This book presents a variety of techniques for tackling phenomena that are not amenable to the conventional approach based on the concept of probabilities. The methods described rely on the use of path integration, thermal Green functions, time-temperature propagators, Liouville operators, second quantization, and field correlators at finite density and temperature. Also exploring the statistical mechanics of unstable quantum systems, the book is intended as a supplementary or reference text for use in one-semester graduate courses on Quantum Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, and Mathematical Methods in Physics.

Dirac's formalism of quantum mechanics was always praised for its elegance. This book introduces the student to its mathematical foundations and demonstrates its ease of applicability to problems in quantum physics. The book starts by describing in detail the concept of Gel'fand triplets and how one can make use of them to make the Dirac heuristic approach rigorous. The results are then deepened by giving the analytic tools, such as the Hardy class function and Hilbert and Mellin transforms, needed in applications to physical problems. Next, the RHS model for decaying states based on the concept of Gamow vectors is presented. Applications are given to physical theories of such phenomena as decaying states and resonances.