Product Description

Amazon.com Review
For a physicist, all the world is information. The Universe and its workings are the ebb and flow of information. We are all transient patterns of information, passing on the recipe for our basic forms to future generations using a four-letter digital code called DNA.

In this engaging and mind-stretching account, Vlatko Vedral considers some of the deepest questions about the Universe and considers the implications of interpreting it in terms of information. He explains the nature of information, the idea of entropy, and the roots of this thinking in thermodynamics. He describes the bizarre effects of quantum behaviour - effects such as 'entanglement,' which Einstein called 'spooky action at a distance' and explores cutting edge work on the harnessing quantum effects in hyperfast quantum computers, and how recent evidence suggests that the weirdness of the quantum world, once thought limited to the tiniest scales, may reach into the macro world.

Vedral finishes by considering the answer to the ultimate question: Where did all of the information in the Universe come from? The answers he considers are exhilarating, drawing upon the work of distinguished physicist John Wheeler. The ideas challenge our concept of the nature of particles, of time, of determinism, and of reality itself.

Amazon-Exclusive Author One-on-One: Paul Davies and Vlatko Vedral

Paul Davies: Like most physicists, you base your world view on quantum mechanics. What would it take to convince you that quantum mechanics is a flawed theory that needs to be replaced? Can you devise a straightforward experiment that is feasible in the near future that would test quantum mechanics in a new and crucial way?

Vlatko Vedral: It is indeed depressing that quantum physics has been so consistently accurate over the past hundred years. There is really no obvious deviation from experiments (we physicists would get really excited if there were). The main issue I think is how general the quantum superposition principle is: Can any property really be superposed? Roger Penrose, for instance, believes that gravity will prevent superposing a massive object in two different places. Along with many other physicists, I think that this is a technological (not fundamental) problem. On top of this, we are far away from being able to experiment with time and space on scales relevant for quantum gravity. A more interesting issue for me (as well as being more readily accessible to experiments) is the existence of two different types of particles, fermions and bosons. It seems that every particle we observe is either a fermion (electrons, for example) or a boson (photons, for example). But can it be that we can have a particle in a superposition between a fermion and a boson? We are now in a position to be able to attempt to superpose these two properties in practice. If we show that this cannot be done, however, it is not clear what this means for quantum physics.Some of us like to think of everything in the universe as being quantum and finding limitations even in one aspect would tell us that there might be more out there…

Davies: For many years Stephen Hawking claimed that information is irretrievably lost in black holes. Then he changed his mind. Where do you stand on the issue?

Vedral: If we really succeed in quantizing gravity then gravitational field should behave in a reversible manner like any other quantum field. In that sense, there is no information loss in a black hole. Reversibility means that information can always be recovered (I guess this is why Hawking changed his mind, though I have not seen anything in writing on this). However, if we show that gravity indeed wins over quantum physics (whatever this might mean – we don’t really know at present), then there might be some genuine loss out there. This then (by default) signals the end to the universality of quantum physics. I think that the jury is still very much out on this one, though I would tend to think that gravity will one day be quantized (or will be understood not to be a fundamental force) in which case the loss of information is probably not fundamental.

Davies: When humans communicate, a certain quantity of information passes between them. But that information differs from the bits (or qubits) physicists normally consider, inasmuch as it possesses meaning. We may be able to quantify the information exchanged, but meaning is a qualitative property – a value – and therefore hard, maybe impossible, to capture mathematically. Nevertheless the concept of meaning obviously has, well… meaning. Will we ever have a credible physical theory of “meaningful information”, or is “meaning” simply outside the scope of physical science?

Vedral: This is a really difficult one. The success of Shannon’s formulation of “information” lies precisely in the fact that he stripped it of all “meaning” and reduced it only to the notion of probability. Once we are able to estimate the probability for something to occur, we can immediately talk about its information content. But this sole dependence on probability could also be thought of as the main limitation of Shannon’s information theory (as you imply in your question). One could, for instance, argue that the DNA has the same information content inside as well as outside of a biological cell. However, it is really only when it has access to the cell’s machinery that it starts to serve its main biological purpose (i.e. it starts to make sense). Expressing this in your own words, the DNA has a meaning only within the context of a biological cell. The meaning of meaning is therefore obviously important. Though there has been some work on the theory of meaning, I have not really seen anything convincing yet. Intuitively we need some kind of a “relative information” concept, information that is not only dependent on the probability, but also on its context, but I am afraid that we still do not have this.

Davies: Quantum entanglement enables nature to process information exponentially faster than a Newtonian universe would. But could a different mechanics – neither Newtonian nor quantum – process information even faster still? Is there a “Vedral mechanics” with “vbits” that could outperform qubits in a race to find the answer to a mathematical question? If so, tell us about it!

Vedral: Oh, how I’d love to have a Vedral mechanics and vbits. Unfortunately, quantum physics is very successful and resists being replaced. However, based on the scientific progress so far (and, after all, it can’t be that we are so smart to figure out the ultimate theory after just 350 years of using the scientific method) I bet that there will be a new mechanics one day (albeit discovered by someone else – I am willing to bet quite a lot on this one). At present, and as far as I am concerned, this probably lies in the realm of the “unknown unknowns,” to borrow Donald Rumsfeld’s phraseology. The need for a new theory will, I think, come from a completely unexpected direction: There are things that we simply don’t know we don’t know.

Davies: In a system with more than about 400 entangled qubits, the quantum description entails more parameters (e.g. branches of the wave function) than there are particles in the universe. In fact, it entails more parameters than the total number of (classical) informational bits in the universe. Thus even an omniscient demon that performed a measurement and knew every bit of information about the universe that it is even in principle possible to read out and know, could not predict the behavior of the system. Does this therefore represent a fundamental cosmological limit to the predictability of quantum systems? Indeed, a new fundamental limit to what is knowable? Are we being idealistic to believe that quantum mechanics applies accurately when it involves more mathematical objects than could ever in principle be written down in the real universe, even by using up all its available resources?

Vedral: This is a deep question and I often think about it (mainly at night, like with all deep questions). Let me restate it slightly. We believe that all observable properties in quantum physics can be captured with mathematical objects called operators.And, more importantly, we believe that anything that is an operator can be observed (this is one of the postulates of quantum physics). However, as you illustrated above, there are things that we might never be able to measure due to lack of memory space, even though they mathematically represent legitimate mathematical operators. In this sense, one may argue that quantum physics contains seeds of its own destruction: It has in its foundations things that prove that they cannot be there! We have not really had to think about this question in the past since technologically we could never handle more than 20 qubits in a fully coherent manner. But now, with the rapid progress in various quantum computational technologies, it would not be surprising if we arrived at 400 qubits within 10 years or so. What would this mean? One possibility is: not much. Maybe in order to understand behavior of objects with 400 qubits or more, we don’t need more than a handful of observables that capture all the essence. After all, this is how we do solid state physics (here we are talking about at least a billion qubits). We don’t want to know all properties of a macroscopic solid, but only how well it conducts electricity, heat and how it responds to some external stimuli such as the magnetic field. The other possibility, however, is that we need to radically change the way we understand the world. Your argument would then imply that there is a more fundamental limitation to our understanding of the universe than implied by the Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle. It is simply the fact that the universe has a finite number of bits in it! Does this mean that there is a complementarity in what we can measure due to finite space over and above the quantum complementarity? Some people have in fact argued that quantum complementarity is nothing but a consequence of the finite space complementarity! However, like I said, I only think about this question during sleepless nights, and I’ve not had anywhere near enough of them to begin to do this question the justice it deserves.

Customer Reviews (20)

Bits and Pieces
A new kid on the block with a fresh idea of what it's all about wakes up the book world.On the quantum level, information appears to have no meaning, appearing as simple units of decision.Yet, the whole modern society is based on that very fact--i.e. computer-machines language. It all stems from "bits and pieces."

He begins to assemble an argument for the bases of our technological reality, pointing out that our soft tissues operate based on more machine-line processes behind the scenes.Even so, we are a composite always achieving a state of which the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

Although his style is punchy with a prologue followed by three major parts being some 12 chapters and ending quite aptly with an epilogue.In all, a neat package, which mimics the machinery of reality.The book is a wonderful acknowledgement of reality's complexity, giving us a neat rendering of what it ought to be.The author must be commended for his treatment of such an illusive topic.An invigorating read.I see great promise for this talented and modern new thinker.

Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky

Intriguing, challenging views
Reality is not what is seems, or what our intuitions tell us every day.

The key theoretical foundation of Vedral's book is Information Theory, but Vedral extends this to a much broader scope - indeed, the broadest possible as he explains that all reality is information, and that nothing exists outside the interactions between observers and the observed (in keeping with a key postulate of Quantum Physics).

Vedral's book spans many different subjects - Biology, Thermodynamics, Economics, Sociology, Quantum Physics, Computer Science and Philosophy - each in beautifully and clearly written chapters, where his theory that "information is reality' (or "information is physical" as he states early in the book's Prologue) emerges in all these different slices of human knowledge.

At times Vedral must cut a few corners to make his story-line fit within a book that is less than 220 pages, but this does not detract from a very original and intriguing attempt to answer some of the biggest and deepestquestions ever posed: What is reality? How did it all start? How (and if) will it end? And - probably very challenging for some - do we 'need' God to explain the Universe?

You will probably not look at your chair the same way you did before reading this book...

Brazilian`s Perspective
Decoding Reality opens up a window of new ideas. For exemple, in my case I began to reconsider the long held view that education is a factor of development. The opposite makes sense, namely development is a factor of education. How about that?

Thought provoking
This book must not be judged for its scientific completeness and accuracy. It is more like a brainstorming exercise. The author is an expert in quantum information. He offers a lot of references from other disciplines (economics, biology, computer science, etc) that use information theory. I found impressive the fact that the author brought up some interesting works from the past, such as Von Neumann's theory on automata, and combined them with some newer ones that are controversial (for example the theory of no time described in The End of Time: The Next Revolution in Physics ). Obviously a lot of the conclusions are qualitative and they are not strong yet. If they were then the author would have been a nobelist. I think it is a good start though. Vedral should keep working on these ideas and eventually merge this book with his textbook on information theory Introduction to Quantum Information Science (Oxford Graduate Texts). If he manages to take some of his claims in the book and dress them with equations then we would have a masterpiece. I personally come from the are of machine learning and statistics and I found this book quite inspiring for my area.


I have collected all the references of the book in a list http://www.amazon.com/decoding-reality-references/lm/R2517GZU2HJ5V/ref=cm_lm_byauthor_title_full

A wonderful book in many ways
A wonderful book to read in many ways. It is written in a introductory fashion that touches and based upon many theories and principles of physics, mathematics, statistics, informatics as well as philosophy.

Unlike the author has (jokingly?) claimed that the 200+ page book can be condensed to just 25 pages, for readers who do not yet have all the in-depth multi-disciplinary backgrounds of the scope, this book can grow up to many volumes, if one wishes sufficiently understand the underlying theories.

The idea of information as a forth base element in addition to time, space and energy is not a brand new thinking. But that information is the one and only base element is perhaps a novelty theory.

One of the greatest value of this book, whether one chooses to agree with the conclusion made by the book or not, is preciously the wholesome multi-disciplinary perspectives and summation of all relevant knowledges.

There are many excellent books in specialized knowledge, but this book definitely is one of those (if there are many others that I haven't discovered) rare books that summarizes a grand view of many years of research and studies, and above all the thoughts of a seasoned physicist. It's a book of whole landscape instead of a couple of plants if one will.

The only shortage if not a intention is the book choose to be written using the conclusions only. It assumes or requirements readers' prior knowledge of the subject matters in question. But as I have said earlier, the book will become multi-volume series if all the discussions were to be expended. ... Read more

Product Description
This book entertainingly traces the history of physics from the observations of the earlyGreeks through the discoveries of Galileo and Newton to the dazzling theories of such scientists as Planck, Einstein, Bohr, and Bohm. This humanized view of science opens up the mind-stretching visions of how quantum mechanics, God, human thought, and will are related, and provides profound implications for our understanding of the nature of reality and our relationship to the cosmos. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

I Think Therefore I Am (What I think I Am?)
I bought this book because of some dialog that I heard on a PBS series "Closer to Truth" and the promise that this may be a scientist that can get beyond the religion/science stereotypes that have come to be increasingly divisive and polarizing these days; a man that could "think outside the proverbial box".Unfortunately, this book more aptly falls into the category "fantasies from inside the box".

I have come to believe that many scientists (and increasingly many people) have come to confuse IDEAS about what constitutes reality with reality itself.You would not think that scientists would fall into that trap but like Fred Wolf, many have.In this book you will find some musings on the history of determinism and quantum physics interlaced with Mr Wolf's view of consciousness (obviously using his own as a model) that is based on the tired dictum "I think therefore I am".When talking about developing infants he asserts "Consciousness means awareness (so far so good) and that first awareness had to to be the concept 'I am'".Awareness is a concept?The author obviously THINKS so.

He goes on the agree with the notion that three thousand years ago people became aware of the "I" in themselves and that before that they were unaware automatons following the "God" voices in their heads and therefore not conscious.Further on he asserts again the personal notion that "I am" constitutes the provable awareness of our being and that logic forms our basis of reality noting as an example that Descartes saw a "reason" for planets revolving around the sun.As a pracicing applied mathematician and engineer of over 25 years I can tell you unequivocally, anyone that claims to know why the planets revolve around the sun definitely has "God voices in their heads".

Not exactly what is advertised on the dustjacket as a "mind stretching vision of how quantum mechanics, God and human thought are related".

It seems that the author has not realized that true discovery and creativity do not come from thinking.Any exercise of self-awareness will reveal that thought is composed of memories in the form of language and visualization of events in the past and fantasies about the future.That same exercise reveals what consciousness (awareness) truly is: listening, looking and feeling what is here now, as opposed to conceptualizations (comparisons to "related" memories of past events) and about what what they "mean".For those like the author, that process equates to names, classifications and analogies nicely boxed, wrapped, labeled and sold as an expert's take on "reality".Certified by a method that says: create a hypothesis (dream up the answer), then prove it is not true.If you can't, give it a name (instinct, dark matter, etc) then classify it as "knowledge".Then kick in the ego (the author's version of consciousness) for personal conviction and authenticity.

It was once said that "Pure logical thinking cannot yield us any knowledge of the empirical world; All knowledge of reality starts from experience and ends in it.Propositions arrived at by purely logical means are completely empty of reality" - Albert Einstein.

Unfortunately, this book falls in the prior category as it is not particularly creative or insightful. It would be a better read if the author stuck to repeating what he knows and let us come to our own conclusions.The rest come across as the naive conceptualizations of a compulsive thinkaholic.

Not good for "Non-scientists".
Usually when I read a book, I get something out of it. I was left horribly unfulfilled after attempting to read this book. To begin with, the author uses too many big words and fancy terms. For example: "peregrinations". What "non-scientist" uses that word? And secondly, he may as well explain the material like this example I came up with: An object is red because red is the way it appears. Come on. At the risk of sounding really immature, I hate this book.

A Journey Into the Quantum
I read Wolf's book some time ago and for a novice, he writes very succinctly. I enjoy Wolf's style and wit along with the drawings so the novice has a visual. The author has appeared in the movie What the Bleep, and I have observed that he has moved a quantum leap in his understanding and he is even more witty. Bettye Johnson, award-winning author, Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls.

Outstandingly clear, simple and yet amazing
Despite the fact that i am submiting this review without having read the entire book, it does give you a very clear and comprehensive review of the history, foundations and development in physics leading into quantum physics.
It's worth every cent and I strongly recomend it for anyone who has begun or would like to begin the discovery of this science.

Qwiff me
"In the literal sense, the quantum leap is the tiny but explosive jump that a particle of matter undergoes in moving from one place to another.""In the figurative sense, taking the quantum leap means taking a risk." "The first paradox was that things moved without following a law of mechanical motion."

This is the world of weird.From the early scientific thoughts on the paradoxes of motion and matter, (which eventually led to materialism) to, "what is reality", the wave particle theory,and parallel universes.

It is written in laymen's terms,.............. well sort of.Wolf was formally a professor of physics at San Diego State University.With the authors wit, philosophy, and spirituality, he helps makes it a fun read.He gives us plenty of analogies to help in his explanations of the complex.He also brings forth loads of information without being exhaustive.

The most fascination part of the book, is why free will exists. This is true, because of how the brains neurons are set up to fire.If this were not so, we would be as if robots.So we are then only left to free will.

God the initial cause, nothing is left to chance.Does this allow for "natural selection"?We will never discover God's secret. "We cannot help but disturb the universe when we observe it." "We are just victims of the universe."

