Stability Of Matter From Atoms To Stars : Selecta Of Elliott H. Lieb

Thirring, Walter E. (EDT); Lieb, Elliott H.

ISBN 10: 354022212X / ISBN 13: 9783540222125

Published by Springer, 2004

About this Item

Unread book in perfect condition.

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Bibliographic Details

• Title: Stability Of Matter From Atoms To Stars : Selecta Of Elliott H. Lieb
• Publisher: Springer
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 354022212X
• ISBN 13: 9783540222125
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 4th Edition
• Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

This fourth edition of selecta of my work on the stability of matter contains recent work on two topics that continue to fascinate me: Quantum electrodynamics (QED) and the Bose gas. Three papers have been added to Part VII on QED. As I mentioned in the preface to the third edition, there must be a way to formulate a non-perturbative QED, presumably with an ultraviolet cutoff, that correctly describes low energy physics, i.e., ordinary matter and its interaction with the electromagnetic field. The new paper VII.5, which “quantizes” the results in V.9, shows that the elementary ‘no-pair’ version of relativistic QED (using the Dirac operator) is unstable when many-body effects are taken into account. Stability can be restored, however, if the Dirac operator with the field, instead of the bare Dirac operator, is used to define an electron. Thus, the notion of a “bare” electron without its self-field is physically questionable.

From the Back Cover

This collection of papers -- starting with a brilliant article by one of the masters of the field -- gives an excellent current review of our knowledge of matter. Partially basing his own work on a variational formulation of quantum mechanics, E.H. Lieb links the difficult question of the stability of matter with important problems in functional analysis. Here the reader will find general results together with deep insights into quantum systems combined with papers on the structure of atoms and molecules, the thermodynamic limit, and stellar structures. The book is suitable as an accompanying text or recommended reading for a graduate course in quantum mechanics. In the third edition, two new sections were added: one contains papers on quantum electrodynamics, and the other on Boson systems. In this fourth edition, these topics have been further developed, extending the book by approximately 120 pages.