The quantum revolution; a historical perspective

The Quantum Revolution: A Historical Perspective Kent A Peacock Greenwood Press The Quantum Revolution www.pdfgrip.com Titles in Greenwood Guides to Great Ideas in Science Brian Baigrie, Series Editor Electricity and Magnetism: A Historical Perspective Brian Baigrie Evolution: A Historical Perspective Bryson Brown The Chemical Element: A Historical Perspective Andrew Ede The Gene: A Historical Perspective Ted Everson The Cosmos: A Historical Perspective Craig G Fraser Planetary Motions: A Historical Perspective Norriss S Hetherington Heat and Thermodynamics: A Historical Perspective Christopher J. T Lewis The Quantum Revolution: A Historical Perspective Kent A Peacock Forces in Physics: A Historical Perspective Steven Shore www.pdfgrip.com The Quantum Revolution A Historical Perspective Kent A Peacock Greenwood Guides to Great Ideas in Science Brian Baigrie, Series Editor Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut • London www.pdfgrip.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Peacock, Kent A., 1952–   The quantum revolution : a historical perspective / Kent A Peacock     p.  cm — (Greenwood guides to great ideas in science,   ISSN 1559–5374)   Includes bibliographical references and index   ISBN-13: 978–0–313–33448–1 (alk paper).  1.  Quantum theory— History—Popular works.  I Title   QC173.98.P43  2008   530.1209—dc22    2007039786 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available Copyright © 2008 by Kent A Peacock All rights reserved No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2007039786 ISBN-13: 978–0–313–33448–1 ISSN: 1559–5374 First published in 2008 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984) 10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  www.pdfgrip.com Contents   10   11   12 List of Illustrations Series Foreword Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Why Learn the History of Quantum Mechanics? vii ix xi xiii xv The Twilight of Certainty Einstein and Light The Bohr Atom and Old Quantum Theory Uncertain Synthesis Dualities Elements of Physical Reality Creation and Annihilation Quantum Mechanics Goes to Work Symmetries and Resonances “The Most Profound Discovery of Science” Bits, Qubits, and the Ultimate Computer Unfinished Business Timeline Glossary Further Reading References Index 15 29 45 63 79 93 107 119 133 149 161 175 185 195 211 213 www.pdfgrip.com www.pdfgrip.com list of Illustrations 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 2.1 2.2 3.1 3.2 3.3 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 5.1 5.2 5.3 6.1 6.2 6.3 7.1 7.2 7.3 8.1 8.2 8.3 Max Planck. Light Waves. The Electromagnetic Spectrum  Planck’s Law  Fluctuations and Brownian Motion. Spacetime According to Minkowski. Spectral Lines. Niels Bohr  Energy Levels in the Bohr Atom. Werner Heisenberg  Erwin Schrödinger  Typical Electron Orbitals. Heisenberg’s Microscope. Paul Dirac  The Dirac Sea. The Double Slit Experiment. Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein  Schrödinger’s Cat. The EPR Apparatus. Feynman Diagrams. There Is Only One Electron in the Universe! Richard P Feynman  Barrier Penetration. Lise Meitner  The Laser. www.pdfgrip.com 14 17 20 30 36 38 51 54 56 60 66 68 74 80 82 89 101 102 103 108 110 115 viii List of Illustrations   9.1   9.2 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 11.1 11.2 11.3 12.1 12.2 12.3 Typical Bubble Chamber Tracks. Table of “Elementary” Particles in the Standard Model. David Bohm  John S Bell  The Aspect Experiment. Bob Phones Alice on the Bell Telephone. Classical Turing Machine. Quantum Turing Machine. Quantum Teleportation. The Hawking Effect. The Unruh Effect. Stephen Hawking. www.pdfgrip.com 121 126 134 138 140 144 150 151 158 169 169 170 Series Foreword The volumes in this series are devoted to concepts that are fundamental to different branches of the natural sciences—the gene, the quantum, geological cycles, planetary motion, evolution, the cosmos, and forces in nature, to name just a few Although these volumes focus on the historical development of scientific ideas, the underlying hope of this series is that the reader will gain a deeper understanding of the process and spirit of scientific