'A gripping new drama in science ... if you want to understand how the concept of life is changing, read this' Professor Andrew Briggs, University of Oxford When Darwin set out to explain the origin of species, he made no attempt to answer the deeper question: what is life? For generations, scientists have struggled to make sense of this fundamental question. Life really does look like magic: even a humble bacterium accomplishes things so dazzling that no human engineer can match it. And yet, huge advances in molecular biology over the past few decades have served only to deepen the mystery. So can life be explained by known physics and chemistry, or do we need something fundamentally new? In this penetrating and wide-ranging new analysis, world-renowned physicist and science communicator Paul Davies searches for answers in a field so new and fast-moving that it lacks a name, a domain where computing, chemistry, quantum physics and nanotechnology intersect. At the heart of these diverse fields, Davies explains, is the concept of information: a quantity with the power to unify biology with physics, transform technology and medicine, and even to illuminate the age-old question of whether we are alone in the universe. From life's murky origins to the microscopic engines that run the cells of our bodies, The Demon in the Machine is a breath-taking journey across the landscape of physics, biology, logic and computing. Weaving together cancer and consciousness, two-headed worms and bird navigation, Davies reveals how biological organisms garner and process information to conjure order out of chaos, opening a window on the secret of life itself.

"Semiclassical Physics" explores the fascinating and deep connection between classical motion and quantum fluctuations. The book conveys a way of describing quantum effects in a physical system using the periodic orbit theory of Gutzwiller, which focuses on the classical dynamics of the system. The authors seek to demonstrate its usefulness for understanding quantum fluctuations in interacting many-body systems, exhibiting the close link of the shorter classical periodic orbits with the partly resolved shell fluctuations. The extended Thomas-Fermi model is developed in detail and shown to describe the average properties of finite fermion systems in a self-consistent mean-field approach. The new, updated paperback edition includes: Basic introduction to semiclassical physics for the general reader Elementary derivation of the Gutzwiller trace formula for chaotic systems; thorough discussion of its extensions to mixed and integrable systems, uniform approximations, and diffractive corrections Unified presentation of extended Thomas-Fermi model, Wigner-Kirkwood expansion, Weyl and Euler-MacLaurin expansions, and Strutinsky averaging Relations of the Gutzwiller theory to the Selberg trace formula and Bogomolny's transfer-matrix method Applications to finite fermion systems in nuclear, atomic and condensed matter physics Analytical examples and educational problems with hints to their solution Appendices to facilitate further detailed study The book addresses graduate students with a basic knowledge of classical and quantum mechanics and scientists with an interest in semiclassical methods. The approach is informal, guided largely by simple solvable models and by practical applications toreal physical phenomena.

Fundamental does for physics what Tim's first book, Elemental, does for chemistry: it demystifies the topic in his trademark humorous, engaging style, including the most recent developments in the field. At the start of the twentieth century, science appeared complete and the laws of nature were almost all discovered, but then we woke a sleeping giant - we discovered quantum mechanics. In the quantum realm, objects can be in two places at once. It's a place where time travel is not only possible, but necessary. It's a place where cause and effect can happen in reverse and observing something changes its state. From parallel universes to antimatter, quantum mechanics has revealed that when you get right down to it, the laws of nature are insane. The scientist J. B. S. Haldane once said, 'Reality is not only stranger than we imagine . . . it's stranger than we can imagine.' Never is this more true than with quantum mechanics; our best, most recent attempt to make sense of the fundamental laws of nature. Fundamental is a comprehensive beginner's guide to quantum mechanics, explaining not only the weirdness of the subject but the experiments that proved it to be true. Using a humorous and light-hearted approach, Fundamental tells the story of how the most brilliant minds in science grappled with seemingly impossible ideas and gave us everything from microchips to particle accelerators. Fundamental gives clear explanations of all the quantum phenomena known to modern science, without requiring an understanding of complex mathematics; tells the eccentric stories of the scientists who made these shattering discoveries and what they used them for; explains how quantum field theory (a topic not covered in detail by any other popular-science book) gave rise to particle physics and why the Higgs boson isn't the end of the story.

