The formalisms of quantum mechanics. An introduction
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: The formalisms of quantum mechanics. An introduction
zbMATH Open document ID: 1309.81003
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-10539-0
author: François David
published in: Lecture Notes in Physics
publication date: 2014-09-05T00:00:00Z
review text: The true paradox of quantum mechanics is well portrayed in the opening address of this interesting new book: despite being ``probably the most successful and complete physical theory that was ever proposed in the history of science,'' the debate about its principles, its interpretations and the explanation of its most surprising features is still with us well more than a century after its beginnings. It is true: the doubts about its foundations raised a few decades ago by a previous generation of physicists seem to have been overcome by the subsequent experimental confirmations. But strangely enough, from these very controversies several new research branches stemmed out (as quantum information and quantum computing) which, together with other experimental and theoretical advances (experimental tests on microscopic systems, quantum gravity, cosmology to quote just a few), ``have led to a revival of the discussions about the principles of quantum mechanics and its seemingly paradoxical aspects.'' This consequently seems to leave this body of theories in the somewhat weird position of being both ``(1) the unchallenged and dominant paradigm of modern physical sciences, (2) but at the same time a still mysterious and poorly understood theory, that awaits some (imminent) revolution.'' Apart, perhaps, from some overstatement about a ``revolution'' that does not seem to be currently boiling up, it is difficult not to agree with the author. As a matter of fact, even today, every thinking physicist which makes acquaintance with quantum mechanics asks himself some inescapable questions which still do not have answers that everyone agrees on (apart from not asking them at all). Everybody then either accepts one of the available explanatory schemes that he can live with, or continue his long conceptual quest, possibly in parallel with his other scientific pursuits. Admittedly however David's book is not mainly about this last issue of the foundations of quantum mechanics, but i…
reviewed by: Nicola Cufaro Petroni
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 81-01
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 81P10
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 81P05
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 81P45
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 00A79
zbMATH DE Number: 6340797
zbMATH Keywords: quantum theory
zbMATH Keywords: quantum logic
zbMATH Keywords: quantum information
zbMATH Keywords: paradoxes of quantum mechanics
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-10539-0
OpenAlex ID: W4230033113
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 6340797