Description
Oxford Surfing the Quantum World 2017 Edition by Frank S. Levin
The ideas and phenomena of the quantum world are strikingly unlike those encountered in our visual world. Surfing the Quantum World shows why and how this is so. It does this via a historical review and a gentle introduction to the fundamental principles of quantum theory, whose core concepts and symbolic representations are used to explain not only "ordinary" microscopic phenomena like the properties of the hydrogen atom and the structure of the PeriodicTable of the Elements, but also a variety of mind-bending phenomena. Readers will learn that particles such as electrons and photons can behave like waves, allowing them to be in two places simultaneously, why white dwarf and neutron stars are gigantic quantum objects, how the maximum height of mountains has aquantum basis, and why quantum objects can tunnel through seemingly impenetrable barriers. Included among the various interpretational issues addressed is whether Schroedinger's cat is ever both dead and alive. Table of contents : - 1: The Nature of Science2: The Nature of Light3: The Reality of Atoms4: The Quantum Hypothesis5: The Nuclear Atom6: Creating Quantum Mechanics7: Quantum Boxes, Stringed Instruments8: Quantum Theory9: The Hydrogen Atom and Its Colorful Photons10: Spin 1/2 and the Periodic Table11: Interference Phenomena: Exploring the Essential Mystery12: Macroscopic Manifestations of Quantum Mechanics13: Quantum Tunneling14: Entanglement and the Elements of Reality15: Schroedinger's Cat and the Meaning of It All