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Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Quantum physics (quantum mechanics)
Fundamentals of Quantum Mechanics, Third Edition is a clear and
detailed introduction to quantum mechanics and its applications in
chemistry and physics. All required math is clearly explained,
including intermediate steps in derivations, and concise review of
the math is included in the text at appropriate points. Most of the
elementary quantum mechanical models-including particles in boxes,
rigid rotor, harmonic oscillator, barrier penetration, hydrogen
atom-are clearly and completely presented. Applications of these
models to selected "real world" topics are also included. This new
edition includes many new topics such as band theory and heat
capacity of solids, spectroscopy of molecules and complexes
(including applications to ligand field theory), and small
molecules of astrophysical interest.
Metaphysicians should pay attention to quantum mechanics. Why? Not
because it provides definitive answers to many metaphysical
questions-the theory itself is remarkably silent on the nature of
the physical world, and the various interpretations of the theory
on offer present conflicting ontological pictures. Rather, quantum
mechanics is essential to the metaphysician because it reshapes
standard metaphysical debates and opens up unforeseen new
metaphysical possibilities. Even if quantum mechanics provides few
clear answers, there are good reasons to think that any adequate
understanding of the quantum world will result in a radical
reshaping of our classical world-view in some way or other.
Whatever the world is like at the atomic scale, it is almost
certainly not the swarm of particles pushed around by forces that
is often presupposed. This book guides readers through the theory
of quantum mechanics and its implications for metaphysics in a
clear and accessible way. The theory and its various
interpretations are presented with a minimum of technicality. The
consequences of these interpretations for metaphysical debates
concerning realism, indeterminacy, causation, determinism, holism,
and individuality (among other topics) are explored in detail,
stressing the novel form that the debates take given the empirical
facts in the quantum domain. While quantum mechanics may not
deliver unconditional pronouncements on these issues, the range of
possibilities consistent with our knowledge of the empirical world
is relatively small-and each possibility is metaphysically
revisionary in some way. This book will appeal to researchers,
students, and anybody else interested in how science informs our
world-view.
A series of seminal technological revolutions has led to a new
generation of electronic devices miniaturized to such tiny scales
where the strange laws of quantum physics come into play. There is
no doubt that, unlike scientists and engineers of the past,
technology leaders of the future will have to rely on quantum
mechanics in their everyday work. This makes teaching and learning
the subject of paramount importance for further progress. Mastering
quantum physics is a very non-trivial task and its deep
understanding can only be achieved through working out real-life
problems and examples. It is notoriously difficult to come up with
new quantum-mechanical problems that would be solvable with a
pencil and paper, and within a finite amount of time. This book
remarkably presents some 700+ original problems in quantum
mechanics together with detailed solutions covering nearly 1000
pages on all aspects of quantum science. The material is largely
new to the English-speaking audience. The problems have been
collected over about 60 years, first by the lead author, the late
Prof. Victor Galitski, Sr. Over the years, new problems were added
and the material polished by Prof. Boris Karnakov. Finally, Prof.
Victor Galitski, Jr., has extended the material with new problems
particularly relevant to modern science.
Volume 3 of this three-part series presents more advanced topics
and applications of relativistic quantum field theory. The
application of quantum chromodynamics to high-energy particle
scattering is discussed with concrete examples for how to compute
QCD scattering cross sections. Experimental evidence for the
existence of quarks and gluons is then presented within the context
of the naive quark model and beyond. In addition the text reviews
our current understanding of the weak interaction, unified
electroweak theory and the Brout-Higgs-Englert mechanism for the
generation of gauge boson masses. The last two chapters contain a
self-contained introduction to finite temperature quantum field
theory with concrete examples focusing on the high-temperature
thermodynamics of scalar field theories, QED and QCD.
A deeper understanding of neutrinos, with the goal to reveal their
nature and exact role within particle physics, is at the frontier
of current research. This book reviews the field in a concise
fashion and highlights the most pressing issues, in addition to the
strongest areas of topical interest. The text provides a clear,
self-contained, and logical treatment of the fundamental physics
aspects appropriate for graduate students. Starting with the
relevant basics of the SM, neutrinos are introduced and the quantum
mechanical effect of oscillations is explained in detail. A strong
focus is then set on the phenomenon of lepton number violation,
especially in 0nbb decay, as the crucial probe to understand the
nature of neutrinos. The role of neutrinos in astrophysics -
expected to be of increasing importance for future research - is
then described. Finally, models to explain the neutrino properties
are outlined. The central theme of the book is the nature of
neutrino masses and the above topics revolve around this issue.
Volume 1 of this three-part series introduces the fundamental
concepts of quantum field theory using the formalism of canonical
quantization. This volume is intended for use as a text for an
introductory quantum field theory course that can include both
particle and condensed matter physics students. Starting with a
brief review of classical field theory as a jumping off point for
the quantization of classical fields, thereby promoting them to
proper quantum fields, formalism for real and complex scalar field
theories is then presented, followed by fermion field quantization,
gauge field quantization, toy models of the nuclear interaction,
and finally the full Lagrangian for QED and its renormalization.
Volume 2 of this three-part series presents the quantization of
classical field theory using the path integral formalism. For
students who wish to learn about relativistic quantum field theory
applied to particle physics, this accessible text is also useful
for students of condensed matter. Beginning with an introduction of
the path integral formalism for non-relativistic quantum mechanics,
the formalism is extended to quantum fields with an infinite number
of degrees of freedom. How to quantize gauge fields using the
Fadeev-Popov method, and fermionic fields using Grassman algebra,
is also explored before the path integral formulation of quantum
chromodynamics and its renormalization is presented. Finally, the
role played by topological solutions in non-abelian gauge theories
is discussed.
