A Guide through the Mysteries of Quantum Physics!Yakir Aharonov is one of the pioneers in measuring theory, the nature of quantum correlations, superselection rules, and geometric phases and has been awarded numerous scientific honors. The author has contributed monumental concepts to theoretical physics, especially the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the Aharonov-Casher effect. Together with Daniel Rohrlich of the Weizmann Institute, Israel, he has written a pioneering work on the remaining mysteries of quantum mechanics. From the perspective of a preeminent researcher in the fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics, the text combines mathematical rigor with penetrating and concise language
A Guide through the Mysteries of Quantum Physics!Yakir Aharonov is one of the pioneers in measuring theory, the nature of quantum correlations, superselection rules, and geometric phases and has been awarded numerous scientific honors. The author has contributed monumental concepts to theoretical physics, especially the Aharonov-Bohm effect and the Aharonov-Casher effect. Together with Daniel Rohrlich of the Weizmann Institute, Israel, he has written a pioneering work on the remaining mysteries of quantum mechanics. From the perspective of a preeminent researcher in the fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics, the text combines mathematical rigor with penetrating and concise language
Written for advanced undergraduates, physicists, and historians and philosophers of physics, this book tells the story of the development of our understanding of quantum phenomena through the extraordinary years of the first three decades of the twentieth century. Rather than following the standard axiomatic approach, this book adopts a historical perspective, explaining clearly and authoritatively how pioneers such as Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Pauli and Dirac developed the fundamentals of quantum mechanics and merged them into a coherent theory, and why the mathematical infrastructure of quantum mechanics has to be as complex as it is. The author creates a compelling narrative, providing a remarkable example of how physics and mathematics work in practice. The book encourages an enhanced appreciation of the interaction between mathematics, theory and experiment, helping the reader gain a deeper understanding of the development and content of quantum mechanics than any other text at this level.
This oral history interview provides Yakir Aharonov's personal and conceptual recollections from the 1950s to the 2000s, focusing on his academic trajectory, some of his major contributions to quantum foundations, and his perspective on the development of the field. The interview traces Aharonov's academic career through the Technion, University of Bristol, Brandeis University, Yeshiva University, University of South Carolina, Tel Aviv University, George Mason University, and Chapman University. The interview also traces the development of Aharonov's work and collaborations on the EPR paradox, time-energy uncertainty relations, quantum measurement theory, quantum frames of reference, the two-state vector formalism, weak values, protective measurements, and several other contributions. It includes recollections of meetings and discussions with David Bohm, Niels Bohr, John Clauser, Paul Dirac, Rudolf Peierls, Aage Petersen, and Abner Shimony. Also mentioned: David Albert, Jeeva Anandan, Peter Bergmann, Gideon Carmi, Avshalom Elitzur, Dave Finkelstein, Vladimir Fock, Itzhak Kalugai, Ed Lerner, Joel Lebowitz, Stanley Mandelstam, Yuval Ne'eman, Sandu Popescu, Maurice Pryce, Daniel Rohrlich, Nathan Rosen, Joseph Safko, Paul Singer, Daniele Struppa, Leonard Susskind, Lev Vaidman, Chien-Shiung Wu.
Ever since Yakir Aharonov and David Bohm pointed out, in 1959, that electrons propagating around a magnetic field through a field-free vacuum should exhibit a quite surprising interference effect, its experimental and theoretical investigation has been contributing to our understanding of the fundamental character of the quantum theory. The recent appearance of this Aharonov–Bohm effect in a rather different context may eventually have a profound effect on our view of the solid state on a “mesoscopic” scale—between the microscopic and the truly macroscopic.
This textbook provides a concise yet comprehensive introduction to the principles, concepts, and methods of quantum mechanics. It covers the basic building blocks of quantum mechanics theory and applications, illuminated throughout by physical insights and examples of quantum mechanics, such as the one-dimensional eigen-problem, the harmonic oscillator, the Aharonov-Bohm effect, Landau levels, the hydrogen atom, the Landau-Zener transition and the Berry phase. This self-contained textbook is suitable for junior and senior undergraduate students, in addition to advanced students who have studied general physics (including classical mechanics, electromagnetics, and atomic physics), calculus, and linear algebra. Key features: Presents an accessible and concise treatment of quantum mechanics Contains a wealth of case studies and examples to illustrate concepts Based off the author's established course and lecture notes
Written for a two-semester graduate course in Quantum Mechanics, this comprehensive text helps develop the tools and formalism of Quantum Mechanics and its applications to physical systems. It suits students who have taken some introductory Quantum Mechanics and Modern Physics courses at undergraduate level, but it is self-contained and does not assume any specific background knowledge beyond appropriate fluency in mathematics. The text takes a modern logical approach rather than a historical one and it covers standard material, such as the hydrogen atom and the harmonic oscillator, the WKB approximations and Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization. Important modern topics and examples are also described, including Berry phase, quantum information, complexity and chaos, decoherence and thermalization, nonstandard statistics, as well as more advanced material such as path integrals, scattering theory, multiparticles and Fock space. Readers will gain a broad overview of Quantum Mechanics, as solid preparation for further study or research.
Eugene D. Commins takes an experimentalist's approach to quantum mechanics, preferring to use concrete physical explanations over formal, abstract descriptions to address the needs and interests of a diverse group of students. Keeping physics at the foreground and explaining difficult concepts in straightforward language, Commins examines the many modern developments in quantum physics, including Bell's inequalities, locality, photon polarization correlations, the stability of matter, Casimir forces, geometric phases, Aharonov-Bohm and Aharonov-Casher effects, magnetic monopoles, neutrino oscillations, neutron interferometry, the Higgs mechanism, and the electroweak standard model. The text is self-contained, covering the necessary background on atomic and molecular structure in addition to the traditional topics. Developed from the author's well-regarded course notes for his popular first-year graduate course at UC Berkeley, instruction is supported by over 160 challenging problems to illustrate concepts and provide students with ample opportunity to test their knowledge and understanding.