Traditional quantum theory has a very rigid structure, making it difficult to accommodate new properties emerging from novel systems. This book presents a flexible and unified theory for physical systems, from micro and macro quantum to classical. This is achieved by incorporating superselection rules and maximal symmetric operators into the theory. The resulting theory is applicable to classical, microscopic quantum and non-orthodox mixed quantum systems of which macroscopic quantum systems are examples. A unified formalism also greatly facilitates the discussion of interactions between these systems. A scheme of quantization by parts is introduced, based on the mathematics of selfadjoint and maximal symmetric extensions of symmetric operators, to describe point interactions. The results are applied to treat superconducting quantum circuits in various configurations.This book also discusses various topics of interest such as the asymptotic treatment of quantum state preparation and quantum measurement, local observables and local values, Schrodinger's cat states in superconducting systems, and a path space formulation of quantum mechanics.This self-contained book is complete with a review of relevant geometric and operator theories, for example, vector fields and operators, symmetric operators and their maximal symmetric extensions, direct integrals of Hilbert spaces and operators.
Traditional quantum theory has a very rigid structure, making it difficult to accommodate new properties emerging from novel systems. This book presents a flexible and unified theory for physical systems, from micro and macro quantum to classical. This is achieved by incorporating superselection rules and maximal symmetric operators into the theory. The resulting theory is applicable to classical, microscopic quantum and non-orthodox mixed quantum systems of which macroscopic quantum systems are examples. A unified formalism also greatly facilitates the discussion of interactions between these systems. A scheme of quantization by parts is introduced, based on the mathematics of selfadjoint and maximal symmetric extensions of symmetric operators, to describe point interactions. The results are applied to treat superconducting quantum circuits in various configurations.This book also discusses various topics of interest such as the asymptotic treatment of quantum state preparation and quantum measurement, local observables and local values, Schrodinger's cat states in superconducting systems, and a path space formulation of quantum mechanics.This self-contained book is complete with a review of relevant geometric and operator theories, for example, vector fields and operators, symmetric operators and their maximal symmetric extensions, direct integrals of Hilbert spaces and operators.
The mathematical formalism of quantum theory in terms of vectors and operators in infinite-dimensional complex vector spaces is very abstract. The definitions of many mathematical quantities used do not seem to have an intuitive meaning, which makes it difficult to appreciate the mathematical formalism and understand quantum mechanics. This book provides intuition and motivation to the mathematics of quantum theory, introducing the mathematics in its simplest and familiar form, for instance, with three-dimensional vectors and operators, which can be readily understood. Feeling confident about and comfortable with the mathematics used helps readers appreciate and understand the concepts and formalism of quantum mechanics. This book is divided into four parts. Part I is a brief review of the general properties of classical and quantum systems. A general discussion of probability theory is also included which aims to help in understanding the probability theories relevant to quantum mechanics. Part II is a detailed study of the mathematics for quantum mechanics. Part III presents quantum mechanics in a series of postulates. Six groups of postulates are presented to describe orthodox quantum systems. Each statement of a postulate is supplemented with a detailed discussion. To make them easier to understand, the postulates for discrete observables are presented before those for continuous observables. Part IV presents several illustrative applications, which include harmonic and isotropic oscillators, charged particle in external magnetic fields and the Aharonov–Bohm effect. For easy reference, definitions, theorems, examples, comments, properties and results are labelled with section numbers. Various symbols and notations are adopted to distinguish different quantities explicitly and to avoid misrepresentation. Self-contained both mathematically and physically, the book is accessible to a wide readership, including astrophysicists, mathematicians and philosophers of science who are interested in the foundations of quantum mechanics.
Although it is 70 years old, there are still areas of quantum theory which are open to interpretation. This book deals with such interpretational problems, and in particular with the issue of the measurement process. The main theme is whether quantum mechanics can be viewed as a (semantically) complete theory, namely as a theory capable of describing not only the physical object under observation but also the measuring instruments used to detect the properties of that physical object. The problematic aspects arise from the fact that the measuring instruments themselves behave as classical physical systems. Thus, we are faced with the open problem of the transition from the quantum to the classical, or more explicitly, the problem of why the composition of many quantum micro-objects gives rise to classical macro-objects. This book goes carefully, exhaustively, and deeply into the interpretational problems of quantum mechanics induced by the measurement process. The solution of many relevant issues, as well as the problems that remain unsolved, emerge clearly. The discussion itself is self-contained and the technical parts are reader-friendly. This book is of value to graduate students and researchers who have an interest in the physical, mathematical, and philosophical foundations of quantum mechanics.