Niels Bohr, who pioneered the quantum theory of the atom, had a broad conception of his obligations as a physicist. They included not only a responsibility for the consequences of his work for the wider society, but also a compulsion to apply the philosophy he deduced from his physics to improving ordinary people's understanding of the moral universe they inhabit. In some of these concerns Bohr resembled Einstein, although Einstein could not accept what he called the "tranquilizing philosophy" with which Bohr tried to resolve such ancient conundrums as the nature (or possibility) of free will. In this Very Short Introduction John Heilbron draws on sources never before presented in English to cover the life and work of one of the most creative physicists of the 20th century. In addition to his role as a scientist, Heilbron considers Bohr as a statesman and Danish cultural icon, who built scientific institutions and pushed for the extension of international cooperation in science to all nation states. As a humanist he was concerned with the cultivation of all sides of the individual, and with the complementary contributions of all peoples to the sum of human culture. Throughout, Heilbron considers how all of these aspects of Bohr's personality influenced his work, as well as the science that made him, in the words of Sir Henry Dale, President of the Royal Society of London, probably the "first among all the men of all countries who are now active in any department of science." ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Stephen Hawking’s phenomenal, multimillion-copy bestseller, A Brief History of Time, introduced the ideas of this brilliant theoretical physicist to readers all over the world.

Now, in a major publishing event, Hawking returns with a lavishly illustrated sequel that unravels the mysteries of the major breakthroughs that have occurred in the years since the release of his acclaimed first book.

The Universe in a Nutshell

• Quantum mechanics
• M-theory
• General relativity
• 11-dimensional supergravity
• 10-dimensional membranes
• Superstrings
• P-branes
• Black holes

One of the most influential thinkers of our time, Stephen Hawking is an intellectual icon, known not only for the adventurousness of his ideas but for the clarity and wit with which he expresses them. In this new book Hawking takes us to the cutting edge of theoretical physics, where truth is often stranger than fiction, to explain in laymen’s terms the principles that control our universe.

Like many in the community of theoretical physicists, Professor Hawking is seeking to uncover the grail of science — the elusive Theory of Everything that lies at the heart of the cosmos. In his accessible and often playful style, he guides us on his search to uncover the secrets of the universe — from supergravity to supersymmetry, from quantum theory to M-theory, from holography to duality.

He takes us to the wild frontiers of science, where superstring theory and p-branes may hold the final clue to the puzzle. And he lets us behind the scenes of one of his most exciting intellectual adventures as he seeks “to combine Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity and Richard Feynman’s idea of multiple histories into one complete unified theory that will describe everything that happens in the universe.”

With characteristic exuberance, Professor Hawking invites us to be fellow travelers on this extraordinary voyage through space-time. Copious four-color illustrations help clarify this journey into a surreal wonderland where particles, sheets, and strings move in eleven dimensions; where black holes evaporate and disappear, taking their secret with them; and where the original cosmic seed from which our own universe sprang was a tiny nut.

The Universe in a Nutshell is essential reading for all of us who want to understand the universe in which we live. Like its companion volume, A Brief History of Time, it conveys the excitement felt within the scientific community as the secrets of the cosmos reveal themselves.

At the heart of quantum mechanics lies the wave function, a powerful but mysterious mathematical object which has been a hot topic of debate from its earliest stages. Covering much of the recent debate and providing a comprehensive and critical review of competing approaches, this ambitious text provides new, decisive proof of the reality of the wave function. Aiming to make sense of the wave function in quantum mechanics and to find the ontological content of the theory, this book explores new ontological interpretations of the wave function in terms of random discontinuous motion of particles. Finally, the book investigates whether the suggested quantum ontology is complete in solving the measurement problem and if it should be revised in the relativistic domain. A timely addition to the literature on the foundations of quantum mechanics, this book is of value to students and researchers with an interest in the philosophy of physics.

