The Quantum Cookbook: Mathematical Recipes for the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
Editorial OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Mainland Spain
- Publisher OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
- ISBN13 9780198827863
- ISBN10 0198827865
- Type Book
- Pages 314
- Published 2020
- Language English
- Bookbinding Paperback
The Quantum Cookbook: Mathematical Recipes for the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics
Editorial OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
Mainland Spain
Book Details
Quantum mechanics is an extraordinarily successful scientific theory. But it is also completely mad. Although the theory quite obviously works, it leaves us chasing ghosts and phantoms; particles that are waves and waves that are particles; cats that are at once both alive and dead; lots of seemingly spooky goings-on; and a desperate desire to lie down quietly in a darkened room.
"The Quantum Cookbook" explains why this is. It provides a unique bridge betweenpopular exposition and formal textbook presentation, written for curious readers with some background in physics and sufficient mathematical capability. It aims not to teach readers how to do quantum mechanics but rather helps them to understand how to think about quantum mechanics.
Each derivation ispresented as a 'recipe' with listed ingredients, including standard results from the mathematician's toolkit, set out in a series of easy-to-follow steps. The recipes have been written sympathetically, for readers who - like the author - will often struggle to follow the logic of a derivation which misses out steps that are 'obvious', or which use techniques that readers are assumed to know.