A First Introduction to Quantum Physics

ISBN-13: 9783031161643 / Angielski / Miękka / 2023 / 304 str.

Pieter Kok

Spis treści

Chapter 1: Three simple experiments.- The purpose of physical theories.- A laser and a detector.- A laser and a beam splitter.- A Mach-Zehnder interferometer.- The breakdown of classical concepts.- Chapter 2: Photons and Interference.- Photon paths and superpositions.- The beam splitter as a matrix.- The phase in an interferometer.- How to calculate probabilities.- Gravitational wave detection.- Chapter 3: Electrons with Spin.- The Stern-Gerlach experiment.- The spin observable.- The Bloch sphere.- The uncertainty principle.- Magnetic resonance imaging.- Chapter 4: Atoms and Energy.- The energy spectrum of atoms.- Changes over time.- The Hamiltonian.- Interactions.- Atomic clocks.- Chapter 5: Operators.- Eigenvalue problems.- Observables.- Evolution.- The commutator.- Projectors.- Chapter 6: Entanglement.- The state of two electrons.- Entanglement.- Quantum teleportation.- Quantum computers.- Chapter 7: Decoherence.- Classical and quantum uncertainty.- The density matrix.- Interactions with the environment.- Entropy and Landauer’s principle.- Chapter 8: The Motion of Particles.- A particle in a box.- The momentum of a particle.- The energy of a particle.- The scanning tunneling microscope.- Chemistry.- Chapter 9: Uncertainty Relations.- Quantum uncertainty revisited.- Position-momentum uncertainty.- The energy-time uncertainty relation.- The quantum mechanical pendulum.- Precision measurements.- Chapter 10: The Nature of Reality.- The emergent classical world.- The quantum state revisited.- Nonlocality.- Contextuality.- A compendium of interpretations.

O autorze

Pieter Kok is Professor of Theoretical Physics at the University of Sheffield, UK. His research interests include quantum information theory and quantum precision measurements. He studied physics at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and received his Ph.D. in quantum teleportation from the University of Wales in 2001. He has contributed to practical architectures for quantum computing and Heisenberg-limited quantum metrology and imaging.

Blurb

In this undergraduate textbook, now in its 2nd edition, the author develops the quantum theory from first principles based on very simple experiments: a photon traveling through beam splitters to detectors, an electron moving through magnetic fields, and an atom emitting radiation. From the physical description of these experiments follows a natural mathematical description in terms of matrices and complex numbers.

The first part of the book examines how experimental facts force us to let go of some deeply held preconceptions and develops this idea into a description of states, probabilities, observables, and time evolution. The quantum mechanical principles are illustrated using applications such as gravitational wave detection, magnetic resonance imaging, atomic clocks, scanning tunneling microscopy, and many more. The first part concludes with an overview of the complete quantum theory.

The second part of the book covers more advanced topics, including the concept of entanglement, the process of decoherence or how quantum systems become classical, quantum computing and quantum communication, and quantum particles moving in space. Here, the book makes contact with more traditional approaches to quantum physics. The remaining chapters delve deeply into the idea of uncertainty relations and explore what the quantum theory says about the nature of reality.

The book is an ideal accessible introduction to quantum physics, tested in the classroom, with modern examples and plenty of end-of-chapter exercises.