Are we beginning a new age of awareness of quantum consciousness as did the individuals of the past? ... Read more

Product Description
This book is an introduction to the techniques of many-body quantum theory with a large number of applications to condensed matter physics. The basic idea of the book is to provide a self-containedformulation of the theoretical framework without losing mathematical rigor, while at the same time providing physical motivation and examples. The examples are taken from applications in electron systems and transport theory. On the formal side, the book covers an introduction to second quantization, many-body Green's function, finite temperature Feynman diagrams and bosonization. The applications include traditional transport theory in bulk as well as mesoscopic systems, where both the Landau-Buttiker formalism and recent developments in correlated transport phenomena in mesoscopic systems and nano-structures are covered. Other topics include interacting electron gases, plasmons, electron-phonon interactions, superconductivity and a final chapter on one-dimensional systems where a detailed treatment of Luttinger liquid theory and bosonization techniques is given. Having grown out of a set of lecture notes, and containing many pedagogical exercises, this book is designed as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate or graduate course, and is also well suited for self-study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Good but dense
This book offers a fairly decent, thorough treatment of solid state theory, while still being somewhat approachable.However, this book is not for the inexperienced.You should expect to spend lots of time looking up things in more introductory books.

EXCELLENT BOOK!
This book is exactly what a new student (with some training in basic grad courses in solid state, statistical mechanics, etc.) needs to grasp condensed matter physics without a "research-based bias." Todays programs are so focused on application that a thorough treatment of pedigogical materials get superfically taught. Philip Anderson warns about this in his timeless classic "Basic Notions." This book uses QFT in canonical picture (bootstraps), no mention of path integrals. I started out in HEP, so I got trained fairly well in path integrals, some may find this a barrier with the book. Luttinger theory is the most modern topic touched on, applications to materials science. I recommend Wen's book if you want to look at Quantum Hall Effects and Topological Orders (post 1980's). ... Read more

Product Description
Inspired by Richard Feynman and J.J. Sakurai, A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics lets professors expose their undergraduates to the excitement and insight of Feynman's approach to quantum mechanics while simultaneously giving them a textbook that is well-ordered, logical, and pedagogically sound. This book covers all the topics that are typically presented in a standard upper-level course in quantum mechanics, but its teaching approach is new: Rather than organizing his book according to the historical development of the field and jumping into a mathematical discussion of wave mechanics, Townsend begins his book with the quantum mechanics of spin. Thus, the first five chapters of the book succeed in laying out the fundamentals of quantum mechanics with little or no wave mechanics, so the physics is not obscured by mathematics. Starting with spin systems gives students something new and interesting while providing elegant but straightforward examples of the essential structure of quantum mechanics. When wave mechanics is introduced later, students perceive it correctly as only one aspect of quantum mechanics and not the core of the subject. Praised for its pedagogical brilliance, clear writing, and careful explanations, this book is destined to become a landmark text. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Dirac Explained Easy
Aside from giving detailed description of the book which other reviewers have already done, I want to express my respect for this book by saying: Even though I worked through almost all parts of the book and solved a greater portion of the problems with a library copy, I want to buy and keep a copy now--if it's appreciably cheaper than the current price.

Amazing!
This a great QM book! There are few better on the market. I highly recommend it.

A nice presentation of quantum under one condition....
You must have an exceptional understanding of the historical development of quantum mechanics. This book entire ignores this, but otherwise is phenomenal. Knowledge of the historical development of quantum is vital for anyone who wants to be a good physicist. By studying this development, you learn what kinds of problems physicists come up with and how they got around them. Physicist must be trained in not only what the existing theories are, but how to interpret data and think outside of the box to solve problems.

Once the student has mastered this part(perhaps in a Modern Physics class, as the preface suggests) he will be ready for this book. Townsend's approach is unique, he starts with a simple, two-state system (spin in electrons in the Stern-Gerlach experiment) and spends considerable time early on familiarizing the student with matrix mechanics and angular momentum. You will not see a Schroedinger equation until the fourth chapter, and this is just a generalized version. Wave properties of matter do not enter until the sixth chapter.

This book will present a lot of information in a sensible form and offer several challenging but doable (if you have the persistence) problems. By itself, however, it will not make you a good physicist - it explains the material, but not the way scientists figured the material out.

A Truly Modern Approach
The author follows the unconventional approach first used in Volume III of Feynmann's "introductory" lectures, starting immediately with purely quantum phenomena (like spin) and reaching more familiar topics (wave mechanics, the harmonic oscillator, the hydrogen atom, ...) much later.It's definitely not the first book or even the second that one should read on the subject!But after struggling with Feynmann, Dirac, Weinberg et al., I found Townsend a kinder and gentler version that left me appreciating for the first time the fundamental role of symmetry transformations.In that sense the book really did introduce me to "the modern approach."The final chapters -- time-independent perturbations, identical particles, scattering, photons and atoms -- make the connection with atomic and molecular physics and then prepare the ground for future study of QED and other field theories.Altogether marvelous in my view, though I can understand why readers seem to either love it or hate it.

Absurd, circular reasoning, uses the infamous "its trivial to show" argument when ever something is difficult.
This book is absolutely horrendous. This book was specified for my 400 level quantum class, after hours of intense study, trying to sort threw Townsends circular reasoning and gross ommissions, i have reverted to using a multitude of other textbooks and keeping Townsend closed.

It is very often that Townsend claims that the math shows a physics principle is true, then later makes hand waving type arguments, claiming that certain math must be true because it fits the physics. Math does not work in this matter. The relations he presents are correct, but his reasoning is often dubious.

Townsend often present arbitrary operators, claiming they are "natural" without any explanation, and proceeds to write proofs, without ever stating the purpose of the proof. At the end of such a proof, you may garner what he intended to show, but this vague method is ridiculous. I couldn't imagine any physicist or mathematician starting a proof without first presenting an idea of what they intend to show, or without a discussion of why an operator should be represented in a certain manner.

There is no chapter dedicated to linear algebra principles, or dirac notation as a mathematical construct. Townsend makes hand waving type arguments about what a bra and ket represent in relation to a 1/2 spin particle, leaving out any solid foundation. A more advanced book, "Quantum Mechanics" by Trigg, has a very indepth discussion of linear algebra and group theory. Amazingly, despite the much more indepth nature, the math presented is much easier to follow then the obtuse writings of Townsend.

Townsend often avoids comparing quantum mechanical processes to classical analogies, where these analogies would be very helpful. He also skips steps, claiming them trivial, which often take several pages of math to show.

This book is poor as both a reference, due to its lack of rigor and dubious reasoning, and poor as a teaching tool due to its poor presentation style and ommissions. ... Read more

Product Description
When you insert a straight stick in water, you will surprisedly find that the stick appears bent. Yet, this is in fact an optical illusion resulting from the refraction of light. Nature always hides her secret with attractive veiling. This may also be true for the motion of objects. Although everything around us appears to move in a continuous and lawful way, it is in all probability that their motion is discontinuous and random in reality as the microscopic phenomena reveal. This book presents a clear exposition of the intriguing idea of random discontinuous motion and its implications for quantum theory and relativity. Once you realize that motion is actually discontinuous and random, you may finally understand the mysterious quantum world, where an electron can pass through two slits at the same time. I fully agree with your idea of discontinuous movement. ---- Antoine Suarez, Center for Quantum Philosophy, Zurich The idea of using discontinuous motion as a realist interpretation of quantum mechanics is original. If it can be made to work, it would add an interesting new ontology to our stock of quantum mechanical interpretations.---- Reviewer of Foundations of Physics Its very existence is at any rate, an excellent illustration of the extent to which physical data force us to depart from commonsense ideas when we try to depict reality "as it really is". ---- Bernard d'Espagnat, University of Paris-Orsay ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Good ideas in faulty clothing
The book's basic idea is that at their most fundamental level both space and time are discrete, not continuous. Gao presents others' ideas (especially those of Roger Penrose) and his own in fairly clear language.
However, the book suffers from three major drawbacks.
First of all, it is in desperate need of massive style-editing. I've learned to read badly-written books by scientists who are native speakers of English. Gao's English is very good for a non-native, but the text in its present state is really substandard.
Secondly, the text jumps quite blithely from amateur-level explanations to tensors and partial differential equations. So parts of the book can be read as a narrative while others have to be worked through very carefully.
This brings me to the third problem. In the kindle edition the formulas are so badly mangled that I've been unable to reconstruct many of them. Some characters don't come out at all, or appear as question marks; some formulas appear with a single character per line, so they may take up a whole page; the numbers of the formulas, which should appear in parentheses to the left of the formula, often appear inside the formula; subscripts sometimes get detached from the formula and appear in the next line of text.
In short, this is potentially a very interesting book, but still needs a lot of work. ... Read more

Product Description

This introduction to Atomic and Molecular Physics explains how our present model of atoms and molecules has been developed during the last two centuries by many experimental discoveries and from the theoretical side by the introduction of quantum physics to the adequate description of micro-particles. It illustrates the wave model of particles by many examples and shows the limits of classical description. The interaction of electromagnetic radiation with atoms and molecules and its potential for spectroscopy is outlined in more detail and in particular lasers as modern spectroscopic tools are discussed more thoroughly. Many examples and problems with solutions should induce the reader to an intense active cooperation.