practice In particular, in an age in which students and the public have been caught up in debates about controversial scientific ideas, it is hoped that readers of these volumes will better appreciate the provisional character of scientific truths by discovering the manner in which these truths were established The history of science as a distinctive field of inquiry can be traced to the early seventeenth century when scientists began to compose histories of their own fields As early as 1601, the astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler composed a rich account of the use of hypotheses in astronomy During the ensuing three centuries, these histories were increasingly integrated into elementary textbooks, the chief purpose of which was to pinpoint the dates of discoveries as a way of stamping out all too frequent propriety disputes, and to highlight the errors of predecessors and contemporaries Indeed, histori­ cal introductions in scientific textbooks continued to be common well into the twentieth century Scientists also increasingly wrote histories of their disciplines—separate from those that appeared in textbooks—to explain to a broad popular audience the basic concepts of their science The history of science remained under the auspices of scientists until the establishment of the field as a distinct professional activity in the middle of the twentieth century As academic historians assumed control of history of science writing, they expended enormous energies in the attempt to forge a distinct and autonomous discipline The result of this struggle to position the history of science as an intellectual endeavor that was valuable in its own right, www.pdfgrip.com Further Reading Philosophy and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics I list only a few titles here, to whet the reader’s appetite Bell, J. S Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987 This contains most of Bell’s major papers on the foundations of quantum mechanics, and much else besides; pure gold Bub, Jeffrey Interpreting the Quantum World Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997 This is an exceptionally detailed and thorough explanation of the “no-go” results in the foundations of quantum mechanics, such as Bell’s Theorem and the Kochen-Specker Theorem Feyerabend, Paul Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge London: Verso, 1978 A scrappy and controversial attempt to debunk mythology about the history of science Footnote 19, p 61, contains Feyerabend’s insightful remarks about history and philosophy as scientific research tools Maudlin, Tim Quantum Non-Locality and Relativity 2nd ed Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2002 Maudlin, a philosopher at Rutgers University, argues controversially that the violation of Bell’s Inequality implies that information in entangled quantum systems is transmitted faster than light This book contains an exceptionally clear but elementary version of Bell’s Theorem Shimony, Abner “Metaphysical Problems in the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics.” International Philosophical Quarterly 18 (1978): 3–17 The paper in which Shimony introduces the concept of “peaceful coexistence” between quantum mechanics and relativity, founded on the nosignaling theorems Wilbur, Ken, ed Quantum Questions: Mystical Writings of the World’s Great Physicists Boston: Shambhala, 2001 A number of books attempt to explore the alleged parallels between quantum physics and Eastern mysticism; this is one of the more responsible Texts I list here a few especially sound university-level texts that would be good places to start for the determined beginner who is willing to “drill in very hard wood” as Heisenberg put it (Powers, 1993) Bohm, David Quantum Mechanics Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1951 www.pdfgrip.com 207 208 Further Reading In this book (now one of the classic texts in quantum theory) Bohm set forth the version of the EPR experiment that would later be used by J. S Bell to refute locality Bohm also presents a very clear and thorough exposition of wave mechanics and the Copenhagen Interpretation (which Bohm was soon to abandon) Brand, Siegmund, and Hans Dieter