This book provides a comprehensive treatment of quantum mechanics from a mathematics perspective and is accessible to mathematicians starting with second-year graduate students. It addition to traditional topics, like classical mechanics, mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics, quantization, and the Schrodinger equation, this book gives a mathematical treatment of systems of identical particles with spin, and it introduces the reader to functional methods in quantum mechanics. This includes the Feynman path integral approach to quantum mechanics, integration in functional spaces, the relation between Feynman and Wiener integrals, Gaussian integration and regularized determinants of differential operators, fermion systems and integration over anticommuting (Grassmann) variables, supersymmetry and localization in loop spaces, and supersymmetric derivation of the Atiyah-Singer formula for the index of the Dirac operator. Prior to this book, mathematicians could find these topics only in physics textbooks and in specialized literature. This book is written in a concise style with careful attention to precise mathematics formulation of methods and results.Numerous problems, from routine to advanced, help the reader to master the subject. In addition to providing a fundamental knowledge of quantum mechanics, this book could also serve as a bridge for studying more advanced topics in quantum physics, among them quantum field theory. Prerequisites include standard first-year graduate courses covering linear and abstract algebra, topology and geometry, and real and complex analysis.
Abstract This book treats the central physical concepts and mathematical techniques used to investigate the dynamics of open quantum systems. To provide a self-contained presentation, the text begins with a survey of classical probability theory and with an introduction to the foundations of quantum mechanics, with particular emphasis on its statistical interpretation and on the formulation of generalized measurement theory through quantum operations and effects. The fundamentals of density matrix theory, quantum Markov processes, and completely positive dynamical semigroups are developed. The most important master equations used in quantum optics and condensed matter theory are derived and applied to the study of many examples. Special attention is paid to the Markovian and non-Markovian theory of environment induced decoherence, its role in the dynamical description of the measurement process, and to the experimental observation of decohering electromagnetic field states. The book includes the modern formulation of open quantum systems in terms of stochastic processes in Hilbert space. Stochastic wave function methods and Monte Carlo algorithms are designed and applied to important examples from quantum optics and atomic physics. The fundamentals of the treatment of non-Markovian quantum processes in open systems are developed on the basis of various mathematical techniques, such as projection superoperator methods and influence functional techniques. In addition, the book expounds the relativistic theory of quantum measurements and the density matrix theory of relativistic quantum electrodynamics.
This book presents a number of basic concepts and mathematical techniques for analyzing quantum and classical dynamical systems on an equal basis, mainly but not solely aimed at quantifying randomizing dynamical behaviour. One of the central topics is the introduction of a quantum dynamical entropy based on successive observations of the system. This leads to a symbolic model in terms of a state on a quantum spin chain and its associated entropy that quantifies the complexity of the time evolution. Several model systems are analyzed, but more realistic dynamics and scaling limits are considered as well. Gradually the key concepts and mathematical results are presented and special attention is paid to their relevance for quantum dynamics. The book starts out with a reminder of standard Hilbert space quantum mechanics and then gently introduces the need for the more general and abstract C*-dynamical system setup. Basic examples like quantum spin chains, CAR- and CCR-formalism, and the irrational rotation algebra are described. Next the essential notions from ergodic theory and quantum irreversibility are provided along with the properties and use of von Neumann entropy as quantifiers for randomness. The last part of the book introduces a quantum dynamical entropy based on operational partitions: for classical dynamics the well-established KS-invariant is recovered, while for quantum dynamics a variety of systems are analyzed. The book ends with some open problems and speculations on the footprints of microscopic quantum dynamics on transport phenomena at the macroscopic scale.
Scope of this book Quantum mechanics is a difficult subject, and this book is intended to help the reader overcome the main difficulties in the way to understanding it. The first part of the book, Chs. 2–16, contains a systematic presentation of the basic principles of quantum theory, along with a number of examples which illustrate how these principles apply to particular quantum systems. The applications are, for the most part, limited to toy models whose simple structure allows one to see what is going on without using complicated mathematics or lengthy formulas. The principles themselves, however, are formulated in such a way that they can be applied to (almost) any nonrelativistic quantum system. In the second part of the book, Chs. 17–25, these principles are applied to quantum measurements and various quantum paradoxes, subjects which give rise to serious conceptual problems when they are not treated in a fully consistent manner. The final chapters are of a somewhat different character. Chapter 26 on decoherence and the classical limit of quantum theory is a very sketchy introduction to these important topics along with some indication as to how the basic principles presented in the first part of the book can be used for understanding them. Chapter 27 on quantum theory and reality belongs to the interface between physics and philosophy and indicates why quantum theory is compatible with a real world whose existence is not dependent on what scientists think and believe, or the experiments they choose to carry out. The Bibliography contains references for those interested in further reading or in tracing the origin of some of the ideas presented in earlier chapters.