Product Description
Are poltergeists energy fluctuations in the Zero Point Field?

Could even the simple experience of déjà vu be explained by the quantum theory of parallel universes?

Do thoughts have the energy to manifest and move physical objects?

PSIence introduces readers to the latest discoveries in quantum physics and New Science that may explain the existence of paranormal phenomena—UFOs, ghosts, poltergeists, mysterious apparitions, time anomalies, the Bermuda Triangle, energy vortices—and psychic abilities such as ESP, telekinesis, remote viewing, and recalling past lives.

You'll explore the cutting-edge ideas that are fascinating both scientists and paranormal investigators, including:

• The latest theories of multiple universes and eleven dimensions.• The Zero Point Field—is it the potential source of all creative energy?• The potential of every human being to experience the paranormal.

Many of the world's leading scientists, researchers, philosophers and spiritual leaders—from noted physicists like Michio Kaku to the revered Dalai Lama—are beginning to accept the possibility of alternate realities and dimensions that warp time and space. PSIence takes the reader on a journey to where the "normal" and the paranormal intersect, where the known and unknown converge, where science greets the supernatural. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (28)

The reason funding for scientific investigation of this area is so hard to come by.
One of the few books I will dispose of so no one else reads my copy:
1) Typos and misspellings. Very poorly edited.
2) Reference to crop-circles. Demonstrated to be done with a 2x4 and piece of rope. No aliens or UFO's required.
3) Reference to the Bermuda Triangle.Such a huge area of ocean that statistically no more disappears there then in any other like sized area of ocean.

While I find the this book's line of of inquiry to be valid, the poor editing and references to junk science and easily explained earthly phenomenon eliminates all credibility.

I feel this book illustrates why good, solid, peer-reviewed scientific inquiry into these phenomenon is so hard to get funded. With more than enough truly unexplained phenomenon in the human experience the use of urban myths as subject matter is completely irresponsible.This is a difficult area to pursue with the scientific method and the criteria for phenomena to be explored must be limited and very strict. Crop-circlesand the Bermuda Triangle do not qualify. Had I continued to read it, I feared I would have come across references to wizards, magic and von Däniken's ridiculous and debunked ancient astronauts theory of the 70's.

I am not a professional skeptic like the Amazing Randy ( appreciate much of his work). Ironically I would have been OK with the author using things like dreams and shamans as lines of inquiry.

"absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" Carl Sagan

Easy read, hard title
Marie Jones is an expert at translating the difficult jargon of science into everyday language. This book is a great read and one to go back to over and over again for that little detail you can't quite remember.

Pleasantly Suprised
I recieved the book PSience on Thursday evening and blew through it in 5 days. I have read many essays books on the implications of quantum physics, and truly enjoyed this selection. I must admit that I was skeptical about buying this book at first because Marie Jones does not have a doctorate in physics or science, and feared that the entire book would be more speculation and less scientific theory. I was pleasantly suprised to find that this was a good blend of metaphysical speculation and scientific theory. The author tries to cover all paranormal phenomenon and their links to physic theories, which casts a broader net than most other books I have read. This also means that there is limited detail for each subject as compared to other books as well. Over all she tries to give the reader enough information to keep their mind open to scientific explanations for paranormal events. She also does not get too bogged down in technical details but tries to make sure the reader understands the underlying concept of the scientific theories. Interesting and easy read.

Shallow, unoriginal ... a waste of money
I seldom pan a book because I respect the work that an author has to put in to get one published. But PSIence by Marie Jones is about as disappointing as a book could be without actually being offensive. In the Foreword, Pavel Mikoloski lauds the book in the words: "Marie has brilliantly condensed the essentials of quantum physics and made the subject matter not only understandable, but personally applicable." I will grant that the section of the book on quantum physics is the best part of it but it's still shallow and void of original thought. There's nothing new or deep here, simply a collection of snippets, often quotes, concerning UFOs, ghosts, weird stuff in general, properties of the mind, possible origins of the universe, different dimensions, the zero point field, resonance and consciousness. After the barely two hours it took me to read the book I had the sense of having gone through a simple catalog of diverse subjects vaguely related to psi but with no in-depth analysis and absolutely no new information. I cannot even recommend the book as a primer on psi, given the excellent books available such as Dean Radin's Entangled Minds or Russell Targ's Limitless Mind. A complete waste of money, I'm afraid.

Easter Bunny Material
This book is at best irresponsible and at worst exploitative.As someone who really enjoys the subject of the paranormal (when its pragmatic and treated seriously eg: The Witch in the Waiting Room), I find there is a lot of junk out there of people trying to make a quick buck with flimsy material on the poplular subjects of ufo's ghosts etc.

I don't doubt that the author has a lifelong and somewhat serious interest in the paranormal from her statements.So I am leary to call this downright exploitative trash.But on the other hand the author seems willing to accept every paranormal event and every far out exlanation.I am surprised she didnt start talking about the easter bunny as a dimensional traveler.

Maybe if she didn't spread it so thin and try to cover so much this may have been good. Perhaps if shedidnt include phenomenon that has been debunked frequently (ie: the bermuda triangle which she keeps coming back to including flight 19 of which the remains were found)and instead concentrate on those that baffle the skeptics (Fatima, widespread abduction phenomena, etc) this book may have been worthwhile.

On the science end she starts out fairly decent with a history of quantum physics but again tries to use every theory from the other worlds theory (which I think may be true) to supposed current anti gravity devices and time storms to cover all sorts of paranormal events.

From the books I have read so far there seem to be two camps on the paranormal: one is the "out there" camp and the other is the "inside here" camp.The inside camp sees it all as an aspect of consciousness, perhaps a higher level (wouldn't an advanced civilization find it easier to travel by mind than space ship?) .Examples of this are Carl Jung for one.The author here seems to prefer somewhat the possibility that its all external, like Budd Hopkins.To me this doesnt make sense.Why would an advanced civilization travel light years with any technology when it may be easier to travese space time through the conciousness plane?Of course the latter is purely theoretical but makes more sense.Even bigfoot could be explained as a collective concsiousness projection of the human nature barrier.But a projection that could be as real as real.

Hopefully there are better books out there that manage to critique their theories and evidence , rather than give cart blanche to them all.

... Read more

Product Description

Starting from basic principles, the book systematically covers both Heisenberg and Schrödinger realizations of quantum mechanics (in this order). The material traditionally presented in quantum textbooks is illustrated with applications which are (or will become) cornerstones of future technologies. The emphasis in the matrix formulation focus the attention on the spin, the most important quantum observable, and paves the way to chapters on quantum information (including crytography, teleportation and computation), on recent tests of quantum physics and on decoherence. Additions and changes found in the second edition include; a more friendly presentation to Hilbert spaces; more practical applications e.g. scanning tunneling microscope (potential barrier); quantum dots (single-particle states in semiconductors); lasers and masers (induced emission); real experiments that have recently provided a qualitative change in the foundations of quantum physics; and an outline of the density matrix formalism as applied to a simple model of decoherence.

From reviews of the first edition:

"Daniel Bes clearly understands that accuracy, clarity and brevity … has therefore made a careful selection of the topics to make an accessible concise book on quantum mechanics for a modern introductory undergraduate course... The claims that this is a modern textbook are well justified by the inclusion of … the flow of the main ideas is not unbalanced by laborious detail." Contemporary Physics

"It is concise but covers an extraordinary range of topics, from those typically found in traditional quantum mechanics textbooks … All this is illustrated with examples that cover a wide range … provides a large amount of information per page and the selection, extension and balance of topics is adequate for an introductory course." Mathematical Reviews

Customer Reviews (3)

The best quantum introduction
I've used the text as an introduction to quantum mechanics in electronic engineering and the results were great. The book is certainly concise, mathematical preliminaries are short and useful, and the approach is simple but the scope is important. It is very axiomatic and from a few principles I could solve the problems of the Schaum Edition devoted to Quantum Mechanics without reading the theoretical part. I've read several books introducing quantum mechanics, and I consider this was the best.

