Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Physics Bulletin

Quantum Theory of Collective Phenomena: Monographs on the Physics and Chemistry of Materials

L T Wide

Published Dec 1, 1986• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

G L Sewell 1986 Oxford: Oxford University Press xiii + 229 pp price £35 ISBN 0 19 851371 2 Many macroscopic phenomena (phase transitions being the prime example) are not easily amenable to a quantum mechanical treatment. The reason is that, although quantum mechanical in nature, they are also collective: they involve the cooperation of a very large number of particles and cannot merely be reduced to the properties of individual atoms and molecules.

DOI
10.1088/0031-9112/37/12/039

Related papers

Quantum Mechanics for Mathematicians and Physicists

Nicholas Kemmer

By Ernest Ikenberry London: Oxford University Press. Pp. xii + 269. Price 64s. The number of quantum mechanics texts available nowadays is so large that when another one appears it is a priori unlikely to show any great novelty of treatment or to promise to score heavily over its rivals. Choice of one particular treatment for teaching or learning purposes must become a matter of personal preferences not easily justified in detail.

Physics Bulletin•Nov 1, 1963•8 citations

Problems in Quantum Mechanics

R. C. Johnson

F Constantinescu and E Magyari Oxford: Pergamon 1971 pp vii + 410 price £5.70 This is a translation of a book apparently first published in eastern Europe two or three years ago and aimed at advanced undergraduates and beginning research students. It contains 319 solved problems, arranged in a dozen subject groups which include not only reasonably high level treatments of the standard topics (mathematical formalism, onedimensional models, angular momentum, atoms and molecules, various approximation methods) but also large sections on systems of identical particles and second quantization, on scattering theory and on relativistic quantum mechanics (the last two subjects together occupying over a quarter of the book).

Physics Bulletin•Sep 1, 1971•46 citations

The Many Body Problem

Roger Arthur Cowley

W E Parry London: Oxford University Press 1973 pp x + 213 price £6.25 The techniques which have been developed to describe the many body problem are now widely used in the theory of condensed matter and of nuclear and atomic structure. Because of this it is becoming increasingly important for both experimental and theoretical physicists in these fields to be familiar with these techniques.

Physics Bulletin•Aug 1, 1974•0 citations

A Survey of Hidden Variables Theories

J A Spiers

F J Belinfante Oxford: Pergamon Press 1973 pp xix + 354 price £8 It is a well known consequence of quantum theory that, because of the uncertainty principle, it is impossible even in theory to predict exactly the observable outcome of any process on the atomic or subatomic scale; only the probabilities of various possible outcomes can be predicted. Although most physicists accept this state of affairs with equanimity there have always been those who regard it as unsatisfactory and who attempt to modify the theory so as to make it strictly deterministic, while retaining its many remarkable successes in accounting for observable phenomena.

Physics Bulletin•Dec 1, 1974•15 citations

Problems in Quantum Mechanics

Lewis Elton

By I. I. Goldman, V. D. Krivchenkov, V. I. Kogan and V. M. Galitskii. Translated, edited and arranged by D. ter Haar. London : Cleaver-Hume Press Ltd. Pp. 394. Price 42s. It has always been accepted that one cannot learn mathematics without solving a large number of problems, and the same is true of mathematical physics. Unfortunately the problems in many books on quantum mechanics are either purely mathematical or else present extensions of the subject matter of the book, which space has prevented from incorporation in the text.

Physics Bulletin•May 1, 1961•94 citations

Introduction

A. O. Caldeira

Since its very beginning, quantum mechanics has been developed to deal with systems on the atomic or sub-atomic scale. For many decades, there has been no reason to think about its application to macroscopic systems. Actually, macroscopic objects have even been used to show how bizarre quantum effects would appear if quantum mechanics were applied beyond its original realm. This is, for example, the essence of the so-called Schrödinger cat paradox (Schrödinger, 1935). How-ever, due to recent advances in the design of systems on the meso- and nanoscopic scales, as well as in cryogenic techniques, this situation has changed drastically. It is now quite natural to ask whether a specific quantum effect, collectively involving a macroscopic number of particles, could occur in these systems. In this book it is our intention to address the quantum mechanical effects that take place in properly chosen or built “macroscopic” systems. Starting from a very naïve point of view, we could always ask what happens to systems whose classical dynamics can be described by equations of motion equivalent to those of particles (or fields) in a given potential (or potential energy density). These can be represented by a generalized “coordinate” φ( r , t ) which could either describe a field variable or a “point particle” if it is not position dependent, φ( r , t ) = φ( t ).

Cambridge University Press eBooks•Mar 20, 2014•0 citations
G L Sewell 1986 Oxford: Oxford University Press xiii + 229 pp price £35 ISBN 0 19 851371 2 Many macroscopic phenomena (phase transitions being the prime example) are not easily amenable to a quantum mechanical treatment. The reason is that, although quantum mechanical in nature, they are also collective: they involve the cooperation of a very large number of particles and cannot merely be reduced to the properties of individual atoms and molecules.
F Constantinescu and E Magyari Oxford: Pergamon 1971 pp vii + 410 price £5.70 This is a translation of a book apparently first published in eastern Europe two or three years ago and aimed at advanced undergraduates and beginning research students. It contains 319 solved problems, arranged in a dozen subject groups which include not only reasonably high level treatments of the standard topics (mathematical formalism, onedimensional models, angular momentum, atoms and molecules, various approximation methods) but also large sections on systems of identical particles and second quantization, on scattering theory and on relativistic quantum mechanics (the last two subjects together occupying over a quarter of the book).
F J Belinfante Oxford: Pergamon Press 1973 pp xix + 354 price £8 It is a well known consequence of quantum theory that, because of the uncertainty principle, it is impossible even in theory to predict exactly the observable outcome of any process on the atomic or subatomic scale; only the probabilities of various possible outcomes can be predicted. Although most physicists accept this state of affairs with equanimity there have always been those who regard it as unsatisfactory and who attempt to modify the theory so as to make it strictly deterministic, while retaining its many remarkable successes in accounting for observable phenomena.
By I. I. Goldman, V. D. Krivchenkov, V. I. Kogan and V. M. Galitskii. Translated, edited and arranged by D. ter Haar. London : Cleaver-Hume Press Ltd. Pp. 394. Price 42s. It has always been accepted that one cannot learn mathematics without solving a large number of problems, and the same is true of mathematical physics. Unfortunately the problems in many books on quantum mechanics are either purely mathematical or else present extensions of the subject matter of the book, which space has prevented from incorporation in the text.
Since its very beginning, quantum mechanics has been developed to deal with systems on the atomic or sub-atomic scale. For many decades, there has been no reason to think about its application to macroscopic systems. Actually, macroscopic objects have even been used to show how bizarre quantum effects would appear if quantum mechanics were applied beyond its original realm. This is, for example, the essence of the so-called Schrödinger cat paradox (Schrödinger, 1935). How-ever, due to recent advances in the design of systems on the meso- and nanoscopic scales, as well as in cryogenic techniques, this situation has changed drastically. It is now quite natural to ask whether a specific quantum effect, collectively involving a macroscopic number of particles, could occur in these systems. In this book it is our intention to address the quantum mechanical effects that take place in properly chosen or built “macroscopic” systems. Starting from a very naïve point of view, we could always ask what happens to systems whose classical dynamics can be described by equations of motion equivalent to those of particles (or fields) in a given potential (or potential energy density). These can be represented by a generalized “coordinate” φ( r , t ) which could either describe a field variable or a “point particle” if it is not position dependent, φ( r , t ) = φ( t ).