Related papers: How to teach Quantum Mechanics
Despite many successes of quantum electrodynamics (QED), we do not presently have a good understanding of this field of physics. QED has all of the foundational problems that standard non-relativistic quantum mechanics has, and further ones…
We study the Hydrogen atom as a quantum mechanical system with a Coulomb like potential, with a semiclassical approach based on an effective description of quantum mechanics. This treatment allows us to describe the quantum state of the…
My collaboration and friendship with John Bell is recollected. I will explain his outstanding contributions in particle physics, in accelerator physics, and his joint work with Mary Bell. Mary's work in accelerator physics is also…
We argue here for a more conceptual or qualitative approach in the introductory teaching of Quantum Physics which is built on the basis of epistemological and ontological discussions and as such is a valuable tool mainly in the initial and…
I outline Bell's vision of the "great enterprise" of science, and his view that conventional teachings about quantum mechanics constituted a betrayal of this enterprise. I describe a proposal of his to put the theory on a more satisfactory…
Contextuality, the impossibility of assigning a single random variable to represent the outcomes of the same measurement procedure under different experimental conditions, is a central aspect of quantum mechanics. Thus defined, it appears…
I describe a constructive foundation for Quantum Mechanics, based on the discreteness of the degrees of freedom of quantum objects and on the Principle of Relativity. Taking Einstein's historical construction of Special Relativity as a…
The Einstein-First project approaches the teaching of Einsteinian physics through the use of physical models and analogies. This paper presents an approach to the teaching of quantum physics which begins by emphasising the particle-nature…
Semi-classical gravity is an approximation to quantum gravity where gravity is treated classically and matter quantum mechanically. Matter is described by quantum field theory on curved space-time, whereas gravity is described by a…
Quantum Mechanics lacks an intuitive interpretation, which is the cause of a generally formalistic approach to its use. This in turn has led to a certain insensitivity to the actual meaning of many words used in its description and…
Although classical mechanics and quantum mechanics are separate disciplines, we live in a world where Planck's constant \hbar>0, meaning that the classical and quantum world views must actually {\it coexist}. Traditionally, canonical…
Severe methodological and numerical problems of the traditional quantum mechanical approach to the description of molecular systems are outlined. To overcome these, a simple alternative to the Born-Oppenheimer approximation is presented on…
We formulate Bohmian mechanics (BM) such that the main objects of concern are macroscopic phenomena, while microscopic particle trajectories only play an auxiliary role. Such a formulation makes it easy to understand why BM always makes the…
Niels Bohr introduced the concept of complementarity in order to give a general account of quantum mechanics, however he stressed that the idea of complementarity is related to the general dificulty in the formation of human ideas, inherent…
The phenomenon of quantum entanglement is explained in a way which is fully consistent with Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity. A subtle flaw is identified in the logic supporting the view that Bell's Inequality precludes all local…
This work analyzes the difficulties in learning and teaching Einstein's theory of special relativity. An extensive bibliographic review has been performed, considering articles published in the most relevant journals on science education,…
The goal of this book is to present classical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and statistical mechanics in an almost completely algebraic setting, thereby introducing mathematicians, physicists, and engineers to the ideas relating classical…
Relational particle models are useful toy models for quantum cosmology and the problem of time in quantum general relativity. This paper shows how to extend existing work on concrete examples of relational particle models in 1-d to include…
The violation of Bell inequalities by experiment has convinced physicists that we cannot maintain a classical view of the world. When we argue against the possibility of local realist hidden-variable models, however, the ubiquitous…
We suggest a somewhat non-standard view on a set of curious, paradoxical from the standpoint of simple classical physics and everyday experience phenomena. There are the quantisation (discrete set of values) of the observables (e.g.,…