Do not waste your money
They call this book "concise" and they aren't kidding. An example is the section on addition of angular momentum: its one page. An amazing 4 and a half pages is devoted to the harmonic oscillator! The bottom line of this book is that its far too "concise". It seems like it was thrown together in a single weekend. If you already know quantum mechanics and are looking for mastery or deeper understanding, or just a review, there isn't enough here to get that. On the other hand, if you're learning QM for the first time, this book is completely worthless. In the end its unfortunate because I think the author has a talent for explanation, he should have taken the time to write a solid book that wasn't concise but useful.

Brilliant, concise and orginal!
The book is simple great, it covers both formulation of quantum mechanics, Heisenberg's and Schrödinger's, some problems, as the harmonic oscilator are cover in both points of view. The modern applications such as teletransportation, quantum cryptography and new interpretations of quantum mechanics (different from Copenhague's one) are introduced in a clever and concise way. The book is great for an introductory course but also as reference. Dr. Bès makes use of his amazing trajectory and intelligence in this book and develops a unique textbook. ... Read more

Product Description
Quantum physics allows us to understand the nature of the physical phenomena which govern the behavior of solids, semi-conductors, lasers, atoms, nuclei, subnuclear particles and light. In Quantum Physics, Le Bellac provides a thoroughly modern approach to this fundamental theory. Throughout the book, Le Bellac teaches the fundamentals of quantum physics using an original approach which relies primarily on an algebraic treatment and on the systematic use of symmetry principles. In addition to the standard topics such as one-dimensional potentials, angular momentum and scattering theory, the reader is introduced to more recent developments at an early stage. These include a detailed account of entangled states and their applications, the optical Bloch equations, the theory of laser cooling and of magneto-optical traps, vacuum Rabi oscillations, and an introduction to open quantum systems. This is a textbook for a modern course on quantum physics, written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Worst QM textbook that I read so far
Let me start off by saying that this textbook is not meant for undergraduates who are starting to learn QM. Instead, as the textbook stated on the back, this is a textbook "written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students." So if you are new to QM, stay away!

First complaint is that the author does not clearly explain anything. Unless you have prior knowledge of the material (which I didn't) then it is nearly impossible to keep up with the author. I didn't realize that the author was describing the Stern-Gerlach experiment until I saw the picture because it was so confusing! The author used a lot of math but does not provide the necessary explanations.

Second complaint is how the chapters are organize. Normally a QM textbook covers most of the mathematical concepts in the beginning and then focuses on the spin, angular momentum, and etc later on. In this textbook, I was reading about Quantum Chemistry and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in chapter 5 and 6! What made it even worse is that the author was using all this math to explain the concepts! Then the author returns to discuss the mathematical concepts in chapter 7!

Third complaint are the errors in the textbook, especially in the homework problems! Even my professor and the rest of my classmates noticed the errors. Kind of frustrating when you are doing the correct calculations but do not get the same answer as the textbook.

Overall, stay away from this textbook. Quantum Mechanics is a tough subject and I didn't learn anything from this textbook. Instead I had to wiki almost all the topics and use other textbooks to gain better insight. Then I was able to go back and reread the chapters to have SOME idea of what is going on.

don't get this
Explanations are confusing and never structured,
easily get missed in the middle of disordered discussion,
inconsistent use of notations and abuse of undefined words..
Get Sakurai. It's much much much more clear and elegant.
Even 1 star is too much for this book.

get another book!
Unfortunately, I had to use this book for a whole year.This book just plain stinks!The author is long winded and waste alot of space doing trivial things. Often, he leaves the more important topics as homework exercises.The explanations he does give are so confusing you'll have to read another book just to know what's going on. If you want a good Quantum Mechanics book, I suggest Sakurai. ... Read more

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Product Description
This volume develops the techniques of perturbative QCD in great pedagogical detail starting with field theory. Aside from extensive treatments of the renormalization group technique, the operator product expansion formalism and their applications to short-distance reactions, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to gauge theories. Examples and exercises are provided to amplify the discussions on important topics. This is an ideal textbook on the subject of quantum chromodynamics and is essential for researchers and graduate students in high energy physics, nuclear physics and mathematical physics. ... Read more

Product Description
P.J.E. Peebles teaches the often counterintuitive physics of quantum mechanics by working through detailed applications of general ideas. A principal example used in the book is the hyperfine structure of atomic hydrogen (the 21 cm line): the computation of the energy splitting and the induced and spontaneous transition rates. Peebles makes room for such calculations by omitting unneeded elements that can be readily found in the standard treatises after one fully understands the principles of quantum mechanics. To give a flavor of the discovery of the remarkable world picture of quantum mechanics, the author presents a set of examples of physics that are well worth knowing even aside from their historical interest. Then the general principles of quantum mechanics are stated first in terms of wave mechanics and then in the standard abstract linear space formalism. Measurement theory, an essential part of quantum mechanics, is discussed in some detail. The book also emphasizes the art of numerical estimates. And, lastly, a large number of problems are presented, some easy, some challenging, but all selected because they are physically interesting. The book is designed for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students in physics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An excelent book, but a little too rigorous for some.
this book cover the basics of the unfamiliar subject of Quantum Mechanics. The book is very thorough, but it may be a little to complex for some readers. You might want to bone up on differential equations and thermal dynamics before starting. If you want to learn the subject thouhg, read this book!

If you can stick with it...
This book is supposed to be a first course in quantum mechanics. Most students who are fresh to the material will find that it "throws you into the middle of things" from the very beginning. If the student can stick with the material, they will find Peebles' text to be an exceptional first course. The problem sets and discussion are both somewhat thorough, however, a bit more discussion would certainly benefit the reader more. ... Read more

Product Description
A useful scientific theory, claimed Einstein, must be explicable to any intelligent person. In Deep Down Things, experimental particle physicist Bruce Schumm has taken this dictum to heart, providing in clear, straightforward prose an elucidation of the Standard Model of particle physics—a theory that stands as one of the crowning achievements of twentieth-century science. In this one-of-a-kind book, the work of many of the past century's most notable physicists, including Einstein, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Dirac, Feynman, Gell-Mann, and Weinberg, is knit together in a thorough and accessible exposition of the revolutionary notions that underlie our current view of the fundamental nature of the physical world. Schumm, who has spent much of his lifeemmersed in the subatomic world, goes far beyond a mere presentation of the "building blocks" of matter, bringing to life the remarkable connection between the ivory tower world of the abstract mathematician and the day-to-day, life-enabling properties of the natural world. Schumm leaves us with an insight into the profound open questions of particle physics, setting the stage for understanding the progress the field is poised to make over the next decade or two.

Introducing readers to the world of particle physics, Deep Down Things opens new realms within which are many clues to unraveling the mysteries of the universe.

"Bruce Schumm's new book on elementary particle physics, Deep Down Things, is an ambitious and very successful non-mathematical description of the nature and significance of the world of elementary particles and forces. The book is for the non-mathematician, the non-scientist interested in elementary particle physics, and the young student who has not yet begun to study physics. The subjects discussed range from the wave-particle duality and basic quantum mechanical ideas, through description of the four fundamental forces, to the inner theoretical world of particle physics—symmetries and gauge theory. The book ends with an exciting discussion of what we don't know including the recently discovered mystery of neutrino oscillations."Martin Perl, Winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Physics

"The Standard Model is one of the greatest intellectual achievements of the twentieth century. Everything around us is made of particles called quarks and leptons influencing one another by exchanging bosons. Readers who want more than a surface treatment of this modern paradigm of particle physics should turn to Bruce Schumm's fine book on the topic."

Michael Riordan, author, The Hunting of the Quark ... Read more

Customer Reviews (44)

A wonderful book - beautifully written
Even I understand it. Well... some of it.No kidding though.Anybody good to English can follow this.If you are curious about "The Standard Model" and don't have the background to actually be a Physicist, this is for you.

A MASTERPIECE !!!
This is an amazing book.

