My God, He Plays Dice! How Albert Einstein Invented Most of Quantum Mechanics
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Aleksei A. Abrikosov 1928–2017
Aleksei A. Abrikosov 1928–2017 A Biographical Memoir by M. R. Norman ©2018 National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. ALEKSEI ALEKSEEVICH ABRIKOSOV June 25, 1928–March 29, 2017 Elected to the NAS, 2000 Shortly after the 2003 announcement that Aleksei Abrikosov had won the Nobel Prize in Physics, a number of colleagues took Alex to lunch at a nearby Italian restau- rant. During lunch, one of the Russian visitors exclaimed that Alex should get a second Nobel Prize, this time in Literature for his famous “AGD” book with Lev Gor’kov and Igor Dzyaloshinskii (Methods of Quantum Field Theory in Statistical Physics.) Somewhat taken aback, I looked closely at this individual and realized that he was deadly serious. Although I could imagine the reaction of the Nobel Literature committee to such a book (for a lay person, perhaps analogous to trying to read Finnegan’s Wake), I had to admit that my own copy of this book is quite dog-eared, having been put to good use over the By M. R. Norman years. In fact, you know you have made it in physics when your book gets a Dover edition. One of the most charming pictures I ever saw was a rare drawing in color that Alexei Tsvelik did (commissioned by Andrei Varlamov for Alex’s 50th birthday) that was proudly displayed in Alex’s home in Lemont, IL. It showed Alex with his fingers raised in a curled fashion as in the habit of medieval Popes. -
Lev Davidovich Landau Born: 12 January, 1908, Baku, Russian Empire Died: 1 April, 1968, Moscow, Soviet Union
Symmetry XIII (2019) 1 Dedicated to Lev Davidovich Landau Born: 12 January, 1908, Baku, Russian Empire Died: 1 April, 1968, Moscow, Soviet Union Symmetry XIII (2019) 2 Volume XIII, 2019 Editorial Symmetry This issue of symmetry is dedicated to the great physicists Lev Devidovich Landau. An annual Publication of CDP, TU Landau Soviet theoretical physicist, one of the founders of quantum theory of (Covid-19 Issue) condensed matter whose pioneering research in this field was recognized with the Patron 1962 Nobel Prize for Physics. In the year 1941, he successfully applied quantum Prof. Dr. Binil Aryal theory to the movement of superfluid liquid helium. Landau argued for the need of yet another radical conceptual revolution in physics in order to resolve the Advisory Board mounting difficulties in relativistic quantum theory. The collective work of Prof. Dr. Om Prakash Niraula Landau’s group embraced practically every branch of theoretical physics. In 1946 Prof. Dr. Raju Khanal he described the phenomenon of Landau damping of electromagnetic waves in Prof. Dr. Narayan Prasad Adhikari plasma. Together with Vitaly L. Ginzburg, in 1950 Landau obtained the correct Prof. Dr. Ram Prasad Regmi equations of the macroscopic theory of superconductivity. During the 1950s he and Prof. Dr. Ishwar Koirala collaborators discovered that even in renormalized quantum electrodynamics, a Dr. Hari Prasad Lamichhane new divergence difficulty appears (the Landau pole). The phenomenon of the Dr. Bal Ram Ghimire coupling constant becoming infinite or vanishing at some energy is an important Dr. Ajay Kumar Jha feature of modern quantum field theories. In this volume, there are 7 articles Dr. -
A Question of Quantum Reality 24 September 2020
A question of quantum reality 24 September 2020 virtuality. Bell spent most of his working life at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and Bertlmann first met him when he took up a short-term fellowship there in 1978. Bell had first presented his theorem in a seminal paper published in 1964, but this was largely neglected until the 1980s and the introduction of quantum information. Bertlmann discusses the concept of Bell inequalities, which arise through thought experiments in which a pair of spin-½ particles propagate in opposite directions and are measured Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain by independent observers, Alice and Bob. The Bell inequality distinguishes between local realism—the 'common sense' view in which Alice's observations do not depend on Bob's, and vice versa—and Physicist Reinhold Bertlmann of the University of quantum mechanics, or, specifically, quantum Vienna, Austria has published a review of the work entanglement. Two quantum particles, such as of his late long-term collaborator John Stewart Bell those in the Alice-Bob situation, are entangled of CERN, Geneva in EPJ H. This review, "Real or when the state measured by one observer Not Real: that is the question," explores Bell's instantaneously influences that of the other. This inequalities and his concepts of reality and theory is the basis of quantum information. explains their relevance to quantum information and its applications. And quantum information is no longer just an abstruse theory. It is finding applications in fields as John Stewart Bell's eponymous theorem and diverse as security protocols, cryptography and inequalities set out, mathematically, the contrast quantum computing. -
