Related papers: The Rise of Quantum Mechanics
Nearing a century since its inception, quantum mechanics is as lively as ever. Its signature manifestations, such as superposition, wave-particle duality, uncertainty principle, entanglement and nonlocality, were long confronted as weird…
From the philosopher's perspective, the interest in quantum computation stems primarily from the way that it combines fundamental concepts from two distinct sciences: physics (especially quantum mechanics) and computer science, each long a…
This essay provides a historical, philosophical, and critical overview of the development of the Transactional Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (TI). It is separated into two parts. Part I presents the history and development of TI from…
Hilary Putnam (1965, 2005) has argued that from a realist perspective, quantum mechanics stands in need of an interpretation. Ironically, this hypothesis may appear vulnerable against arguments drawing on Putnam's own work. Nancy Cartwright…
Quantum cryptography could well be the first application of quantum mechanics at the individual quanta level. The very fast progress in both theory and experiments over the recent years are reviewed, with emphasis on open questions and…
Quantum theory and functional analysis were created and put into essentially their final form during similar periods ending around 1930. Each was also a key outcome of the major revolutions that both physics and mathematics as a whole…
The aim of the article is to argue that the interpretations of quantum mechanics and of probability are much closer than usually thought. Indeed, a detailed analysis of the concept of probability (within the standard frequency theory of R.…
The author's opinion on the interpretation of quantum mechanics is further elucidated. Not only may quantum mechanics be a description of the sub-microscopic world that is profoundly different from what is often asserted, particularly…
The role of operational quantum mechanics, quantum axiomatics and quantum structures in general is presented as a contribution to a compendium on quantum physics, its history and philosophy.
This is an introductory set of lecture notes on quantum cosmology, given in 1995 to an audience with interests ranging from astronomy to particle physics. Topics covered: 1. Introduction: 1.1 Quantum cosmology and quantum gravity; 1.2 A…
This paper records my opening remarks at Nobel Symposium 148, on Graphene and Quantum Matter, at Saltsj\"obaden, Sweden, in June 2010. After some broad comments on the quantum theory of matter as a frontier of physics, and some slightly…
Familiar textbook quantum mechanics assumes a fixed background spacetime to define states on spacelike surfaces and their unitary evolution between them. Quantum theory has changed as our conceptions of space and time have evolved. But…
An introduction to the physical interpretation of the Coulomb logarithm is given with particular emphasis on the quantum-mechanical corrections that are required at high temperatures. Excerpts from the literature are used to emphasize the…
English translation of John von Neumann's 1927 trilogy on the foundations of quantum mechanics with an introduction and detailed commentary.
I make some remarks on events leading to the final formulation of quantum chromodynamics, stimulated by the ``Search and Discovery''article by Bertram Schwarzschild in the December, 2004 {\it Physics Today}. The following text and…
The interpretation of quantum mechanics known as QBism developed out of efforts to understand the probabilities arising in quantum physics as Bayesian in character. But this development was neither easy nor without casualties. Many ideas…
I review the various algebraic foundations of quantum mechanics. They have been suggested since the birth of this theory till up to last year. They are the following ones: Heisenberg-Born-Jordan (1925), Weyl (1928), Dirac (1930), von…
The relational interpretation of quantum mechanics (RQM) has received a growing interest since its first formulation in 1996. Usually presented as an interpretational layer over the usual quantum mechanics formalism, it appears as a…
Cosmology as an exact physical science is of new date, but it has long roots in the past. This essay is concerned with four important themes in the history of cosmological thought which, if taken together, offer a fairly comprehensive…
Classical physics has enabled the acquisition of significant knowledge of the physical properties of nature on a standard macroscopic scale. These achievements were driven by use of the causal ontological approach (proposed originally by…