In just over 300 pages, it quite clearly, in an elementary way of course, explains the concept of Higgs Field/Higgs Boson.It explains why Higgs Field (or something equivalent) is needed so that a "hidden symmetry space" (this the books spends nearly 100 pages to explain quite lucidly) is possible.Things (particles) exist in "symmetry spaces"; this determines the properties of particles (including force-carrying "quantum field quanta") and consequently determines the nature of the universe - i.e. the nature of the forces of nature, which essentially form the basis of causation.Most of the models have been shown to be "true" via experiments using particle colliders and these evidences are also discussed in the book.

I myself really like the bits about:
1. Parity violation of the Weak Force - this explains why we are here (i.e. there are more matter than anti-matter)
2. Photons obey U(1) symmetry - this explains why we can see (i.e. photos do not react with each other)
3. Why strong force is "strong" - and then "things" can form

Reading the book gives me a feeling that the universe (at least figuratively) is trying to tell us something: that it is very beautiful in its design and it is possibly much more elegant that we can begin to imagine.

Better than any I've seen, but still misses the mark a bit
In general, I like this book. The measure of what I think of a book of this type is, "do I understand more after having read this book than I did before I opened it?" and on that basis, this book gets a pretty good grade. For example, I now know what a Lie group is, and why they are important to particle physicists, and that alone was worth the price of the book.

But why no 5-star rating? It just didn't go quite far enough. Every so often I found a place where, I assume because he figures his lay audience would get lost, the author just makes a statement that he does not explain and I wonder "why?" Why, for example, does the fact that a particular group is non-Abelian mean that a certain particle must be charged? It is things like this that leave me thinking, "good book, but if he just could have gone a bit deeper..."

I suppose that one can argue that the author had to decide what his audience could follow and what it could not. And I cannot really fault him on making the judgment he did. But he does such a good job explaining things in some places that I just wish he would have TRIED to go a bit deeper.

Great book
I'll be brief since most of the review have already said everything I would be interested in saying.But just to add a couple notes:

1] An excellent popular overview of many of the important mathematical aspects of modern physics.
2] To emphasize, it's a popular account.This is not a textbook on these topics, but as such it's very good. (Think of it as the next step beyond Brain Greene's books.)
3] OTOH this is not trivial work.It assumes a lot of work on the part of the reader.But if all this OK --and it was for me-- this is the book for you.
4] Only (tiny) quibble is that I don't care much for the title (it helps some to know that it is a reference to Gerald Manley Hopkins, but if you don't know that it sound a touch cute.)

Fascinating introduction into the abstract mathematics of quantum field theory
Schumm has written a fairly accessible book introducing the fascinating abstract mathematics of quantum field theory. I cannot say I really, intuitively grasped half of what Schumm tries to convey, but what I did understand made me marvel at the ingenuity of the theories, and about the deep connection between abstract math (Lie groups) and reality.

While I have seen quite a few documentaries about (particle) physics and try to keep up with science news (about the LHC, for example), I hardly have any "real" background knowledge about the subject, nor do I have a thorough background in math (although I am a university graduate). To Schumm's credit, neither is required, as the author explains the concepts using plain terms and good analogies, while not shying away from discussing a formula or two (like Schrödinger's wave equation). The author also often rephrases ideas and summarizes discussions, which which makes the book easy enough to understand for those of us who don't study the subject on university level. His book had me hooked and fascinated all the way to the end, with only two parts where he lost me.

By reading the book, I have gained a conceptual understanding of quantum field theory and the way we understand (three of the four) forces of nature. I also understand (on a very high level, of course) the makeup of and relationship between the fundamental particles, what Feynman diagrams are about, how the electromagnetic and weak nuclear force can be unified, how we can understand mass as just an "illusion" (through the Higgs mechanism).

Make no mistake though, this book is largely about abstract concepts and the connection between math and quantum theory. As the author points out himself, the book does not cover the more practical aspects of particle physics, like
* how particle accelerators create and detect the different particles,
* how quantum electrodynamics (the quantum theory of light) explains all the different optical phenomena as interactions through photons
* how the "weak" nuclear force allows us to carbon date certain isotopes or build atom bombs ... Read more

Product Description
Quantum Physics of Matter explores the way in which quantum physics determines the properties of materials. The quantum physics of solids, for example, dictates whether they are good insulators, conductors, semiconductors, or even superconductors. At a deeper level, it explores how the quantum physics of nuclei and elementary particles determines the stability of matter and hence the range of substances that came into existence through the big bang and the evolution of stars. ... Read more

Product Description
If you need a book that relates the core principles of quantum mechanics to modern applications in engineering, physics, and nanotechnology, this is it. Students will appreciate the book's applied emphasis, which illustrates theoretical concepts with examples of nanostructured materials, optics, and semiconductor devices. The many worked examples and more than 160 homework problems help students to problem solve and to practice applications of theory. Without assuming a prior knowledge of high-level physics or classical mechanics, the text introduces Schrodinger's equation, operators, and approximation methods. Systems, including the hydrogen atom and crystalline materials, are analyzed in detail. More advanced subjects, such as density matrices, quantum optics, and quantum information, are also covered. Practical applications and algorithms for the computational analysis of simple structures make this an ideal introduction to quantum mechanics for students of engineering, physics, nanotechnology, and other disciplines. Additional resources available from www.cambridge.org/9780521897839. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Well-written, clear text
It's rare that I am happy about the textbook I assign for classes; many texts cover the wrong material, have significant holes, or are difficult for students to follow. I had used Miller's lecture notes a number of years ago as an undergrad, so I was excited when this book was published in time for the Applied QM class I started teaching last fall. The only downside I can see is that I often find it hard to improve upon the book's explanations; I sometimes feel as though I have very little to add.

good for self-learning!
My major is physics, and i bought this book for self-learning. The book is clear and requires less background knowledge, 2 years of basic college math and physics are enough. The book was well written with good explainations. Specialy with appendices can help you know what physics, math background you need for the subject.

Excellent intro book
As a physicist, I bought this book more for curiosity than to study itself. And I must confess I was really surprised by the conciseness of the text. It is a really nice and good introductory book. It doesn't go into the details and math formalism, but it does provide a nice physical insight, as well as good explanations. I recommend this book if you are looking for an introductory quantum mechanics text.

Excellent introductory quantum mechanics book for self-study that I have found
I am teaching myself quantum mechanics with the goal of understanding original research articles.I have found Miller to be extraordinarily well written and suitable for self-study. As an overall introduction to QM for self-study, I think Miller would be hard to beat, providing a nice balance between physical applications and mathematics. (For those sensitive to the physical quality of a book, Miller is very nicely produced and easy on aging eyes.)

Well-Written and Not Confusing, Extremely Complete
Many textbooks, in general, suffer in readability due to the author assuming the reader thinks just as he or she does, or knows a sufficient amount of information prior to reading. David Miller is one of those authors that is just the opposite: he never assumes you know anything that isn't in his book (other than that you know how to read and do basic math). In addition, Miller has the unique ability to relate complex and complicated concepts to common examples. You will find that reading through this text is much smoother than with other textbooks. There are also solutions to certain problems and viewgraphs available for free online.

The topics in the book cover the basic quantum mechanical scenarios, such as simple 1D/3D potentials, operators, the uncertainty principle (taught in two ways...Griffiths provides a third), matrix formalism, Dirac notation, angular momentum, spin, and the Hydrogen atom. In addition, more advanced topics, such as perturbation theory (time independent and dependent), the density matrix, and approximation techniques. Miller also relates much of the material to photonics topics, such as absorption, Fermi's Golden Rule, non-linear effects, refractive index, and much more. As an EE professor, he also covers some band theory of crystalline solids.

I feel that this book is extremely complete and will be extremely useful for anyone wanting to learn Quantum Mechanics. I've also used Griffiths and Singh, which are also excellent texts. I feel that Griffiths accompanies this text very well (so having both is more than complete). I have yet to find an error in the text, and this is most likely because Miller wrote this originally as a course reader that was published through Stanford. The course reader has been used by other professors and hundreds of student prior to publishing. This means that your learning won't be plagued or interrupted with errors, or with the need to purchase a new edition. ... Read more

Product Description
The basic theme of Popper's philosophy--that something can come from nothing--is related to the present situation in physical theory.Popper carries his investigation right to the center of current debate in quantum physics. He proposes an interpretation of physics--and indeed an entire cosmology--which is realist, conjectural, deductivist and objectivist, anti-positivist, and anti-instrumentalist. He stresses understanding, reminding us that our ignorance grows faster than our conjectural knowledge. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Hard to understand
This book made me realize that material could be presented as fact and I wouldn't know the difference. it was way over my head because I think you would need a strong backround in science.