Final Copy 2020 11 26 Stylia
This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from Explore Bristol Research, http://research-information.bristol.ac.uk Author: Stylianou, Nicos Title: On 'Probability' A Case of Down to Earth Humean Propensities General rights Access to the thesis is subject to the Creative Commons Attribution - NonCommercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License. A copy of this may be found at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode This license sets out your rights and the restrictions that apply to your access to the thesis so it is important you read this before proceeding. Take down policy Some pages of this thesis may have been removed for copyright restrictions prior to having it been deposited in Explore Bristol Research. However, if you have discovered material within the thesis that you consider to be unlawful e.g. breaches of copyright (either yours or that of a third party) or any other law, including but not limited to those relating to patent, trademark, confidentiality, data protection, obscenity, defamation, libel, then please contact [email protected] and include the following information in your message: •Your contact details •Bibliographic details for the item, including a URL •An outline nature of the complaint Your claim will be investigated and, where appropriate, the item in question will be removed from public view as soon as possible. On ‘Probability’ A Case of Down to Earth Humean Propensities By NICOS STYLIANOU Department of Philosophy UNIVERSITY OF BRISTOL A dissertation submitted to the University of Bristol in ac- cordance with the requirements of the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Faculty of Arts. -
Disproof of John Stewart Bell
Disproof of John Stewart Bell T. Liffert 4th October 2020 Abstract The proof of John Stewart Bell [1] [2] is based on wrong premises. A deterministic model for a hidden mechanism with an parameter λ is therefor possible. This model is possible by an integration of the experimental context into the wave function 1 The basic experiment The following considerations are based on an experiment with a pair of en- tangled photons, each of them meets a polarisation filter. The crucial phe- nomenon consists of the fact, that, if the polarisation filters are adjusted identically, the photons react always identically: Either both will be ab- sorbed or both will be transmitted. For the angular difference Φ between the polarisation filter adjustments the probability, that both photons give identi- cal measurement results, is the square of the cosine of that angular difference (law of Malus)[3]. The set of the possible measurement results is a binary one, it can be referred to by expressions like f0; 1g or f+1; −1g. For later considerations of serie experiments and related expected values I use the set f+1; −1g, for the treatment of the proof variant according to Wigner-Bell I choose the set f0; 1g. I use the following assignments for measurement results and eigenstates • 0 j0i ! 1 • 1 j1i ! −1 May α denote the measurement result of the left photon and β the one of the right photon. The upper proposition for the conditional probability P of identical measurement results given the angular difference Φ one would write like this: P (α = βjΦ) = cos2 Φ (1) 1 1.1 The quantum mechanical doctrine In the literature that I know there is a strict separation between the quantum state jΨi of the pair of photons on the one hand and the experimental context, consisting of nothing more than the angular difference of the polarisation filters or the polarizers, on the other hand. -
John S. Bell's Concept of Local Causality
John S. Bell’s concept of local causality Travis Norsena) Department of Physics, Smith College, McConnell Hall, Northampton, Massachusetts 01063 (Received 15 August 2008; accepted 6 August 2011) John Stewart Bell’s famous theorem is widely regarded as one of the most important developments in the foundations of physics. Yet even as we approach the 50th anniversary of Bell’s discovery, its meaning and implications remain controversial. Many workers assert that Bell’s theorem refutes the possibility suggested by Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen (EPR) of supplementing ordinary quantum theory with “hidden” variables that might restore determinism and/or some notion of an observer- independent reality. But Bell himself interpreted the theorem very differently—as establishing an “essential conflict” between the well-tested empirical predictions of quantum theory and relativistic local causality. Our goal is to make Bell’s own views more widely known and to explain Bell’s little- known formulation of the concept of relativistic local causality on which his theorem rests. We also show precisely how Bell’s formulation of local causality can be used to derive an empirically testable Bell-type inequality and to recapitulate the EPR argument. VC 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers. [DOI: 10.1119/1.3630940] I. INTRODUCTION theory could be rendered compatible with local causality by following Newton and by denying that the theory in question In its most general sense, “local causality” is the idea that provided a complete description of the relevant phenomena. physical influences propagate continuously through space— This changed in 1905 with Einstein’s discovery of special that what Einstein famously called “spooky actions at a dis- relativity, which for the first time identified a class of causal 1 tance” are impossible. -