Dahmen The Picture Book of Quantum Mechanics 3rd ed New York: Springer-Verlag, 1995 This book is especially useful for its graphical presentation of the structure of wave-functions and wave-packets Cohen-Tannoudji, Claude, Bernard Diu, and Franck Laloë Quantum Mechanics Vol I Trans S. R Hemley, N Ostrowsky, and D Ostrowsky New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1977 A sound, detailed, although somewhat ponderous introduction to nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, with an especially thorough treatment of the mathematics of entanglement Dirac, P.A.M The Principles of Quantum Mechanics 4th ed (revised) Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958 A terse but profound and thorough presentation of quantum theory by one of its creators Feynman, Richard P., Robert B Leighton, and Matthew Sands The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol III: Quantum Mechanics Reading, MA: AddisonWesley Publishing, 1965 The legendary Feynman lectures on quantum mechanics are, by now, slightly out of date, but serious students and experienced professionals alike can still benefit from Feynman’s profound understanding of the quantum Misner, Charles, John A Wheeler, and Kip Thorne Gravitation San Francisco: W. H Freeman, 1973 This tome (so massive that it bends spacetime) is one of the most complete and authoritative introductions to general relativity A central theme is the fact that classical relativity must be replaced by a quantum theory of spacetime Nielsen, Michael A., and Isaac L Chuang Quantum Computation and Quantum Information Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000 A very detailed and well-written text in the exploding new field of quantum computation Although it is aimed at the professional, it contains a very clear introduction to the basics of quantum theory Rovelli, Carlo Quantum Gravity Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004 An up-to-date and opinionated review of the search for a quantum theory of space and time This book makes few technical concessions but is www.pdfgrip.com Further Reading essential reading for anyone professionally interested in current work on quantum gravity Taylor, Edwin, and John A Wheeler Spacetime Physics San Francisco: W. H Freeman, 1966 A superbly clear introduction to special relativity, requiring only high school mathematics and a certain amount of Sitzfleisch (“sitting muscles,” as the old-time German mathematicians would have it) www.pdfgrip.com 209 www.pdfgrip.com References Aczel, Amir D Entanglement: The Greatest Mystery in Physics Vancouver, BC: Raincoast Books, 2002 Aharonov, Y., J Anandan, J Maclay, and J Suzuki “Model for Entangled States with Spin-Spin Interactions.” Physical Review A 70 (2004): 052114 Bub, Jeffrey Interpreting the Quantum World Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1997 Cropper, William H The Quantum Physicists and an Introduction to their Physics New York: Oxford University Press, 1970 Cushing, James T Quantum Mechanics: Historical Contingency and the Copenhagen Hegemony Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1994 Feyerabend, Paul Against Method: Outline of an Anarchistic Theory of Knowledge London: Verso, 1978 Feynman, Richard P QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1985 Feynman, Richard P., Robert B Leighton, and Matthew Sands The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol III: Quantum Mechanics Reading, MA: AddisonWesley Publishing, 1965 Forman, Paul “Weimar Culture, Causality, and Quantum Theory: Adaptation by German Mathematicians and Physicists to a Hostile Environment.” Historical Studies in the Physical Sciences (1971): 1–115 Heisenberg, Werner Physics and Beyond: Encounters and Conversations New York: Harper and Row, 1971 Isaacson, Walter Einstein: His Life and Universe New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007 Jammer, Max The Conceptual Development of Quantum Mechanics 2nd ed Woodbury, NY: Tomash Publishers/American Institute of Physics, 1989 www.pdfgrip.com 212 References Johnson, George A Shortcut through Time: The Path to the Quantum Computer New York: Random House, 2003 Kirshner, Robert P The Extravagant Universe: Exploding Stars, Dark Energy, and