The study of light has been an important part of science from its
beginning. The ancient Greeks and, prior to the Middle Ages,
Islamic scholars provided important insights. With the coming of
the Scientific Revolution in the 16th and 17th centuries, optics,
in the shape of telescopes and microscopes, provided the means to
study the universe from the very distant to the very small. Newton
introduced a scientific study of the nature of light itself and
today optics remains a key element of modern science, not only as
an enabling technology, but in quantum optics, as a means of
testing our fundamental understanding of quantum theory and the
nature of reality itself.
Elements of Photoionization Quantum Dynamics Methods focuses on the
RMT approach for multiphoton quantum dynamics, which is employed to
tackle the problem of laser-induced atomic dynamics. This recently
developed formulation has shown the potential to become one of the
mainstream ab initio theoretical approaches capable of describing
the quantum dynamics of multielectron quantum systems exposed in
ultrashort intense laser pulses lasting at the femtosecond
timescale ( 10-15 sec). The method itself builds on the
division-of-space concept and has evolved as an extension of the
well-established atomic R-matrix method to incorporate time in its
formulation. It is this way that its name was inherited, R-matrix
with time incorporation (RMT), although no R-matrix appears
anywhere in the formulation.
Electrostatic accelerators have been at the forefront of modern
technology since 1932, when Sir John Cockroft and Ernest Walton
developed the first accelerator. Although the electrostatic
accelerator field is more than 90 years old, the field and the
number of accelerators is growing more rapidly than ever. This book
provides an overview of the basic science and technology that
underlies the electrostatic accelerator field so it can serve as a
reference guide and textbook for accelerator engineers as well as
students and researchers who work with electrostatic accelerators.
Our understanding of subatomic particles developed over many years,
although a clear picture of the different particles, their
interactions and their inter-relationships only emerged in the
latter part of the twentieth century. The first subatomic particles
to be investigated were those which exhibit readily observable
macroscopic behavior, specifically these are the photon, which we
observe as light and the electron, which is manifested as
electricity. The true nature of these particles, however, only
became clear within the last century or so. The development of the
Standard Model provided clarification of the way in which various
particles, specifically the hadrons, relate to one another and the
way in which their properties are determined by their structure.
The final piece, perhaps, of the final model, that is the means by
which some particles acquire mass, has just recently been clarified
with the observation of the Higgs boson. Since the 1970s it has
been known that the measured solar neutrino flux was inconsistent
with the flux predicted by solar models. The existence of neutrinos
with mass would allow for neutrino flavor oscillations and would
provide an explanation for this discrepancy. Only in the past few
years, has there been clear experimental evidence that neutrinos
have mass. The description of particle structure on the basis of
the Standard Model, along with recent discoveries concerning
neutrino properties, provides us with a comprehensive picture of
the properties of subatomic particles. Part I of the present book
provides an overview of the Standard Model of particle physics
including an overview of the discovery and properties of the Higgs
boson. Part II of the book summarizes the important investigations
into the physics of neutrinos and provides an overview of the
interpretation of these studies.
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Do we have free will? Is the universe
compatible with God? Do we live in a computer simulation? Does the
universe think? Physicists are great at complicated research, but
they are less good at telling us why it matters. In this
entertaining and groundbreaking book, theoretical physicist Sabine
Hossenfelder breaks down why we should care. Drawing on the latest
research in quantum mechanics, black holes, string theory and
particle physics, Existential Physics explains what modern physics
can tell us about the big questions. Filled with counterintuitive
insights and including interviews with other leading scientists,
this clear and yet profound book will reshape your understanding of
science and the limits of what we can know.
This textbook describes the physics of semiconductor nanostructures
with emphasis on their electronic transport properties. At its
heart are five fundamental transport phenomena: quantized
conductance, tunnelling transport, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, the
quantum Hall effect, and the Coulomb blockade effect.
The book starts out with the basics of solid state and
semiconductor physics, such as crystal structure, band structure,
and effective mass approximation, including spin-orbit interaction
effects important for research in semiconductor spintronics. It
contains material aspects such as band engineering, doping, gating,
and a selection of nanostructure fabrication techniques. The book
discusses the Drude-Boltzmann-Sommerfeld transport theory as well
as conductance quantization and the Landauer-Buttiker theory. These
concepts are extended to mesoscopic interference phenomena and
decoherence, magnetotransport, and interaction effects in
quantum-confined systems, guiding the reader from fundamental
effects to specialized state-of-the-art experiments.
The book will provide a thorough introduction into the topic for
graduate and PhD students, and will be a useful reference for
lecturers and researchers working in the field.
Quantum mechanical problems capable of exact solution are
traditionally solved in a few instances only (such as the harmonic
oscillator and angular momentum) by operator methods, but mainly by
means of Schrodinger's wave mechanics. The present volume shows
that a large range of one- and three- dimensional problems,
including certain relativistic ones, are solvable by algebraic,
representation-independent methods using commutation relations,
shift operators, the viral, hyperviral, and Hellman-Feynman
theorems. Applications of these operator methods to the calculation
of eigenvalues, matrix elements, and wavefunctions are discussed in
detail. This volume provides an outstanding introduction to the use
of operator methods in quantum mechanics, and also serves as a
reference work on this topic. As such it is an excellent complement
to senior and graduate courses in quantum mechanics. Although
primarily a book on applications of operator methods, the
presentation is made self-contained by the inclusion of an
introductory chapter on the formalism of quantum mechanics.
Additional background material supplements the volume at various
points in the text. Although there has been much research on
operator methods to solve quantum mechanical problems, until now
many of these results have remained scattered throughout the
literature. Nonspecialists, as well as graduate and upper division
students in physics will find this accessible volume to be
essential reading in theoretical physics.
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