and the boundary between the quantum and the classical world, but also the recent idea of quantum cryptography. The second part introduces the modern theme of entanglement, by presenting two-particle interference phenomena and discussing Bell's inequalities. A concise review of the main interpretations of quantum physics is provided.

About this title

About the Author

Valerio Scarani, Principal investigator at Centre for Quantum Technologies and professor, Department of Physics, National University of Singapore.

Valerio Scarani received his degree in 1996 in the Ecole Polytechnique Federale, Lausanne (Switzerland), with a work in mathematical physics. He got his Ph.D. from the same institution four years later with an experimental research project in nuclear magnetic resonance. He moved to the group of Nicolas Gisin at the University of Geneva, where he started working in theoretical quantum information science. Since 2007 he has been at the National University of Singapore, where he is currently principal investigator at the Centre for Quantum Technologies and a professor in the Department of Physics.

Review

"Valerio Scarani has done the teachers and lecturers of the world a huge favour in giving their students the chance to appreciate the wonders of quantum mechanics and to think deeply about the meaning of each postulate, each explanation and each experiment. His book is thought-provoking and skilfully planned and one I would heartily recommend." -- Contemporary Physics

Edition details

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0198570473
• ISBN 13: 9780198570479
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144