the Accelerating Cosmos Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002 Kragh, Helge Quantum Generations: A History of Physics in the Twentieth Century Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999 Landauer, Rolf “Irreversibility and Heat Generation in the Computing Process.” IBM Journal of Research and Development 32 (1961): 183– 191 McCarthy, Will Hacking Matter: Levitating Chairs, Quantum Mirages, and the Infinite Weirdness of Programmable Atoms New York: Basic Books, 2003 Milburn, Gerald J Schrödinger’s Machines: The Quantum Technology Reshaping Everyday Life New York: W. H Freeman, 1997 Misner, Charles, John A Wheeler, and Kip Thorne Gravitation San Francisco: W. H Freeman, 1973 Pais, Abraham ‘Subtle is the Lord  . .’: The Science and the Life of Albert Einstein Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982 Peat, F David Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1997 Rhodes, Richard The Making of the Atomic Bomb New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988 Schrödinger, E “Discussion of Probability Relations between Separated Systems.” Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society 31 (1935): 555–63; 32 (1936): 446–51 Schrödinger, Erwin What is Life? The Physical Aspect of the Living Cell Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1944 Shimony, Abner “Metaphysical Problems in the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics.” International Philosophical Quarterly 18 (1978): 3–17 Smolin, Lee The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2006 van der Waerden, B. L., ed Sources of Quantum Mechanics New York: Dover Publications, 1967 Wheeler, J. A., and W. H Zurek, eds Quantum Theory and Measurement Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983 www.pdfgrip.com Index Absolute zero: defined, 5; and superconductivity, 114 Action: defined, 13; quantum of, 13–14 Action at a distance: in Bohm’s theory, 135; defined, 9; in Feynman-Wheeler theory, 103; and gravitation, 24 –25, 170; and the quantum, 46 – 47, 81, 86, 90, 141– 42 See also Non­ locality Aharonov, Yakir, 136, 145, 158–59 Aharonov-Bohm Effect, 136 Alice and Bob, 89–90, 140–41, 142–43, 144– 47, 156–57, 158, 161–62 Alpha particles See Alpha radiation Alpha radiation, 33, 35, 36, 81, 85, 93, 107–8, 119, 121 Amplitudes, probability See Probability amplitudes Amplitudes, transition See Probability amplitudes Antielectron See Positron Antiparticle, 67– 68, 70, 93, 96, 98; and Hawking radiation, 169 Antiproton, 68, 94 Aspect, Alain, 139– 40, 162 Atom, 6; existence of, 7, 16 –17; energy levels, 30, 116; excited state, 40; ground state, 40; hydrogen, 37; orbitals, 55–56; principal quantum number, 37; Rutherford model, 35–36; stability, 36, 38; stationary states, 37–38; Thomson model, 34–35 Atomic bomb, 27, 33, 95, 99, 108, 110, 133 Atomic clock, 19 Atomic number, 39– 40 Avogadro’s Number, 17 Background dependence, 165–67 Barrier penetration See Quantum tunneling Baryons, 124, 125 Bekenstein, Jakob, 168 Bell, J S., 91, 137– 42 Bell’s Inequality, 139, 142– 43, 146 Bell’s Theorem, 139– 40, 146, 157 “Bell telephone,” 142– 44, 159 Bennett, Charles, 157 Beta decay, 94, 95, 96, 119 Beta radiation, 33–34, 123 Bethe, Hans, 99 Birkhoff, Garrett, 84, 146 Blackbody: and Einstein, 21–23; and Planck, 13–14; black hole as, 168; defined, 9–10; radiation from, 10; universe as a blackbody, 163 Black holes, 168 –69 Bohm, David, 81, 91, 133–38 Bohr, Niels: atomic theory of, 36–39, 47– 48, 52, 72, 111; and beta decay, www.pdfgrip.com 214 Index 94; debate with Einstein, 42– 43, 85, 87–88, 90–91; and entanglement, 83–84; and field theory, 101; and Gamow, 107; and Heisenberg, 50, 59–60; influence, 29, 40, 63, 76, 171; life of, 36–37, 41– 43 Bohr-Kramers-Slater (BKS) paper, 43, 65, 94 Bolometer, 11 Boltzmann, Ludwig, 6–7, 8, 11, 13 Boltzmann statistics, 69 Boole, George, 145 Boole’s “conditions of possible experience,” 145– 46 Born, Max, 50–52, 58 –59, 76, 97, 131 Born Rule, 58, 72 Bose, Satyendra Nath, 45– 46 Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs), 46, 65, 114 Bose-Einstein statistics, 69 Bosons, 69, 127; intermediate vector, 125–26 “Bra-ket” notation, 58, 71 Brownian motion, 16–17, 24, 163 Carnot, Sadi, Cathode rays, 31, 32 