Quantum Machine Learning bridges the gap between abstract developments in quantum computing and the applied research on machine learning. Paring down the complexity of the disciplines involved, it focuses on providing a synthesis that explains the most important machine learning algorithms in a quantum framework. Theoretical advances in quantum computing are hard to follow for computer scientists, and sometimes even for researchers involved in the field. The lack of a step-by-step guide hampers the broader understanding of this emergent interdisciplinary body of research. Quantum Machine Learning sets the scene for a deeper understanding of the subject for readers of different backgrounds. The author has carefully constructed a clear comparison of classical learning algorithms and their quantum counterparts, thus making differences in computational complexity and learning performance apparent. This book synthesizes of a broad array of research into a manageable and concise presentation, with practical examples and applications.

Das vorliegende Tutorium richtet sich an alle, die endlich einmal von der Pike auf die Physik und Mathematik der Quantenmechanik verstehen wollen: Was genau ist eigentlich ein Hilbert-Raum? Was ist ein hermitescher Operator? Ein Tensorprodukt? Ein verschrankter Zustand? Inwiefern sind Wellenfunktionen Vektoren? Das Buch behandelt den Stoff der entsprechenden Kursvorlesung im Rahmen der theoretischen Physik einpragsam und auf eine gut verstandliche Weise. Es konzentriert sich dabei auf die allgemeinen Postulate der Quantenmechanik und geht auch auf die Fragestellung hinsichtlich der Interpretation der Quantenmechanik ein. Jeder Schritt und jeder neue Begriff wird anhand von einfachen Beispielen erlautert. Der Autor legt dabei grossen Wert auf die Klarheit der verwendeten Mathematik - etwas, das er und viele Studenten in anderen Lehrbuchern bislang oft vermissen mussten. Durch diesen Schwerpunkt ist das Buch auch sehr gut fur Mathematiker geeignet, die sich mit dem Thema auseinandersetzen wollen.In der Prufungsvorbereitung eignet sich das Buch besonders gut zur Klarung von Begriffen und Verstandnisfragen. Die im Text eingestreuten "Fragen zum Selbstcheck" und UEbungsaufgaben mit Loesungen unterstutzen das Lernen zusatzlich. In der zweiten, uberarbeiteten Auflage wurde u.a. das Kapitel "Quantenpandamonium" erganzt. Hier werden verschiedene erstaunliche Quantenphanomene (beispielsweise Delayed-Choice Experiment, Wechselwirkungsfreie Messung, Quantenradierer) und das Kochen-Specker Theorem diskutiert.

Antimatter explores a strange mirror world, where particles have identical yet opposite properties to those that make up the familiar matter we encounter everyday; where left becomes right, positive becomes negative; and where, should matter and antimatter meet, the two annihilate in a blinding flash of energy that makes even thermonuclear explosions look feeble by comparison. It is an idea long beloved of science-fiction stories-but here, renowned science writer Frank Close shows that the reality of antimatter is even more fascinating than the fiction itself. We know that once, antimatter and matter existed in perfect counterbalance, and that antimatter then perpetrated a vanishing act on a cosmic scale that remains one of the greatest mysteries of the universe. Today, antimatter does not exist normally, at least on Earth, but we know that it is real for scientists are now able to make small pieces of it in particle accelerators, such as that at CERN in Geneva. Looking at the remarkable prediction of antimatter and how it grew from the meeting point of relativity and quantum theory in the early 20th century, at the discovery of the first antiparticles, at cosmic rays, annihilation, antimatter bombs, and antiworlds, Close separates the facts from the fiction about antimatter, and explains how its existence can give us profound clues about the origins and structure of the universe. Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think.

This book provides an introduction to the emerging field of quantum thermodynamics, with particular focus on its relation to quantum information and its implications for quantum computers and next generation quantum technologies. The text, aimed at graduate level physics students with a working knowledge of quantum mechanics and statistical physics, provides a brief overview of the development of classical thermodynamics and its quantum formulation in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 then explores typical thermodynamic settings, such as cycles and work extraction protocols, when the working material is genuinely quantum. Finally, Chapter 3 explores the thermodynamics of quantum information processing and introduces the reader to some more state of-the-art topics in this exciting and rapidly developing research field.

