Book Description
Why does one theory "succeed" while another, possibly clearer interpretation, fails? By exploring two observationally equivalent yet conceptually incompatible views of quantum mechanics, James T. Cushing shows how historical contingency can be crucial to determining a theory's construction and its position among competing views.
Since the late 1920s, the theory formulated by Niels Bohr and his colleagues at Copenhagen has been the dominant interpretation of quantum mechanics. Yet an alternative interpretation, rooted in the work of Louis de Broglie in the early 1920s and reformulated and extended by David Bohm in the 1950s, equally well explains the observational data. Through a detailed historical and sociological study of the physicists who developed different theories of quantum mechanics, the debates within and between opposing camps, and the receptions given to each theory, Cushing shows that despite the preeminence of the Copenhagen view, the Bohm interpretation cannot be ignored. Cushing contends that the Copenhagen interpretation became widely accepted not because it is a better explanation of subatomic phenomena than is Bohm's, but because it happened to appear first.
Focusing on the philosophical, social, and cultural forces that shaped one of the most important developments in modern physics, this provocative book examines the role that timing can play in the establishment of theory and explanation.
Customer Reviews:
Down with Copenhagen!.......2004-05-04
Cushing does an excellent job of explaining why Bohr and the rest of the Copenhagen crew became dominant in the field of quantum physics, and presents a wonderful case for the reconsideration of David Bohm's alternate interpretation. Highly recommended for anyone who has asked themselves the question, "does quantum mechanics really have to be so quirky?"
Book Description
This book provides a detailed view of the conceptual foundations of quantum physics and a clear and comprehensive account of the fundamental physical implications of the quantum formalism. It deals with nonseparability, hidden variable theories, measurement theories, and several related problems. Mathematical arguments are presented with an emphasis on simple but representative cases. The conclusion incorporates a description of a set of relationships and concepts that could compose a legitimate view of the world.
Book Description
"Science is rooted in conversations," wrote Werner Heisenberg, one of the twentieth century's great physicists. In Quantum Dialogue, Mara Beller shows that science is rooted not just in conversation but in disagreement, doubt, and uncertainty. She argues that it is precisely this culture of dialogue and controversy within the scientific community that fuels creativity.
Beller draws her argument from her radical new reading of the history of the quantum revolution, especially the development of the Copenhagen interpretation. One of several competing approaches, this version succeeded largely due to the rhetorical skills of Niels Bohr and his colleagues. Using extensive archival research, Beller shows how Bohr and others marketed their views, misrepresenting and dismissing their opponents as "unreasonable" and championing their own not always coherent or well-supported position as "inevitable."
Quantum Dialogue, winner of the 1999 Morris D. Forkosch Prize of the Journal of the History of Ideas, will fascinate everyone interested in how stories of "scientific revolutions" are constructed and "scientific consensus" achieved.
Customer Reviews:
A revolution.......2006-06-26
A major sociological question is: how can we make a revolution?.
This question is adressed by Mara Beller in "Quantum Dialogue", which can be seen as a new way to look at the problem of social change beyond Kuhn's "Structure". Indeed, it is well written, informative and, sometimes, technical. But I believe technicalities are at the heart of physics, so, it is necessary to grasp them.
I recommend this reading for all physicists, sociologists and anarchists.
A must read book on history of Quantum Physics.......2001-06-20
This is the book to read all about the development of Quantum Theory day by day with quotations from individuals, excerpts from theor correspondances. It is shocking to read those geniousess vacciliatting on some concepts. I trust the author is providing actual data but most interesting was to read that Bohr was thinking about the factor on his Energy states factor and his decision to make it one half to match zero state energy. Mr. Heisenberg through out concepts not knowing what he was saying. This is the impression I got from the readings.Author has ceratinly knows a lot about the theory itself and makes clarifications to the arguments that they were shooting to each other.This book is a gem. This book is not for someone who does not know at least a littel about the theory itself otherwise you miss the story behind the correspondances.Recommend to all who is interested in the development of modern physics.