Causal loops, 144 – 45 Cavity radiation See Blackbody Charge, electrical, 55, 67, 70, 80, 93, 103, 107, 114, 123, 128, 165, 170 Chemical bond, theory of, 112 Chemistry, development of, 112–13 Classical physics, 7, –9, 12, 15; and specific heat, 23; vs quantum physics, 31, 32, 35–36, 37–38, 41– 42, 61, 64–65, 70, 75, 91 Clausius, Rudolf, 5– C-numbers versus q-numbers, 58, 167 Color force, 125–26, 129 Commutator, 57 Complementarity See Principle of Complementarity Completeness: of a physical theory, 88; of quantum mechanics, 85, 90, 91, 148 Compton, A H., 43, 49 Compton Effect, 43 Computer, 56, 112, 113, 121; classical, 149–52, 154 –55; game, 136 See also Quantum computing Consciousness, 161– 62 Continuity, 8, 61; versus discontinuity, 167 Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics, 63– 65, 81, 85, 134, 135 Correspondence Principle, 41– 42, 46 Cosmic rays, 96 Cosmological constant, 26 Cosmology: Big Bang, 107, 163, 168; quantum, 162– 63 CPT conservation, 123 Creation and annihilation operators, 98 Curie, Marie, 32–34 de Broglie, L., 52–54, 68, 80– 81; causal interpretation of wave mechanics, 80– 81, 135, 141, 147 de Broglie wavelength, 53, 69, 74, 93 Delayed-choice experiment, 139 Determinism, –9; and the pilot wave interpretation of quantum mechanics, 79, 136–37; and Schrödinger Equation, 57; Deutsch, David, 149–50, 153 Dirac, Paul A M., 46, 49, 57–58, 60, 65– 68, 128, 166, 172 Dirac delta function, 58 Dirac equation, 66 Dirac Sea, 67– 68, 97 Double-slit experiment, 73–76 Doubly Special Relativity, 166 Dulong-Petit Law, 23 Ebit, 151 Eigenfunction, 55, 129 Eigenmode See Eigenfunction Eigenstates, 72, 73, 82, 83, 128 –29 Eigenvalues, 55, 71–72, 129 Eigenvector, 71 Einstein, Albert: and Bohm’s interpretation of quantum mechanics, 135; causal wave theory of, 86; debate with Bohr, 42– 43, 87– 88; life of, 15–16, 23–24, 26–27, 84 – 85; objections to quantum mechanics, 84 – 86; radiation theory, 40– 41; and Special Relativity, 17–21, 165; www.pdfgrip.com Index and statistical mechanics, 16; the “year of miracles,” 16; and quantum gasses, 46 Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen thought experiment (EPR), 27, 88 –92; Bohm’s version of, 134 Electrodynamics, Maxwellian, 3–5, 18, 36, 38; action-at-a distance formulation by Feynman and Wheeler, 103; as statistical, 22, 165 Electrodynamics, quantum See Quantum electrodynamics Electromagnetic field, 3– 4, 11–12, 69 Electromagnetic radiation: spontaneous emission of, 40; stimulated emission of, 40–41 Electromagnetic waves: and the ether, 18; nature of, 4; polarization of, Electromagnetism, 27 Electron microscope, 113–14 Electrons, 22 (in photoelectric effect), 30–31, 34, 35, 40, 67, 102; bare, 98; Cooper pairs, 114; as lepton, 125–26; magnetic moment of, 48 – 49; mechanical energies quantized, 37; orbitals, 55–56; and quantum numbers, 47– 48; self-energy, 99; in semiconductors, 116–17; spin of, 38, 48–49, 52, 66– 67, 70, 71; trajectories of, 59, 61, 136–37 Electron volt, 95 Electrostatic attraction, 38 Electroweak force, 119, 125–26 Electroweak gauge field, 119, 126 Elementary particles, 119–31; creation and annihilation, 68, 97–98; mass, 127, 128; nature of, 70; nonconservation of particle number, 97; Standard Model, 119, 125–26; statistics of, 69 Energy, 1, 7, 98; conservation of, 1, 43; dark, 163; entanglement, 156; equivalence with mass, 20; nuclear, 94, 110, 111; quantization of, 13, 38, 51; radioactivity, energy of, 33 Entanglement, 82, 83– 84; energy of, 156; in EPR experiment, 89–92, 135, 139; and information, 155–56; of quantum potential, 135 See also Bell’s Theorem; Quantum computing; Quantum cryptography; Quantum teleportation Entropy: and black holes, 168; definition of, 5, as measure of disorder, 6, 13, 21–22, 163 Equilibrium, thermodynamic, 6, 10, 12 Equipartition of energy, 12, 23 Equivalence principle, 25, 171 Ether, 18 Everett III, Hugh, 152–53 Faraday, Michael, 3– Fermi, Enrico, 69, 94, 109 Fermi-Dirac statistics, 69 Fermions, 69, 125, 127 Feynman, Richard P., 100, 101–3, 149, 153, 171–72 Feynman Problem, 172–73 Feynman’s Diagrams, 101–2 Fine structure, 39 Fine structure constant, 39, 100 Fission, nuclear, 110 Force: advanced and retarded, 103; centrifugal, 25, 38; exchange force, 94; fundamental