The New Mechanics

Natalia N. Gorobey, Alexander S. Lukyanenko, Inna Lukyanenko

The correspondence of a new form of quantum mechanics based on a quantum version of the action principle, which was proposed earlier [arXiv:0807.3508], with the ordinary quantum mechanics is established. New potentialities of the quantum action principle in the interpretation of quantum mechanics are considered.

Henri Poincaré

George Birtwistle

George Birtwistle (1877–1929) published The New Quantum Mechanics in 1928. His stated aim was to give a detailed account of work which had brought the relatively new subject of quantum mechanics to the fore in the previous few years. The earlier chapters give a restatement of Alfred Landé's theory of multiplets which reconciles it with the new mechanics which follow. Later chapters present the matrix theory of Heisenberg, the q-number theory of Dirac and the wave mechanics of Schroedinger, and synthesise new theories, statistics and controversies in the work of de Broglie, Bose, Einstein, Fermi and Dirac. The book gives a complete overview of the state of quantum mechanics at the end of the second decade of the twentieth century, making it a valuable benchmark for historians of science and mathematicians alike.

Giuseppe Mussardo

T. D. Black, Michael Martin Nieto, Pilloff, H. S. +2 more

It is a surprise that a theory that seems to be in conflict with so much of the real world continues to serve as the underpinning for our understanding of that world. Quantum Mechanics has been with us in its present form since the mid-1920's, and still serves as one of the two basic frameworks on which all meaningful physical theories must rest. The question persists: Can quantum mechanics fail to predict phenomena we can observe with new precision, or does it possibly have limits on its applicability? Or is it an approximation to a more general theory? With the recent advances in experimental techniques and in theoretical thinking, it seemed appropriate to examine these questions anew through the mechanism of an informal conference. The idea for holding a workshop now came from the recent advances in both theoretical studies of quantum mechanics, and in the new classes of experiments that can provide new tests or improve significantly on old ones. The papers in these Proceedings are divided between theoretical studies and discussions of experiments. Most of the theoretical work describes the quantum mechanical analysis of new systems not hitherto analyzed. Half (or more) of the experimental papers describe new tests of the predictions of quantum theory, either by employing new precision on existing experiments or by exploring new ground.