vol 2: Synopsis
part III: Modern physics
page 18: Quantum mechanics
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Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics began with the work of Max Planck at the turn of the twentieth century. It took nearly thirty years to reach its modern form, largely because the ideas it introduced into physics were very new and strange. The development of quantum mechanics was driven by a growing list of inconsistencies between Newtonian physics and observations of the microscopic world of atoms, electrons, photons and other particles.
The historical roots of quantum mechanics lie in the relationship between matter and radiation. Hot matter emits electromagnetic radiation. In 1859 Kirchoff used a thermodynamic argument to show that the rate of emission of radiation from a body was a function of the temperature of the body and the frequency of the radiation only. He wrote 'it is a highly important task to find this function'.
Max Planck found that function in 1900, but to provide a plausible derivation of it, he had to make an 'act of desperation': he assumed that material oscillators could only exchange energy with the electromagnetic field in 'packets' for which E = hf, where E is the energy, f the frequency of the radiation, and h a universal constant (Planck's constant). Pais 372. Planck's discovery came amidst a growing flood of experimental data that was impossible to explain using Newtonian physics.
Of particular importance were the spectra of atoms. Systematic measurement of atomic spectra had begun in the middle of the nineteenth century, and by the end of the century spectroscopists, as measurers of spectra are called, were making measurements of very high precision.
Each atom can radiate and absorb across an infinite spectrum of 'spectral lines'. Each spectral line has a measurable frequency that seems to be determined by nature to unlimited precision. It is natural to assume that this spectral structure reflects the structure of the atom, just as human language ('radiation') reflects the structure of the human mind.
Atomic spectra (and every other feature of the microscopic world) are explained by quantum mechanics. At its core, quantum mechanics is a mathematical theory of information processing. This is becoming clearer as quantum information theory develops. Lo, 3 sqq.
Books
| Brandt, Siegmund, and Hans Dieter Dahmen, The Picture Book of Quantum Mechanics, Springer-Verlag 1995 Jacket: 'This book is an introduction to the basic concepts and phenomena of quantum mechanics. Computer-generated illustrations are used extensively throughout the text, helping to establish the relation between quantum mechanics on one side and classical physics ... on the other side. Even more by studying the pictures in parallel with the text, readers develop an intuition for notoriously abstract quantum phenomena ...' Amazon back |
| Davies, Paul C W, and David S Betts, Quantum Mechanics, Chapman and Hall 1994-1995 Amazon back |
| Feynman, Richard P et al, and , The Feynman Lectures on Physics (volume 3) : Quantum Mechanics, Addison Wesley 1970 Foreword: 'This set of lectures tries to elucidate from the beginning those features of quantum mechanics which are the most basic and the most general. ... In each instance the ideas are introduced together with a detailed discussion of some specific examples - to try to make the physical ideas as real as possible.' Matthew Sands Amazon back |
| Heilbron, J L, Dilemmas of an Upright Man: Max Planck and the Fortunes of German Science, Harvard University Press 2000 Winner of the History of Science Society's Watson Davis Prize for the Public Understanding of Science. In this moving and eloquent portrait, John Heilbron describes how the founder of quantum theory rose to the pinnacle of German science. With great understanding, he shows how Max Planck suffered morally and intellectually as his lifelong habit of service to his country and to physics was confronted by the realities of World War I and the brutalities of the Third Reich. In an afterword written for this edition, Heilbron weighs the recurring questions among painful choices Planck faced in attempting to build an "ark" to carry science and scientists through the storms of Nazism. Amazon back |
| Kuhn, Thomas S, Black-Body Theory and the Quantum Discontinuity 1894-1912, University of Chicago Press 1987 Jacket: '[This book] traces the emergence of discontinuous physics during the early years of this century. Breaking with historiographic tradition, Kuhn maintains that, though clearly due to Max Planck, the concept of discontinuous energy change does not originate in his work. Instead it was introduced by physicists trying to understand the success of his brilliant new theory of black-body radiation.' Amazon back |
| Lo, Hoi-Kwong, and Tim Spiller, Sandra Popescu, Introduction to Quantum Computation and Information, World Scientific 1998 Jacket: 'This book provides a pedagogical introduction to the subjects of quantum information and computation. Topics include non-locality of quantum mechanics, quantum computation, quantum cryptography, quantum error correction, fault tolerant quantum computation, as well as some experimental aspects of quantum computation and quantum cryptography. A knowledge of basic quantum mechanics is assumed.' Amazon back |
| Pais, Abraham, 'Subtle is the Lord...': The Science and Life of Albert Einstein, Oxford UP 1982 Jacket: In this ... major work Abraham Pais, himself an eminent physicist who worked alongside Einstein in the post-war years, traces the development of Einstein's entire ouvre. ... Running through the book is a completely non-scientific biography ... including many letters which appear in English for the first time, as well as other information not published before.' Amazon back |
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