forces, 96–97; gravitational, 25, 97; nonlocal, 135 Forman, Paul, 76–77 Fourier analysis, 37, 50–51 Franck-Hertz Experiment, 40 Gamma radiation, 4, 33, 43, 59, 60, 67, 97, 111, 121, 168 – 69 Gamow, George, 37, 107– 8, 109 Gates, quantum logic, 151 Gauge field theory, 119, 122, 125–26, 164 Gell-Mann, Murray, 124 Gluons, 125–26 Grand Unified Field Theory (GUT), 119, 126–27 Graviton, 126, 129, 164 Gravity, 24 –27, 88, 97, 126; nonlocal energy of, 170–71; and quantum field theory, 164 – 65; and thermodynamics, 167–70 See also Quantum gravity Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state, 157 Grossman, Marcel, 15, 25 www.pdfgrip.com 215 216 Index Hadrons, 121, 124 –25 Halting problem, 150 Hamiltonian, 55, 72 Hawking, Stephen, 168, 170 Hawking effect, 169 Heat, 5–7 Heisenberg, Werner: discovery of matrix mechanics, 49–51; discovery of Uncertainty Relations, 59– 61; last word, 128 –29; life, 49–50, 59– 60, 109; nuclear model, 93-94s See also Uncertainty Principle “Heisenberg’s microscope,” 59– 60 Helium, 33, 110, 155 Herbert, Nick, 157 Hermitian operators, 71–72 Hidden variables theories, 81, 134, 138–39, 146 Higgs field, 126 Higgs particle, 126, 128 Hilbert, David, 50 Hilbert Space, 70–73, 83, 151 Hydrogen, 31, 37–38, 39, 52, 67 Indeterminism, 59, 75, 85, 86 See also Determinism Inertia, 25, 136 Information, 20, 73, 75–76, 139, 142– 43, 151, 154–55; and black holes, 169 Implicate order, 136 Interference, 21, 42, 53, 64, 72, 73–75, 83, 150, 157, 172 Interpretations of quantum mechanics: Bohm’s pilot wave, 134–37; causal, 79–81; causal and Kochen-Specker theorems, 147–48; Copenhagen interpretation, 63–65, 81; de Broglie’s early causal theory, 80–81, 135; Einstein’s causal wave theory, 86; Many-Worlds interpretation, 152–53; “no-interpretation” interpretation, 146; pilot wave, 79 Irreversibility See Reversibility Jordan, Pascual, 52, 55, 69, 97 Klein-Gordon equation, 66, 97 Kochen-Specker Theorems, 146– 48 Kramers, Hendrik, 43, 50 Lamb, Willis, 100 Landauer, Rolf, 154 –55 Landauer’s Principle, 155–56 Laser, 41, 115–16 Leptons, 125–27 Large Hadron Collider (LHC), 121, 128, 131 Light: as electromagnetic waves, 4; fluctuations, 24; history of the study of, 21: invariance of speed 18 –21; as quanta, 21–23, 41, 42– 43; in Special Relativity, 18 –21; as waves, 21–23, 42, 74 See also Quantum: of light; Electromagnetic radiation; Laser; Photon Light cone, 19–20 Linde, Andrei, 163 Linear operators, 58 Liquid drop model of nucleus, 109–10 Locality: meaning of, 8, 101 Local realism, 139– 40 Lorentz covariance: breakdown of, 166; in quantum mechanics, 66, 135 Lorentz transformations, 18 –19, 105 Mach, Ernst, Madelung, Erwin, 80 Magnetic moment, 31 Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), 116 Mass-energy, 20, 26, 68, 98, 111, 128 Matrix mechanics, 50–52, 56–58 Maxwell, James Clerk, 4, Maxwell’s equations, 11, 22, 35–36, 42, 165 Measurement as irreversible amplification, 65 Measurement problem, 82 Meitner, Lise, 109–10 Mercury (planet), 26 Meson, 95–96 Microcausality, 101 Mind-body problem, 161– 62 Minkowski, Hermann, 19 Minkowski spacetime, 19–21, 57, 100, 104 –5, 164 Molecular biology, 112–13 Molecules, 16–17 www.pdfgrip.com Index Momentum: indeterminacy of, 59–61, 84, 87–88, 89–90, 134; quantization, 41 Moseley, Henry G., 39– 40 M-theory, 131 Muon, 96, 125–26 Neutrino, 94–95, 125–26 Neutron, 93–94, 95, 109; activation, 109 Newton, Isaac, 3, 21, 25 Newtonian mechanics, 3, 18 Newton’s Laws: First Law, 8, 25; of gravitation, 24 No-Cloning theorem, 157 Noncommutativity, 65, 71, 147, 172–73 Nondemolition, quantum, 158 –59 Nonlocality, 20, 81, 90, 101, 136–37, 140, 142–43; controllable versus uncontrollable, 142; of gravitational energy, 170–71 See also Quantum potential No-signaling theorem, 142– 45 Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), 116 Nucleus, atomic, 33–36, 95, 107–12; fission of, 94, 108 –10; fusion of, 110–12; Gamow’s model of, 109–10 Observables, 60– 61, 72, 83, 147; as c- or q-numbers, 167 Observer: as creating reality, 60; interaction with observed, 64, 82, 84, 153 Orbitals, atomic, 54 –56 Parity, violation of, 123 Particle accelerators, 119–21 Particle detectors, 121–22 Passion at a distance, 142 Pauli, Wolfgang, 47, 94, 167 Pauli