In the Dirac Tradition
In the Dirac tradition The late Richard Feynman - 'a way of looking at things so they appear not so mysterious'. It was Paul Dirac who cast quantum mechanics into the form we now use, and many generations of theo reticians openly acknowledge his in fluence on their thinking. When Dirac died in 1984, St. John's College, Cambridge, his base for most of his lifetime, institu ted an annual lecture in his memory at Cambridge. The first lecture, in 1986, attracted two heavyweights - Richard Feynman (see page 1) and Steven Weinberg. Far from using the lectures as a platform for their own work, in the Dirac tradition they pre sented stimulating material on deep underlying questions. (The lectures - 'Elementary Parti cles and the Laws of Physics' by Richard P. Feynman and Steven Weinberg - are published by Cam bridge University Press.) Richard Feynman When I was a young man, Dirac was my hero. He made a break through, a new method of doing tic quantum mechanics. However, cles, then to get the new wave- physics. He had the courage to the puzzle of negative energies that function from the old you must put simply guess at the form of an the equation presented, when it in a minus sign. It is easy to de equation, the equation we now call was solved, eventually showed monstrate that if Nature was non- the Dirac equation, and to try to in that the crucial idea necessary to relativistic, if things started out that terpret it afterwards. Maxwell in his wed quantum mechanics and relati way then it would be that way for day got his equations, but only in vity together was the existence of all time, and so the problem would an enormous mass of 'gear antiparticles. -
Is the Quantum State Real in the Hilbert Space Formulation?
Is the Quantum State Real in the Hilbert Space Formulation? Mani L. Bhaumik Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, USA. E-mail: [email protected] Editors: Zvi Bern & Danko Georgiev Article history: Submitted on November 5, 2020; Accepted on December 18, 2020; Published on December 19, 2020. he persistent debate about the reality of a quan- 1 Introduction tum state has recently come under limelight be- Tcause of its importance to quantum informa- The debate about the reality of quantum states is as old tion and the quantum computing community. Almost as quantum physics itself. The objective reality underly- all of the deliberations are taking place using the ele- ing the manifestly bizarre behavior of quantum objects gant and powerful but abstract Hilbert space formal- is conspicuously at odds with our daily classical phys- ism of quantum mechanics developed with seminal ical reality. The scientific outlook of objective reality contributions from John von Neumann. Since it is commenced with the precepts of classical physics that rather difficult to get a direct perception of the events cemented our notion of reality for centuries. Discover- in an abstract vector space, it is hard to trace the ies starting in the last decade of the nineteenth century progress of a phenomenon. Among the multitude of revealing the uncanny quantum world in the microscopic recent attempts to show the reality of the quantum domain shook that perception. state in Hilbert space, the Pusey–Barrett–Rudolph With the particular exception of Einstein, who was the theory gets most recognition for their proof. -
Bohr's Relational Holism and the Classical-Quantum Interaction1
1 Bohr’s Relational Holism and the classical-quantum Interaction1 Mauro Dorato Department of Philosophy Communication and Media Studies University of Rome “Roma Tre”, Via Ostiense 234, 00144, Rome, Italy [email protected] 1 Introduction: a conflict in Bohr’s philosophy? Bohr’s philosophy of quantum mechanics has often been charged for what is allegedly one of its major shortcomings, namely the advocacy of an unambiguous classical/quantum distinction (let me refer to this view with the label the distinction thesis). As is well known, such a distinction is needed to defend Bohr’s view that any communicable measurement outcome must presuppose a classically describable instrument, with respect to which any reference to the quantum of action can be neglected (Bohr 1958, 4). Critics have then often insisted on the fact that the distinction in question is hopelessly vague (Bell 1987, 29) or at least strongly contextual (Ghirardi 2004), so that Bohr’s interpretation of quantum mechanics suffers from the same vagueness and adhoc-ness. The resulting problem is, allegedly, a renunciation to describe the dynamical interaction between system and apparatus in a physically precise, theoretically based and non-contextual way, and therefore to offer a much-needed solution to the measurement problem. In my paper I will present and critically discuss the main strategies that Bohr used and could have used to defend from this charge his interpretation of quantum mechanics. In particular, in the first part I will reassess the main arguments that Bohr used to advocate the 1 Thanks to Henry Folse and Jan Faye for their attentive reading of a previous draft of the paper. -