A paradigm shift in the making--terrific!.......2000-04-21
Mara Beller has written an exciting and very valuable portrait of physicists engaged in making a scientific revolution--the quantum revolution. Beller lets us see Niels Bohr and his colleagues as they worked to win general acceptance of the Copenhagen formulation of quantum physics through ongoing dialogues, in print, correspondence, and talks, with fellow scientists. She argues that Bohr et alia prevailed, not because their view is scientifically more robust but because they were more skillful in what amounts to public relations within the scientific community--they were more effective in selling their views. Beller recreates the controversies surrounding the development of quantum theory and the acceptance of the Copenhagen formulation as "the" established view in great detail. She supports her arguments with a mass of gracefully employed archival and published documentation, including some real gems--that one of Bohr's major papers was published with two pages reversed, and nobody noticed, for example. This book is a delight to read, and an important and absorbing book, for everyone interested in how scientists develop, advocate, debate, and come to accept a new theory. I have been skeptical about work in history and philosophy of science, but this book convinces me that the Science Wars are way off base--Beller clearly is knowledgeable about the physics, and about the scientific community too. Read this book especially if you are a scientist, and see if you don't recognize yourself and some of your colleages!
Average customer rating:
- Despair of Getting a Straight Answer
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Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Field Theory
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521631521 |
Book Description
Quantum field theory is a powerful language for the description of the subatomic constituents of the physical world and the laws and principles that govern them. This book contains up-to-date in-depth analyses, by a group of eminent physicists and philosophers of science, of our present understanding of its conceptual foundations, of the reasons why this understanding has to be revised so that the theory can go further, and of possible directions in which revisions may be promising and productive. These analyses will be of interest to graduate students and research workers in physics who want to know about the foundational problems of their subject. The book will also be of interest to professional philosophers, historians and sociologists of science, because it contains much material for metaphysical and methodological reflections, for historical and cultural analyses, and for sociological analyses of the way in which various factors contribute to the way the foundations are revised.
Customer Reviews:
Despair of Getting a Straight Answer.......2000-04-17
The organizer of this conference Tian Y. Cao, cannot be blamed for the truculence and peevishness of his confrerees. Make no mistake: there are some very good review articles here, but it seems whenever anyone (usually one of the philosophers in attendance) gets close to upsetting some particular theoretical applecarts - mostly the ad hoc parts of currently successful theories like renormalization 'group' and effective field theory in general - some member of the congregation gets miffed and wants to shut the discussion down. Almost like the way the cultural critics portray it! For example Fisher very boorishly cutting off Rovelli, over what?. the definition of 'ontic'?. Gee, maybe you shouldn't have signed up to be a lecturer if you don't know the terms. By the way, not only does the RG not have an inverse, since it seems to be sensitive to people making 'apt' renormalization transforms - maybe it isn't even CLOSED. There are some conceptual difficulties, but they were not addressed by the theorists: Since there are spacelike correlations between 'geminal' wavefunctions in quantum mechanics, to what extent is the cluster decomposition theorem, so beloved by field theorists like Weinberg and Wightman, inadmissible in any QUANTUM field theory?, what is the connection between a linear metric space (x+ict, in which the momentum and total energy subsist), and an affine vector space (y and z in which the e-m field subsists), and shouldn't there be transform between them?, and doesn't this have something to do with the fact that there is no natural units for length, especially volume, if one uses only 'h', 'c', 'e', and the square of the vector potential, but only if one includes 'G' - the gravitational constant? That is, Quantum Electrodynamics always uses nonrelativistically invariant 'box' normalizations for the e-m field. The philosophically inclined reader may like to check out H. Bacry's "Localizability and Space in Quantum Physics", for a second opinion on some of these issues.
Book Description
In this new edition, Arthur Fine looks at Einstein's philosophy of science and develops his own views on realism. A new Afterword discusses the reaction to Fine's own theory.