A world of propensities and metaphysical dreams
During the early 1950s Popper prepared almost a thousand pages of manuscript for publication as a companion volume to the English translation of his "Logik Der Forschung" (1934). This material started as a series of appendices to "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" but some of them grew into a book to be called "Postscrip to the LSD: After Twenty Years" (from 1934 to 1954). "The Logic of Scientific Discovery" appeared in 1959 but the "Postscript" lagged behind until eventually Bill Bartley took over the editing and it appeared in three volumes in the 1980s (after 50 years).

In the meantime photocopies of the galleys circulated among Popper's colleagues and this had some impact, especially by way of Imre Lakatos and his "methodology of scientific research programmes" (MSRP. Unfortunately, this development caused a great deal of confusion and misplaced effort which might have been avoided if Popper's theory of programs had appeared earlier.

The three books of the "Postscript" are "Realism and the Aim of Science" (Volume 1), "The Open Universe: An Argument for Indeterminism" (Volume 2) and "Quantum Theory and the Schism in Physics" (Volume 3). They contribute to Popper's long campaign in support of realism, indeterminism and objectivism which in turn support human freedom, creativity and rationality.

"Realism" has two parts, the first pursues various forms of inductivism and the second attacks the subjective interpretation of the probability calculus. "The Open Universe" critiques both scientific and metaphysical determinism and traces the linkage between metaphysical determinism and subjective probability theory. This volume carries the defence of realism and objectivism into the heart of quantum theory to challenge the dominant assumptions of the Copenhagen interpretation. Bartley points out in the editor's introduction that this is a profoundly cosmological work, where "the basic theme of Karl Popper's philosophy - that something can come from nothing - obtains its basis in physics".

The book contains a 'Metaphysical Epilogue' that is remarkable (in addition to being the basis of Lakatos's theory of scientific research programmes) because it provides a key to understanding a set of themes that unify Popper's whole system of thought (the keystone to his arch of thought it you like). This gives some clues as to the depth of his thinking and the reason why it has been so badly received in the profession at large.

Popper's theory of MRPs flows from his theory that we should look at the history of a subject, and its current status, in terms of its problem situations.

"In science, problem situations are the result, as a rule, of three factors. One is the discovery of an inconsistency within the ruling theory. A second is the discovery of an inconsistency between theory and experiment - the experimental falsification of the theory. The third, and perhaps the most important one, is the relation between the theory and what may be called the "metaphysical research programme".

"By raising the problems of explanation which the theory is designed to solve, the metaphysical research programme makes it possible to judge the success of the theory as an explanation. On the other hand, the critical discussion of the theory and its results may lead to a change in the research programme (usually an unconscious change, as the programme is often held unconsciously, and taken for granted), or to its replacement by another programme. These programmes are only occasionally discussed as such: more often, they are implicit in the theories and in the attitudes and judgements of the scientists."

"I call these research programmes "metaphysical" also because they result from general views of the structure of the world and, at the same time, from general views of the problem situation in physical cosmology. I call them "research programmes" because they incorporate, together with a view of what the most pressing problems are, a general idea of what a satisfactory solution of these problems would look like."

The theme of the book is the way that the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics has been influenced by unstated and uncriticised metaphysical assumptions, especially determinism, subjectivism and instrumentalism. Of course the Copenhagen people are scientific indeterminists but Popper argues that there is a metaphysical form of determinism that they have not eliminated from their thinking.

The book contains four chapters after a 1982 Preface and an Introduction. The Preface makes a case for a realistic and commonsense interpretation of quantum theory to overcome the crisis in physics which Popper attributes to two things, the intrusion of subjectivism and the "end of the road" idea that quantum theory has reached the complete and final truth. In the Introduction he argues for an interpretation of quantum physics without the observer and he sharply formulated thirteen thesis to challenge the Copenhagen interpretation of the observer as an integral part of the system.

In Chapter I, 'Understanding quantum theory and its interpretations' Popper updated his ideas from the formulations in "The Logic of Scientific Discovery". He still maintained that the problem of interpreting quantum theory is bound up with the interpretation of probability theory, and he argued that the theory of propensities that he described in the first and second volumes of The Postscript should be applied to the interpretation of quantum theory, thus resolving the difficulties that arise in the Copenhagen interpretation.

Chapter II 'The objectivity of qauntum theory' returned to the issue of the observer in the system and confronted the doctrine that experiments have to be interpreted with the observer, and especially the consciousness of the observer, as one of the variables. The discussion includes the nature of quantum jumps and the existence or non-existence of particles.

Chapter III attempts a resolution of the paradoxes of quantum theory, using the propensity interpretation of probability, applied to (1) the indeterminacy relations, (2) the expirement of Einstein, Podolsky and Rosen, and (3) the two-slit experiment.

The long fourth chapter is the Metaphysical Epilogue. This covers a lot of ground, starting with a brief statement of the theory of metaphysical research programs (above). He then ran through a series of ten research programs. First the block universe of Parmenides, then Atomism and Geometrization, followed by Essentialism and Potentialism (from Aristotle), then Renaissance Physics (Copernicus, Bruno, Kepler, Galileo), The Clockwork Theory (Hobbes, Descartes), Dynamism (Newton), Fields of Force (Faraday, Maxwell), Unified Field Theory (Riemann, Einstein, Schrodinger) and finally The Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Theory. After a discussion of schism, programs and metaphysical dreams he went on to indeterminism and the reduction of the wave packet and a model of a universe of propensities to account for the leading featues of all the ten programs that he sketched previously. After touching on some open problems he concluded with some comments on the role of metaphysical systems and the possibility of a demarcation within metaphysics, between good and bad systems.

"The proper aspiration of a metaphysician...is to gather all the true aspects of the world (and not merely its scientific aspects) into a unifying picture which may enlighten him and others, and which may one day become part of a still more comprehensive picture, a better picture, a truer picture."

... Read more

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Customer Reviews (12)

An error of isolation
I give this book one star, because I have to. There's no way to give it zero, which is what it deserves. But this would be absurd, wouldn't it? Zero stars are no stars at all, which demonstrates the point, metaphorically at least, that universal consciousness is a zero and can never be realized as a star. You cannot click on a star that isn't there. Same is true with consciousness. It doesn't exist without something to be conscious of, which always implies a subject-object dualism, to use Goswami'sterminology. His arguments, though supported by several scientific theories taken from quantum mechanics, do not prove scientifically the existence of a universal consciousness. He ignores the history of western philosophy, though he mentions Descartes to demonstrate how dualism has been an unsolvable problem.His reading of Descartes is biased, since Descartes did have an answer to the problem of dualism, namely, "cogito ergo sum," I think, therefore I am.Descartes was praised mainly for his methodology and starting point, to doubt the existence of the external world, assuming that it is possibly the result of a deception caused by a universal being. This is similar to Hinduism's belief in the world as illusion, which Goswami holds as true.We cannot deny, however, the act of thinking (subjective consciousness). I think, therefore, I am. The statement, "I doubt whether I exist" is self-contradictory. I cannot doubt my own existence without affirming it. Therefore, I must exist if I affirm it. In other words, the essence of consciousness is the ego that is conscious. The "I" of consciousness is both the subject and object of consciousness. The "I" (ego) and the world are experienced in consciousness as other than consciousness. The world becomes known to us within consciousness and nowhere else, and from nowhere else than in us does it gain its reality and validity. If Goswami thinks otherwise, he has not demonstrated it.He asserts that consciousness is the ground of all being, and he falls into the same error as Descartes.The "I" in Descartes' statement is not his body, which he can doubt, and if it is just the word "I," it stands for nothing without a body.What exists in my consciousness cannot be the same as what exists in the world, otherwise we would be the world and not ourselves. This is possible, Goswami says because we are an illusion.In other words, we are not ourselves but a collapse of wave functions. But it is inconceivable to say "I," "we," "consciousness" without also including a transcendent world of "it," "you," and "they." I am an "it" to myself. I can feel my body as both me and an object other than me. In assuming the subject of consciousness to be other than this, he errs. The proposition that individual consciousnesses are nothing more than collapses of the cosmic consciousness and that upon death we will be consumed and eventually reincarnated is also implausible. To say that the reincarnation cycle is infinite is wrong, since, mathematically, you cannot add or subtract from the infinite, which is what happens in birth, death, evolution, and population growth now over 6.7 billion. Goswami admits his inability to resolve this paradox. Thinking is an independent, self-caused experience that cannot emanate from another conscience. It is not logical to say that each consciousness is individuated by the body, since this ignores mental creativity, musical/artistic imagination, mathematical truth, scientific discoveries, and doesn't explain why people have different and even contradictory ideas and morals. If we say that diversity is caused solely by social and cultural conditions, we still could not explain thoughts formed without images or of an order transcendent to that of experience. The idea of infinity can be understood, though we live in a totally finite universe.If there is one cosmic consciousness for all individuals, justice becomes impossible; after death the just would receive no more than the unjust and, therefore, good would be without reward and evil without punishment. If what Goswami says about cosmic consciousness is true, then it is the cause of a world without justice and the struggle to do good would be folly. Therefore, individuals must not only be distinct from one another in their bodies but also in their consciousnesses.If what Goswami says about the world as illusion is true, then the words in his book are illusions and, therefore, untrue. He suffers from what phenomenologists call "the error of isolation." All that being said, there is much in physics itself that denies the reality of wave function collapse, for instance,quantum decoherence and the many worlds interpretation. For a good explanation of opposing theories, see Kaku's "Physics of the Impossible."

