Dialogues Between Physics and Mathematics

Dialogues Between Physics and Mathematics PDF

Author: Mo-Lin Ge

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-12-10

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 3031175239

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This volume celebrates the 100th birthday of Professor Chen-Ning Frank Yang (Nobel 1957), one of the giants of modern science and a living legend. Starting with reminiscences of Yang's time at the research centre for theoretical physics at Stonybrook (now named C. N. Yang Institute) by his successor Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, the book is a collection of articles by world-renowned mathematicians and theoretical physicists. This emphasizes the Dialogue Between Physics and Mathematics that has been a central theme of Professor Yang’s contributions to contemporary science. Fittingly, the contributions to this volume range from experimental physics to pure mathematics, via mathematical physics. On the physics side, the contributions are from Sir Anthony Leggett (Nobel 2003), Jian-Wei Pan (Willis E. Lamb Award 2018), Alexander Polyakov (Breakthrough Prize 2013), Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel 1999), Frank Wilczek (Nobel 2004), Qikun Xue (Fritz London Prize 2020), and Zhongxian Zhao (Bernd T. Matthias Prize 2015), covering an array of topics from superconductivity to the foundations of quantum mechanics. In mathematical physics there are contributions by Sir Roger Penrose (Nobel 2022) and Edward Witten (Fields Medal 1990) on quantum twistors and quantum field theory, respectively. On the mathematics side, the contributions by Vladimir Drinfeld (Fields Medal 1990), Louis Kauffman (Wiener Gold Medal 2014), and Yuri Manin (Cantor Medal 2002) offer novel ideas from knot theory to arithmetic geometry. Inspired by the original ideas of C. N. Yang, this unique collection of papers b masters of physics and mathematics provides, at the highest level, contemporary research directions for graduate students and experts alike.

The Theories of the Graviton, Part Two

The Theories of the Graviton, Part Two PDF

Author: Aaron Bain

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2018-10-24

Total Pages: 38

ISBN-13: 9781729579084

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Gravitons are the quanta of gravity that, if proven to exist, would potentially connect quantum mechanics with gravitation. The second part of the Graviton Theory entity focuses on the quantum side of the graviton's mechanics and nature (which were first proposed in the classical framework in Part One). They will be explained in depth, as to how gravitons act as quantum particles, and how they can act as both strings in Sting Theory and as loops in Loop Quantum Gravity. This analysis is to propose how gravitons behave, not only in our set of four-dimensional spacetime, but also in higher dimensional sets of spacetime.

Quantum Theory and the Flight from Realism

Quantum Theory and the Flight from Realism PDF

Author: Christopher Norris

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2002-11-01

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 1134595247

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This book is a critical introduction to the long-standing debate concerning the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics and the problems it has posed for physicists and philosophers from Einstein to the present. Quantum theory has been a major infulence on postmodernism, and presents significant problems for realists. Keeping his own realist position in check, Christopher Norris subjects a wide range of key opponents and supporters of realism to a high and equal level of scrutiny. With a characteristic combination of rigour and intellectual generosity, he draws out the merits and weaknesses from opposing arguments. In a sequence of closely argued chapters, Norris examines the premises of orthodox quantum theory, as developed most influentially by Bohr and Heisenberg, and its impact on varous philosophical developments. These include the ideas developed by W.V Quine, Thomas Kuhn, Michael Dummett, Bas van Fraassen, and Hilary Puttnam. In each case, Norris argues, these thinkers have been influenced by the orthodox construal of quantum mechanics as requiring drastic revision of principles which had hitherto defined the very nature of scientific method, causal explanati and rational enquiry. Putting the case for a realist approach which adheres to well-tried scientific principles of causal reasoning and inference to the best explanation, Christopher Norris clarifies these debates to a non-specialist readership and scholars of philosophy, science studies and the philosophy of science alike. Quantum Theory and the Flight From Realism suggests that philosophical reflection can contribute to a better understanding of these crucial, current issues.

Mathematical Physics Research at the Cutting Edge

Mathematical Physics Research at the Cutting Edge PDF

Author: Charles V. Benton

Publisher: Nova Publishers

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 9781590339398

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Physics and mathematics have always been closely intertwined, with developments in one field frequently inspiring the other. Currently, there are many unsolved problems in physics which will likely require innovations in mathematical physics. Mathematical physics is concerned with problems in statistical mechanics, atomic and molecular physics, quantum field theory, and, in general, with the mathematical foundations of theoretical physics. mechanics (both nonrelativistic and relativistic), atomic and molecular physics, the existence and properties of the phases of model ferromagnets, the stability of matter, the theory of symmetry and symmetry breaking in quantum field theory (both in general and in concrete models), and mathematical developments in functional analysis and algebra to which such subjects lead. This book presents leading-edge research in this fast-moving field. Structure of the Kalb-Ramond Gauge Symmetry and Spinor Representations; Group Theoretical Interpretation of CPT-Theorem; Cross Recurrence Plots and Their Applications; Analytical Solutions of the Radiative Transfer Equation in One-dimensional Spherical Geometry With Central Symmetry; Hyperspherical Functions and Harmonic Analysis on the Lorentz Group; The Next Stage: Quantum Game Theory; Index.