"What really led Einstein . . . to renounce the new quantum order? For those interested in this question, this book is compulsory reading."—Harvey R. Brown, American Journal of Physics
"Fine has successfully combined a historical account of Einstein's philosophical views on quantum mechanics and a discussion of some of the philosophical problems associated with the interpretation of quantum theory with a discussion of some of the contemporary questions concerning realism and antirealism. . . . Clear, thoughtful, [and] well-written."—Allan Franklin, Annals of Science
"Attempts, from Einstein's published works and unpublished correspondence, to piece together a coherent picture of 'Einstein realism.' Especially illuminating are the letters between Einstein and fellow realist Schrödinger, as the latter was composing his famous 'Schrödinger-Cat' paper."—Nick Herbert, New Scientist
"Beautifully clear. . . . Fine's analysis is penetrating, his own results original and important. . . . The book is a splendid combination of new ways to think about quantum mechanics, about realism, and about Einstein's views of both."—Nancy Cartwright, Isis
Customer Reviews:
Realism is dead! Long live realism!.......2005-11-28
Successive revolutionary developments in science have occasioned successive deaths, transformations, and revivals of realism, as firstly scientists and later laymen learn to see reality as new science describes it. In Concept of the Positron Hanson portrayed the reluctant acceptance of each successive theory's ontology as a progression from opaque black box to translucent gray box to transparent glass box. Such reflection on the history of science has yielded the contemporary pragmatist scientific realism, a realism that subordinates ontological claims to empirical criticism. But in his Shaky Game Fine says that realism is dead, and he advocates an alternative, his "natural ontological attitude" (NOA), which he calls a nonrealist commonsense epistemology (p.130).
Heisenberg practiced scientific realism, when he imitated Einstein's realism in relativity theory beyond Einstein's gratuitous ontological constraints. But in his chapter "Is Scientific Realism Compatible with Quantum Physics?" Fine creates several realist interpretations by supplementing the quantum theory with correspondence characterizations not affirmed by the theory, which he says are needed by even a minimal realism. But Fine's minimal realism is not minimal, because these correspondences are added to and separable from the quantum theory itself. They enable no new empirical tests or new predictions, and thus no empirically warranted ontological claims.
Today's pragmatic scientific realism is the thesis that a theory's ontology is described by the semantics defined by the context of universal discourse accepted as empirically warranted. This warranting language includes the empirically tested and nonfalsified theory and all its test-design language needed for measurement and/or other observation. It is otherwise silent, neither affirming nor denying additional ontological claims, although over time continuing experimental research will likely further enrich the theory's descriptive semantics and ontology. Readers are invited to Google my book History of Twentieth-Century Philosophy of Science at my web site philsci with free downloads, and to view my other reviews.
Thomas J. Hickey
Excellent discussion of myths and realities of QM........2001-04-16
Put simply, Professor Fine knows what he's talking about. Written at a level which is understandable to the lay reader with a minimum of scientific background, but with attention to detail that excludes any trite simplification, the Shaky Game details Einstein's work on and objections to the quantum theory as it was hammered together (mostly by the likes of Heisenberg et al in Copenhagen) during the 1920s.
Many misconceptions exist: such that Einstein was simply too old (in his 40s) at the time that these brilliant new thinkers (in their late 20s and 30s) were bringing together QM. Never mind that Einstein actually laid the groundwork for the theory in the 1910s and earlier, as well as working well into his golden years, Fine presents many other objections, mostly from Einstein's unpublished correspondance with other notable figures of the day.
Fine also presents his and several other alternate interpretations designed to circumvent the various snags that QM invariably encounters, all with some degree of success. All in all, its a good read, and solid physics too, which is an important and all too often forgotten aspect of physics philosophy.
Book Description
The conformal group is the invariance group of geometry (which is not understood), the largest one. Physical applications are implied, as discussed, including reasons for interactions. The group structure as well as those of related groups are analyzed. An inhomogeneous group is a subgroup of a homogeneous one because of nonlinearities of the realization. Conservation of baryons (protons can't decay) is explained and proven. Reasons for various realizations, so matrix elements, of the Lorentz group given. The clearly relevant mass level formula is compared with experimental values. Questions, implications and possibilities, including for differential equations, are raised.
Customer Reviews:
Awkward..........2007-06-15
First published in 2001 and now republished, this book is completely different from what you would expect from a "normal" textbook on mathematical physics. It has more text than formulae and the text is more or less a soup of self-citations and filled with personal scientific innuendo. The author, for instance, does not believe in the vacuum being "filled" with virtual particles, notwithstanding the experimental evidence for it, such as the Casimir effect. He calles people who do "believe" it (as if it were religion) "fools". He does not provide alternatives, but merely states his disapproval.