Exclusion Principle, 47– 48, 69 Pauling, Linus, 112 Pauli spin matrices, 52, 66 “Peaceful coexistence,” 142 Penrose, Roger, 162, 167 Photoelectric effect, 22 Photon, 22, 40–41, 45, 46, 68, 69, 70, 74, 87, 100, 125, 129 Physics: idealization in, 9–10; nuclear, 32, 107–12; and philosophy, 171; solid-state, 23; state of at the end of the 19th century, 1–3, 9; visualizability of, 104 Pion, 96, 124 Pitowsky, Itamar, 145– 46 Planck, Max, 1–2, 6, 9, 21, 22, 23, 46, 57, 142, 165; and blackbody radiation, 11–14 Planck energy, 166 Planck’s Law, 12–14, 21, 41, 45, 52, 53, 98 Planck scale, 166 Planck’s constant: in blackbody formula, 22; in commutator, 57; defined, 13–14; mystery of, 173 Plasmas, 111–12 Plato, 49–50, 61, 129 Position: indeterminacy of, 59– 60, 84, 87– 88, 89–90, 134 Positron, 67, 93, 94, 97, 98, 102, 121, 129 Preon, 127–28 Principle of complementarity, 63– 65, 83– 84, 125 Probability, 6, 7, 13; classical versus quantum, 75; quantum, 61, 75–76, 85; and quantum computing, 151; in quantum field theory, 125; of a state 7, 13 Probability amplitude, 59, 72, 83, 98, 102, 103, 136, 172 Probability function, 55 Proper quantities, 19 Proton, 33, 40, 67, 69, 93, 94, 95, 96; decay of, 127 Quantum: of action, 13–14, 60; connectedness of, 75; of energy, 13–14; field quanta, 69; of light, 21–23, 38, 40– 41, 45– 46; of light, permutation invariance of, 46; of light, probabilistic behavior of, 42– 43 See also Photon Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), 126 Quantum-classical divide, 64 – 65, 82 Quantum computing, 149–56, 159; vs classical, 149–52 Quantum cryptography, 143, 156–57 www.pdfgrip.com 217 218 Index Quantum electrodynamics (QED), 97– 100; infinities in, 99; renormalization in, 99–100, 104 See also Quantum field theory Quantum field theory, 97–105, 122; local, 101, 103–5; theoretical problems of, 104 –5 See also Gauge field theory; Quantum electrodynamics Quantum foam, 170 Quantum gasses, 46 Quantum gravity, 163– 67; and background dependence, 164 – 66; loop, 167; and quantum field theory, 164–166; and string theory, 167 Quantum information theory, 154–59, 173 Quantum logic, 84, 146 Quantum mechanics: and the brain, 161– 62; and chemistry, 112–13; common cause explanations in, 140– 41; formalism, 52, 70–72; and human cognitive capacity, 173; as information theory, 154 –55; and the mind, 162; and molecular biology, 112–13; non-Booleanity of, 146– 48; and origin of the universe, 162–63; path-integral formulation, 102; relation to historical forces, 76–77; relativistic, formulated by Dirac, 65–68; von Neumann’s formulation of, 70–73 Quantum numbers, 47– 48, 51; principal, 37, 40 Quantum potential, 134 –35, 137, 157 Quantum signaling, 142– 45 Quantum teleportation, 157–58 Quantum theory, 23; Bohr-Sommerfeld version of, 43– 44; birth of modern quantum mechanics, 49–56; Old Quantum Theory, 29, 43– 44, 47 Quantum tunneling, 107– Quark, 124 –27, 129 Qubit, 149, 151, 154 Radiation See Electromagnetic radiation; Radioactivity Radioactivity: discovery of, 9, 32–34; law of radioactive decay, 33, 40 Raleigh’s Law, 12, 14 Realism, 64, 85–86 See also Local realism Relativity, Theory of: General Relativity, 24 –26, 163– 64; General Relativity, field equations of, 25–26; Principle of Special Relativity, 18; Special Relativity, 17–21, 104 –5 Renormalization, 99–100, 104, 119, 167 Resonances, 122 Reversibility vs irreversibility, 5–6, 11–12 Roentgen, Wilhelm, 32 Rovelli, Carlo, 167, 171 Rutherford, Ernest, 32–36 Rydberg constant, 30, 38 Rydberg-Ritz combination principle, 30, 37 Scattering: deep inelastic, 123–24; of particles, 35–36, 119–22 Schrödinger, Erwin, 54 –57, 81 Schrödinger equation, 55–57, 66, 73, 82, 102 “Schrödinger’s cat,” 81– 82, 161– 62 Schwinger, Julian, 100, 102 Science, creativity in the history of, 76–77 Second quantization, 98 Semiconductors, 116–17 Separation Principle, 85– 86 Shannon, Claude, 154 Shor’s algorithm, 150–51 Signaling, superluminal, 142– 44, 158 –59 Solvay Conferences on Physics, 24 Sommerfeld, Arnold, 39, 100 Smolin, Lee, 130–31, 167, 171 Space: 25; absolute, 166; curved, 25; quantization of, 99–100, 105, 165– 66, 167 Spacetime See Minkowski spacetime Sparticles, 127 Specific heat, 23 Spectroscopy, 29–30 Spectrum, 4, 36; absorption spectrum, 