Quantum International Relations

Quantum International Relations PDF

Author: James Der Derian

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2022-05-03

Total Pages: 417

ISBN-13: 0197568203

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The contributors to this volume are motivated by a common apprehension and a common hope. The apprehension was first voiced by Einstein, who lamented the inability of humanity, at the individual and social level, to keep up with the increased speed of technological change brought about by the quantum revolution. As quantum science and technology fast forward into the 21st century, the social sciences remain stuck in classical, 19th century ways of thinking. Can such a mechanistic model of the mind and society possibly help us manage the fully realized technological potential of the quantum? That's where the hope appears: that perhaps quantum is not just a physical science, but a human science too. In Quantum International Relations, James Der Derian and Alexander Wendt gather rising scholars and leading experts to make the case for quantum approaches to world politics. As a fundamental theory of reality and enabler of new technologies, quantum now touches everything, with the potential to revolutionize how we conduct diplomacy, wage war, and make wealth. Contributors present the core principles of quantum mechanics--entanglement, uncertainty, superposition, and the wave function--as significant catalysts and superior heuristics for an accelerating quantum future. Facing a reality which no longer corresponds to an outdated Newtonian worldview of states as billiard balls, individuals as rational actors or power as objective interest, Der Derian and Wendt issue an urgent call for a new human science of quantum International Relations. At the centenary of the first quantum thought experiment in the 1920s, this book offers a diversity of explorations, speculations and approaches for understanding geopolitics in the 21st century.

The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity

The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity PDF

Author: Dean Rickles

Publisher: Clarendon Press

Published: 2006-11-16

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 0191515027

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Quantum gravity is the name given to a theory that unites general relativity - Einstein's theory of gravitation and spacetime - with quantum field theory, our framework for describing non-gravitational forces. The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity brings together philosophers and physicists to discuss a range of conceptual issues that surface in the effort to unite these theories, focusing in particular on the ontological nature of the spacetime that results. Although there has been a great deal written about quantum gravity from the perspective of physicists and mathematicians, very little attention has been paid to the philosophical aspects. This volume closes that gap, with essays written by some of the leading researchers in the field. Individual papers defend or attack a structuralist perspective on the fundamental ontologies of our physical theories, which offers the possibility of shedding new light on a number of foundational problems. It is a book that will be of interest not only to physicists and philosophers of physics but to anyone concerned with foundational issues and curious to explore new directions in our understanding of spacetime and quantum physics.

Are Quanta Real?

Are Quanta Real? PDF

Author: J.M. Jauch

Publisher: Indiana University Press

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9780253205452

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**** A reprint of the 1974 Indiana edition with a new foreword by Douglas R. Hofstadter. It is a non-mathematical book, engagingly written, and intended to lead the lay reader to an understanding of quantum theory. Also available in paper binding at $7.95. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Imaginary Philosophical Dialogues

Imaginary Philosophical Dialogues PDF

Author: Kenneth Binmore

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-12-23

Total Pages: 209

ISBN-13: 3030653870

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How would Plato have responded if his student Aristotle had ever challenged his idea that our senses perceive nothing more than the shadows cast upon a wall by a true world of perfect ideals? What would Charles Darwin have said to Karl Marx about his claim that dialectical materialism is a scientific theory of evolution? How would Jean-Paul Sartre have reacted to Simone de Beauvoir’s claim that the Marquis de Sade was a philosopher worthy of serious attention? This light-hearted book proposes answers to such questions by imagining dialogues between thirty-three pairs of philosophical sages who were alive at the same time. Sometime famous sages get a much rougher handling than usual, as when Adam Smith beards Immanuel Kant in his Konigsberg den. Sometimes neglected or maligned sages get a chance to say what they really believed, as when Epicurus explains that he wasn’t epicurean. Sometimes the dialogues are about the origins of modern concepts, as when Blaise Pascal and Pierre de Fermat discuss their invention of probability, or when John Nash and John von Neumann discuss the creation of game theory. Even in these scientific cases, the intention is that the protagonists come across as fallible human beings like the rest of us, rather than the intellectual paragons of philosophical textbooks.

Quantum Reality

Quantum Reality PDF

Author: Jim Baggott

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2020-06-26

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 0192565834

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Quantum mechanics is an extraordinarily successful scientific theory. It is also completely mad. Although the theory quite obviously works, it leaves us chasing ghosts and phantoms; particles that are waves and waves that are particles; cats that are at once both alive and dead; and lots of seemingly spooky goings-on. But if we're prepared to be a little more specific about what we mean when we talk about 'reality' and a little more circumspect in the way we think a scientific theory might represent such a reality, then all the mystery goes away. This shows that the choice we face is actually a philosophical one. Here, Jim Baggott provides a quick but comprehensive introduction to quantum mechanics for the general reader, and explains what makes this theory so very different from the rest. He also explores the processes involved in developing scientific theories and explains how these lead to different philosophical positions, essential if we are to understand the nature of the great debate between Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein. Moving forwards, Baggott then provides a comprehensive guide to attempts to determine what the theory actually means, from the Copenhagen interpretation to many worlds and the multiverse. Richard Feynman once declared that 'nobody understands quantum mechanics'. This book will tell you why.

Quantum Gravity

Quantum Gravity PDF

Author: Domenico J. W. Giulini

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2003-09-16

Total Pages: 426

ISBN-13: 9783540408109

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The relation between quantum theory and the theory of gravitation remains one of the most outstanding unresolved issues of modern physics. According to general expectation, general relativity as well as quantum (field) theory in a fixed background spacetime cannot be fundamentally correct. Hence there should exist a broader theory comprising both in appropriate limits, i.e., quantum gravity. This book gives readers a comprehensive introduction accessible to interested non-experts to the main issues surrounding the search for quantum gravity. These issues relate to fundamental questions concerning the various formalisms of quantization; specific questions concerning concrete processes, like gravitational collapse or black-hole evaporation; and the all important question concerning the possibility of experimental tests of quantum-gravity effects.