Quantum Reprogramming: Ensembles and Single Systems-a Two-tier Approach to Quantum Mechanics

E.J. Post

ISBN 10: 9048145759 / ISBN 13: 9789048145751

Published by Springer Netherlands, 1995

About this Item

332 pages. 9.25x6.25x0.77 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # x-9048145759

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Quantum Reprogramming: Ensembles and Single Systems-a Two-tier Approach to Quantum Mechanics
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Publication Date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9048145759
• ISBN 13: 9789048145751
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.52 kilograms

About this title

Synopsis

Many, perhaps most textbooks of quantum mechanics present a Copenhagen, single system angle; fewer present the subject matter as an instrument for treating ensembles, but the two methods have been silently coexisting since the mid-Thirties. This lingering dichotomy of purpose for a major physical discipline has much shrouded further insights into the foundations of quantum theory.
Quantum Reprogramming resolves this long-standing dichotomy by examining the mutual relation between single systems and ensembles, assigning each its own tools for treating the subject at hand: i.e., Schrödinger-Dirac methods for ensembles versus period integrals for single systems.
A unified treatment of integer and fractional quantum Hall effects and a finite description of the electron's anomalies are mentioned as measures of justification for the chosen procedure of resolving an old-time dichotomy. The methods of presentation are, in part, elementary, with repetitive references needed to delineate differences with respect to standard methods. The parts on period integrals are developed with a perspective on elementary methods in physics, thus leading up to some standard results of de Rham theory and algebraic topology.
Audience: Students of physics, mathematics, philosophers as well as outsiders with a general interest in the conceptual development of physics will find useful reading in these pages, which will stimulate further inquiry and study.