Strong Loophole-Free Test of Local Realism*
Selected for a Viewpoint in Physics week ending PRL 115, 250402 (2015) PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 18 DECEMBER 2015 Strong Loophole-Free Test of Local Realism* † Lynden K. Shalm,1, Evan Meyer-Scott,2 Bradley G. Christensen,3 Peter Bierhorst,1 Michael A. Wayne,3,4 Martin J. Stevens,1 Thomas Gerrits,1 Scott Glancy,1 Deny R. Hamel,5 Michael S. Allman,1 Kevin J. Coakley,1 Shellee D. Dyer,1 Carson Hodge,1 Adriana E. Lita,1 Varun B. Verma,1 Camilla Lambrocco,1 Edward Tortorici,1 Alan L. Migdall,4,6 Yanbao Zhang,2 Daniel R. Kumor,3 William H. Farr,7 Francesco Marsili,7 Matthew D. Shaw,7 Jeffrey A. Stern,7 Carlos Abellán,8 Waldimar Amaya,8 Valerio Pruneri,8,9 Thomas Jennewein,2,10 Morgan W. Mitchell,8,9 Paul G. Kwiat,3 ‡ Joshua C. Bienfang,4,6 Richard P. Mirin,1 Emanuel Knill,1 and Sae Woo Nam1, 1National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA 2Institute for Quantum Computing and Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3G1 3Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801, USA 4National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA 5Département de Physique et d’Astronomie, Université de Moncton, Moncton, New Brunswick E1A 3E9, Canada 6Joint Quantum Institute, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Maryland, 100 Bureau Drive, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA 7Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California 91109, USA 8ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain 9ICREA-Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, 08015 Barcelona, Spain 10Quantum Information Science Program, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Received 10 November 2015; published 16 December 2015) We present a loophole-free violation of local realism using entangled photon pairs. -
The Quantum World the Disturbing Theory at the Heart of Reality
The Quantum World The disturbing theory at the heart of reality NEW SCIENTIST 629462_The_Quant_World_Book.indb 3 3/11/17 12:37 PM First published in Great Britain in 2017 by John Murray Learning. An Hachette UK company. Copyright © New Scientist 2017 The right of New Scientist to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by it in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Database right Hodder & Stoughton (makers) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographic rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, John Murray Learning, at the address below. You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: on file. ISBN: 978 1 47362 946 2 eISBN: 978 1 47362 947 9 1 The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that any website addresses referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher and the author have no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content will remain relevant, decent or appropriate. -
Hypersonic Flight
Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue | Next Page PHYSICS TODAY November 2017 • volume 70, number 11 A publication of the American Institute of Physics HYPERSONIC FLIGHT The legacy of Ilya Lifshitz Atmospheric methane past and present Gender-based pay disparity Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out For navigation instructions please click here Search Issue | Next Page Previous Page | Contents | Zoom in | Zoom out | Front Cover | Search Issue | Next Page VERIFY AND Surpass design challenges with ease using COMSOL Multiphysics®. Work with its OPTIMIZE powerful mathematical modeling tools and solver technology to deliver accurate and YOUR DESIGNS comprehensive simulation results. ® Develop custom applications using the with COMSOL Multiphysics Application Builder and deploy them within your organization and to customers worldwide The evolution of computational tools for with a local installation of COMSOL Server™. numerical simulation of physics-based systems has reached a major milestone. Benefit from the power of multiphysics today, request a live demo at comsol.com © Copyright 2017 COMSOL. COMSOL, the COMSOL logo, COMSOL Multiphysics, Capture the Concept, COMSOL Desktop, COMSOL Server, and LiveLink are either registered trademarks or trademarks of COMSOL AB. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and COMSOL AB and its subsidiaries and products are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or supported by those trademark owners. For a list of such trademark owners,