This book provides a tutorial on quantum communication networks. The authors discuss current paradigm shifts in communication networks that are needed to add computing and storage to the simple transport ideas of prevailing networks. They show how these 'softwarized' solutions break new grounds to reduce latency and increase resilience. The authors discuss how even though these solutions have inherent problems due to introduced computing latency and energy consumption, the problems can be solved by hybrid classical-quantum communication networks. The book brings together quantum networking, quantum information theory, quantum computing, and quantum simulation.

Using an innovative approach that students find both accessible and exciting, A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics, Second Edition lays out the foundations of quantum mechanics through the physics of intrinsic spin. Written to serve as the primary textbook for an upper-division course in quantum mechanics, Townsend's text gives professors and students a refreshing alternative to the old style of teaching, by allowing the basic physics of spin systems to drive the introduction of concepts such as Dirac notation, operators, eigenstates and eigenvalues, time evolution in quantum mechanics, and entanglement. Chapters 6 through 10 cover the more traditional subjects in wave mechanics - the Schroedinger equation in position space, the harmonic oscillator, orbital angular momentum, and central potentials - but they are motivated by the foundations developed in the earlier chapters. Students using this text will perceive wave mechanics as an important aspect of quantum mechanics, but not necessarily the core of the subject. Subsequent chapters are devoted to perturbation theory, identical particles, scattering, and the interaction of atoms with radiation, and an optional chapter on path integrals is also included. This new edition has been revised throughout to include many more worked examples and end-of-chapter problems, further enabling students to gain a complete mastery of quantum mechanics. It also includes new sections on quantum teleportation, the density operator, coherent states, and cavity quantum electrodynamics.

This book is a comprehensive text in the field of quantum mechanics, covering fundamental concepts including the state of a quantum mechanical system, operators, superposition principle and measurement postulate. The notion of an operator and the algebra of operators are introduced with the help of elementary concepts of mathematical analysis. Mathematical tools developed will help readers in understanding the difficulties encountered in classical physics while trying to explain the experimental results involving atomic spectra and other phenomena. The differential equations that arise while solving eigenvalue problems are solved rigorously, to make the text self-sufficient. The solutions are then physically interpreted and explained. The text offers solved examples, analogous and homework problems to help students in solving practical problems of physics requiring quantum mechanical treatment.

@lt;P@gt;This book gives a modern, comprehensive introduction to the principles of quantum mechanics, to the main approximation methods and to the application of quantum theory to a wide variety of systems. The needs of students having an average mathematical ability are kept very much in mind, with the avoidance of complex mathematical arguments and any undue compression of material@lt;/P@gt;

Quantum field theory has been a great success for physics, but it is difficult for mathematicians to learn because it is mathematically incomplete. Folland, who is a mathematician, has spent considerable time digesting the physical theory and sorting out the mathematical issues in it. Fortunately for mathematicians, Folland is a gifted expositor. The purpose of this book is to present the elements of quantum field theory, with the goal of understanding the behavior of elementary particles rather than building formal mathematical structures, in a form that will be comprehensible to mathematicians. Rigorous definitions and arguments are presented as far as they are available, but the text proceeds on a more informal level when necessary, with due care in identifying the difficulties. The book begins with a review of classical physics and quantum mechanics, then proceeds through the construction of free quantum fields to the perturbation-theoretic development of interacting field theory and renormalization theory, with emphasis on quantum electrodynamics. The final two chapters present the functional integral approach and the elements of gauge field theory, including the Salam-Weinberg model of electromagnetic and weak interactions.

Quantum mechanics is traditionally associated with microscopic systems; however, quantum concepts have also been successfully applied to a diverse range of macroscopic systems both within and outside of physics. This book describes how complex systems from a variety of fields can be modelled using quantum mechanical principles; from biology and ecology, to sociology and decision-making. The mathematical basis of these models is covered in detail, furnishing a self-contained and consistent approach. This book provides unique insight into the dynamics of these macroscopic systems and opens new interdisciplinary research frontiers. It will be an essential resource for students and researchers in applied mathematics or theoretical physics who are interested in applying quantum mechanics to dynamical systems in the social, biological or ecological sciences.