The text does NOT cover quantum field theory (just some (nearly trivial) basics on the Fock space at the end of the book, which can be found in any more advanced text on quantum mechanics), the conformal group is discussed neatly but not completely satisfactorily, and conformal field theory is treated very poorly (if at all!). Ronald Mirman hammers on "physics respecting its geometry", but does not provide much mathematical background for it.
Furthermore, the author is an independent researcher, which is underlined by the fact, that he does not know what belongs to a modern education in physics and what does not. He, for example, writes that the value of group theory is underappriciated in theoretical physics, which is absolutely nonsense: mathematical physics, especially particle physics, is soaked to the bone with the representation theory of Lie algebras (and in fact would not exist fully without it, to be frank).
The first chapter contains the relevance of the conformal group, in which the author does not state its application in statistical physics and string theory (which - in an online article - he thinks is useless and wrong). In this book, he talks about scale invariance of complete systems (and the role of dilations) and the relation between accelerated observers and special conformal transformations, which is interesting but not backed up mathematically much. In the second chapter, the Möbius group is treated on a basic level - the transformation of special curves (intersections of planes and conical surfaces) under the PSL(2,C) group. A bit on the Clifford algebra is given as well, but not much (and it is completely useless in the text apart from mentioning that there are fermions and bosons obeying different algebras). The conformal group, its subgroups and "similar" groups (compact and noncompact versions of so(n,m) and their covers su(n,m)) are given, but this is hardly a plus, since it is either so easy that any undergraduate could do the calculations or it is not relevant. The final chapter is about conformal field theory, but not in the usual sense (see books by e.g. Di Francesco e.a., Ketov, Kaku, Hankel, etc. for that). Mirman tries to explain what fields are and why they are useful, and what conformal transformations might be used for, but does not do much with it. Then, there are two appendices, which are not interesting either (representations of the Lorentz group & what masses of particles "tell" us - sounds more like a crystal ball to me than science!).
Besides, he says that (a large part of) mathematical literature "tries to hide [its] worthlessness under a pile of esoteric, but meaningless, language", which is more a self-description than a specification of mathematics.
The printing inside the book is okay, except that occasionally he inserts a Maple code into the text, which does not help anything and destroys the typesetting. The cover looks much better on the picture of amazon. In reality, it is a scan of the original 2001 cover, which has then been streched for the new one (at least it looks like that has been done) and one can see individual pixels.
The price is okay, although for 15$ you can get much better pieces on mathematics and physics from Dover Publications! Or invest a bit more for QFT by Itzykson & Zuber (Dover) and a CFT book by one of the authors given above.
Customer Reviews:
Old book new cover.......2007-05-17
I checked out the first 16 pages of this book (pdf) on the AMS website. This portion (10 percent of the book) appears to be run of the mill quantum mechanics textbook material on early quantum mechanics. It is a far cry from what one might expect from the title.
Average customer rating:
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Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Physics: An Overview from Modern Perspectives (The Language of Science)
Dipankar Home
Manufacturer: Springer
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ASIN: 0306456605 |
Book Description
This fascinating work goes beyond the standard interpretation of quantum theory to explore its fundamental concepts. Author Dipankar Home examines such alternative schemes as the Bohmian approach, the decoherence models, and the dynamical models of wave function collapse. Home carefully explains how a number of the anomalies in quantum theory have become amenable to precise quantitative formulations Throughout the chapters, the emphasis is on conceptual aspects of quantum theory and the implications of recent investigations into these questions.
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Lexington Introduction to Literature: Reading and Responding to Texts
Gary F. Waller
Manufacturer: D C Heath & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0669095567 |
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- Quantum Theory of Many-Particle Systems
- Research Techniques in Human Engineering
- Schaum's Outline of College Physics, 10th edition (Schaum's Outlines)
- Schaum's Outline of Electric Circuits
- Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics Explained by Its Most Brilliant Teacher (Helix Book.)
- Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity
- Spatio-Temporal Pattern Formation: With Examples from Physics, Chemistry, and Materials Science (Partially Ordered Systems)
- Statistical Mechanics: Principles and Applications
- Statistical Methods for Digital Computers
- String Theory, Vol. 1 : An Introduction to the Bosonic String (Cambridge Monographs on Mathematical Physics)
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