Excellent and understandable
Once again a book by Amit Goswami is clear, concise and understandable. I find his arguments and explanations for the beliefs he proposes believable and coherent.For anyone interested in getting past promisory materialism this will be of much help.
This book explains many aspects of quantum physics in very understandable manner and is of great help.

Spirituality Linked to Physics and Explained
An excellent discussion of subjects way over my head but explained so that I can understand.

Spirituality grasping for acceptance in science
This is a truely remarkable read that makes the connection of eastern beliefs and quantum physics like Fritjof Capra's, "The Tao of Physics". It is written by someone who has a thorough grounding in Hindu tradition and ancient beliefs and the basis of his PhD, quantum physics. The spiritual beliefs are remarkably well reviewed in the rigorous manner of a scientist that Goswami is by profession.

Basically this is a review of beliefs and his theses on consciousness but the link to quantum physics are wishy washy and his own concepts. To wit just a few.
P 118: "Perhaps the best evidence of the quantum nature of thought, however, is its nonlocality, as demonstrated in telephathy" Really? Telepathy is still contentious and not substantiated and not referenced in his book.
p 157: Goswami responds to a question of whether there are scientists that support cosmology as science. He responds with a reference to "several international conferences..." without naming them or anyone in particular.
p 158. A similar question about biologists who have proposed ideas similar to his own whereupon he refers to his own books and citing just one man, contentious in his right, Rupert Sheldrake.
Elsewhere he often refers to unpublished papers, conversationsand unreferenced citations.

Yet Goswami raises significant questions and solutions even if the connections between the beliefs and modern science upon which this book is based are weak and for these, I am still giving it 4 stars. After all, cutting edge evolution cannot always rely on previous research. Einstein only had theory in 1918. I learned much about the nature of the core religions and beliefs even if the links to quantum physics are at best, weak.

Consciousness--The ground of all being
Seventy years after the quantum revolution began, Amit Goswami peered through the visionary window to behold a truth that Eastern traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism have known for centuries:"Consciousness is the ground of all being".For him this revelation synthesized the two disciplines of science and spirituality.

Traditional Western science has treated consciousness as an epiphenomenon of matter, an emergent property of the brain.But Goswami insists that this produces a paradox.If consciousness is necessary for decoherence, the process by which quantum possibilities become reality, how is it possible that consciousness can arise from the very material consciousness creates?

If however, we turn this idea on its head, and show that matter is an epiphenomenon of consciousness, then the paradox disappears.Matter is within consciousness."We don't have consciousness, rather consciousness has us" (52).It is only because of our memory that we have a secondary awareness, which creates the illusion that consciousness is an individual experience.

A universal consciousness helps explain some quantum decoherence experiments in which a conscious observer has been illiminated from the experiment.For example, in an experiment called the "Quantum Pinball (Scientific American, November 1991) the results showed that just the mere possibility that knowledge could be gained, was sufficient to collapse the quantum potential into reality.
Another advantage emerges from the hypothesis that consciousness is the ground of all being. It once and for all relieves us of the anthropocentric burden that the univese was created just for us.It isn't our own consciousness that has brought us into being, but rather the result of the constant self-referential communication between universal consciousness and matter, in an endless scurring toward greater and greater complexity and meaning.

In the last portion of the book, Amit Goswami includes chapters on subjects such as reincarnation, angels, and quantum healing.If this makes you queasy, rest assured, Goswami is a physicist to the core.This book was well worth the read, and a very good follow-up to his book, "The Self-Aware Universe" (see my review on Amazon).

This review by David Kreiter, author of Quantum Reality: A New Philosophical Perspective.

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Product Description

Product Description
This is the third, significantly expanded edition of the comprehensive textbook published in 1990 on the theory and applications of path integrals. It is the first book to explicitly solve path integrals of a wide variety of nontrivial quantum-mechanical systems, in particular the hydrogen atom. The solutions have become possible by two major advances. The first is a new euclidean path integral formula which increases the restricted range of applicability of Feynman's famous formula to include singular attractive 1/r and 1/r2 potentials. The second is a simple quantum equivalence principle governing the transformation of euclidean path integrals to spaces with curvature and torsion, which leads to time-sliced path integrals that are manifestly invariant under coordinate transformations.

In addition to the time-sliced definition, the author gives a perturbative definition of path integrals which makes them invariant under coordinate transformations. A consistent implementation of this property leads to an extension of the theory of generalized functions by defining uniquely integrals over products of distributions.

The powerful Feynman–Kleinert variational approach is explained anddeveloped systematically into a variational perturbation theory which, in contrast to ordinary perturbation theory, produces convergent expansions. The convergence is uniform from weak to strong couplings, opening a way to precise approximate evaluations of analytically unsolvable path integrals.

Tunneling processes are treated in detail. The results are used to determine the lifetime of supercurrents, the stability of metastable thermodynamic phases, and the large-order behavior of perturbation expansions. A new variational treatment extends the range of validity of previous tunneling theories from large to small barriers. A corresponding extension of large-order perturbation theory also applies now to small orders.

Special attention is devoted to path integrals with topological restrictions. These are relevant to the understanding of the statistical properties of elementary particles and the entanglement phenomena in polymer physics and biophysics. The Chern–Simons theory of particles with fractional statistics (anyons) is introduced and applied to explain the fractional quantum Hall effect.

The relevance of path integrals to financial markets is discussed, and improvements of the famous Black–Scholes formula for option prices are given which account for the fact that large market fluctuations occur much more frequently than in the commonly used Gaussian distributions.

The author’s other book on ‘Critical Properties of f4 Theories’ gives a thorough introduction to the field of critical phenomena and develops new powerful resummation techniques for the extraction of physical results from the divergent perturbation expansions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

i liked it
So a little background on Kleinert: feynman could NOT solve the schrodinger equation with the path integral and kleinert, using some group theoretical methods did. or so that's what i was told.

His book reflects that. This book is full of interesting facts that arent elsewhere.

One of The only TWO Books to own on PI's
Kleinert the physicist is NOTHING short of phenomenal. This book is just one of his many treatises. After reading Feynman(+Hibbs) this is the text to follow up.

Sadly the second edition which is in print contain MANY typos.

The third edition fixes much if not all, so skip right onto the 3rd or higher edition.

Kleinerts Completeness
Kleinerts book "Path Integrals in Quantum Mechanics, Statistics, and Polymer Physics" presents the reader with a very complete and very thorough discussion of path integration.The book offers such a wealth oftopics,it becomes straightforward to select material, both for advancedundergraduate as well as graduate courses in theoretical physics.

Many,many issues dealt with in this volume have appeared here for the firsttime, such as the inclucion of the quantum mechanics of the hydrogen atomthrough path integrals. This book is a major step towards bringing thisapproach to quantum physics onto the same educational footing as theSchrödinger equation that standard texts focus on.This book profits fromthe clarity and conciseness that is also a hallmark of Kleinerts scientificpapers.

I would say this volume is highly recommendable for any studentconsidering to major in {theoretical} physics, and an absolute must for anylecturer in this area. Infact, I don't know of any excuse not to have yourown copy. ... Read more