29, 38; and Combination Principle, 30, 37; emission spectrum, 29; of hydrogen, 30, 38, 55; line spectrum, 29–30; normal, 10; spectral lines, 30, 31, 37–38, 39, 44, 47, 49 Spin, 69, 134 www.pdfgrip.com Index Spinor, 66 Spin Statistics Theorem, 69 Standard Model, 119, 125–28 Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC), 120, 123 Stapp, H P., 137 State function See State vector State function (thermodynamic), State vector, 66, 71–73 Statistical Mechanics, 6–7, 16, 87, 170 Stefan-Boltzmann Law, 11 Stern-Gerlach experiment, 48 String theory, 119, 129–31, 171 Strong force, 95, 119, 122 Superconducting Supercollider (SSC), 120–21, 131 Superconductivity, 114 Superfluidity, 115 Superluminality, 19, 20, 108, 14245 See also Nonlocality; Signaling, superluminal Superposition, 81– 82, 158, 161– 62; in quantum computing, 150–53 Superposition Principle, 72, 83 Superstring theory See String theory Supersymmetry, 127, 129 Symmetries: breaking of, 123; in particle physics, 123, 128 See also Supersymmetry Szilard, Leo, 94, 110 Tachyons, 20, 21 Tau lepton, 125–26 Temperature, 5–7, 10–11, 13 Tensor calculus, 25 Thermodynamics, 5–7; and computing, 154–55; First Law of, 1, 5; and gravitation, 167–70; Second Law of, 5–7, 11, 17, 163; statistical interpretation of, 6–7, 16, 165 Thomson, J J., 30–31, 34 –36 “Three man work,” 51–52 Time: absolute, 19; influences from the future, 103, 135; proper, 19; quantization of, 105; quantummechanical time operator, 167 Time travel in Gödel universe, 26 Tomonaga, Sinichiro, 100, 134 Topology of spacetime, 170 Transistor, 117, 155 Turing, A M., 150 Turing machine: classical, 150, 152; quantum, 150–51 Twin paradox, 19 Ultraviolet catastrophe, 12 Uncertainty principle, 59– 61, 87, 88, 90, 98, 122, 128, 134, 137 Unified field theory, 27, 85, 97 See also Grand Unified Theory Universe: Big Bang origin of, 163, 168; expansion of, 163; “heat death” of, 168; microwave background radiation of, 162– 63 Unruh, William, 169 Unruh effect, 169 Vacuum, 68, 95, 128, 163, 169; energy of, 99; fluctuations, 98, 163, 170; polarization, 98; dispersiveness of, 166 Vibrating systems, 55 Virtual particles, 98, 169 von Neumann, John, 70–71, 84, 146; and hidden variables theories, 81, 138, 141 Wave function, 55–56; of bosons, 69; collapse of, 72–73, 82, 152–53, 158, 161; of fermions, 69; phase differences of, 134, 155; probabilistic interpretation of, 58 –59; and the quantum potential, 134 –35 Wave mechanics, 52–57; causal interpretations of, 79– 81, 86 Wave packet, 89, 108, 155 Wave-particle duality, 22–23, 24, 64, 73–75 Waves: electromagnetic, 3–5, 12, 37; classical behavior of, 73–74 See also Vibrating systems Weak force, 96, 97, 119, 122, 126 Wheeler, John A., 76, 102–3, 152, 154, 164, 170 Wien, Wilhelm, 10 Wien’s Displacement Law, 10 Wien’s Law, 11, 12, 14, 21–22 Wigner, Eugene, 110, 161– 62 Witten, Edward, 131, 164 www.pdfgrip.com 219 220 Index Worldlines, 19, 103, 144, 145 Wormholes, 26, 170 Wu, C S., 123 Young, Thomas, 21, 74 Yukawa, Hideki, 95–97, 99, 107, 124, 125, 126 X-rays, 32, 33, 34, 39, 43, 113 Zeeman Effect, 31, 47, 52; anomalous, 47, 52 Zeno’s paradox, 61 Zero-point energy, 61 Yang-Mills theory See Gauge field theory www.pdfgrip.com About the Author KENT A PEACOCK is professor of philosophy at the University of Lethbridge, in Alberta, Canada Peacock received his PhD from the University of Toronto and has also taught at the University of Western Ontario He has published in philosophy of science, metaphysics of time, and ecological philosophy, and he spends much of his time trying to understand why it is still not obvious that quantum mechanics should be true www.pdfgrip.com ... demonstrated the remarkable fact that this quantity has the same mathematical form as the entropy of a gas, a system of independent, small, localized particles bouncing around freely in space At least... behavior (The latter is similar to the fluctuations that cause Brownian motion.) It was another powerful argument for the waveparticle duality, and another demonstration that the quantum was... quanta have an energy that is a product of Planck’s constant of action and the frequency of the light wave with which the quanta are “associated.” However, the nature of that association remained