Second quantization-an introduction

Michael G Cottam, Zahra Haghshenasfard

Poul Jørgensen, Jack Simons

Ana Marı́a Cetto, Luis de la Peña

Chapter 17 begins by approaching the general problem of a quantum system subject to a time-dependent perturbation. We then apply perturbation theory to the interaction of atomic matter with the radiation field and derive the most important radiative corrections. Atomic transitions – both induced and spontaneous – are discussed in detail, with some important applications. The formal introduction of field quantization allows us to make contact with quantum electrodynamics and quantum optics and discuss the Jaynes–Cummings model. Stochastic electrodynamics, in which the matter–field interaction is not a perturbation but is present ab initio, is used to explain atomic stability and its breakdown leading to radiative transitions. In the same spirit, the quantization of the field is physically justified by deriving the conventionally postulated field operators and their basic commutators. The chapter ends with a brief introduction to second quantization, an elegant and powerful formalism for describing and analyzing quantum many-body systems.

Anatoliy K. Prykarpatsky, Nikolai N. Bogolubov, Jolanta Golenia +1 more

Introductive backgrounds of a new mathematical physics discipline - Quantum Mathematics - are discussed and analyzed both from historical and analytical points of view. The magic properties of the second quantization method, invented by V. Fock in 1932, are demonstrated, and an impressive application to the nonlinear dynamical systems theory is considered.