Permeated by the author's delightful humor, this little book explains, with nearly no mathematics, the main conceptual issues associated with quantum mechanics: The issue of determinism. Does quantum mechanics signify the end of a deterministic word-view? The role of the human subject or of the "observer" in science. Since Copernicus, science has increasingly tended to dethrone Man from his formerly held special position in the Universe. But quantum mechanics, with its emphasis on the notion of observation, may once more have given a central role to the human subject. The issue of locality. Does quantum mechanics imply that instantaneous actions at a distance exist in Nature? In these pages the author offers a variety of views and answers - bad as well as good - to these questions. The reader will be both entertained and enlightened by Jean Bricmont's clear and incisive arguments.

Here Roland Omnès offers a clear, up-to-date guide to the conceptual framework of quantum mechanics. In an area that has provoked much philosophical debate, Omnès has achieved high recognition for his Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Princeton 1994), a book for specialists. Now the author has transformed his own theory into a short and readable text that enables beginning students and experienced physicists, mathematicians, and philosophers to form a comprehensive picture of the field while learning about the most recent advances. This new book presents a more streamlined version of the Copenhagen interpretation, showing its logical consistency and completeness. The problem of measurement is a major area of inquiry, with the author surveying its history from Planck to Heisenberg before describing the consistent-histories interpretation. He draws upon the most recent research on the decoherence effect (related to the modern resolution of the famous Schrödinger's cat problem) and an exact formulation of the correspondence between quantum and particle physics (implying a derivation of classical determinism from quantum probabilism). Interpretation is organized with the help of a universal and sound language using so-called consistent histories. As a language and a method, it can now be shown to be free of ambiguity and it makes interpretation much clearer and closer to common sense.

Modern thermodynamics is a unique but still not a logically self-consistent field of knowledge. It has a proven universal applicability and significance but its actual potential is still latent. The development of the foundations of thermodynamics was in effect non-stop but absolutely no one has any idea about this. This book is the first of its kind that will motivate researchers to build up a logically consistent field of thermodynamics. It greatly appreciates the actual depth and potential of thermodynamics which might also be of interest to readers in history and philosophy of scientific research. The book presents the life stories of the protagonists in detail and allows readers to cast a look at the whole scene of the field by showcasing a significant number of their colleagues whose works have fittingly complemented their achievements. It also tries to trigger a detailed analysis of the reasons why the actual work in this extremely important field has in effect gone astray. It comprises five chapters and introduces three scientists in the first two chapters, which are specifically devoted to the Scandinavian achievements in macroscopic thermodynamics. These introductions are novel and call for a detailed reconsideration of the field. The third chapter acquaints the readers with their fourth colleague in Germany who was working on the proper link between the macroscopic thermodynamics, kinetics, and the atomistic representation of matter. The fourth chapter brings in their fifth colleague in the United States who could formally infer the famous formula S = k * ln(W), ingeniously guessed by Ludwig Boltzmann, and thus clarify the physical sense of the entropy notion. The last chapter summarizes the above-mentioned discourses.

Learning quantum field theory doesn’t have to be hard What if there were a book that allowed you to see the whole picture and not just tiny parts of it? Thoughts like this are the reason that No-Nonsense Quantum Field Theory now exists. What will you learn from this book? Get to know all fundamental concepts — Grasp what a quantum field is, why we use propagators to describe its behavior, and how Feynman diagrams help us to make sense of field interactions. Learn to describe quantum field theory mathematically — Understand the meaning and origin of the most important equations: the Klein-Gordon equation, the Dirac equation, the Proca equation, the Maxwell equations, and the canonical commutation/anticommutation relations. Master important quantum field theory interactions — Read fully annotated, step-by-step calculations and understand the general algorithm we use to particle interactions. Get an understanding you can be proud of —Learn about advanced topics like renormalization and regularization, spontaneous symmetry breaking, the renormalization group equations, non-perturbative phenomena, and effective field models. No-Nonsense Quantum Field Theory is one the most student-friendly book on quantum field theory ever written. Here’s why. First of all, it's nothing like a formal university lecture. Instead, it’s like a casual conservation with a more experienced student. This also means that nothing is assumed to be “obvious” or “easy to see”. Each chapter, each section, and each page focuses solely on the goal to help you understand. Nothing is introduced without a thorough motivation and it is always clear where each equation comes from. The book ruthlessly focuses on the fundamentals and makes sure you’ll understand them in detail. The primary focus on the readers’ needs is also visible in dozens of small features that you won’t find in any other textbook In total, the book contains more than 100 illustrations that help you understand the most important concepts visually. In each chapter, you’ll find fully annotated equations and calculations are done carefully step-by-step. This makes it much easier to understand what’s going on. Whenever a concept is used that was already introduced previously there is a short sidenote that reminds you where it was first introduced and often recites the main points. In addition, there are summaries at the beginning of each chapter that make sure you won’t get lost.

Philosophers have spent millennia accumulating knowledge about knowledge. But negative epistemological phenomena, such as ignorance, falsity, and delusion, are persistently overlooked. Markus Gabriel argues that being wrong is part and parcel of subjectivity itself, adding a novel perspective on epistemic failures to the work of New Realism.

Learning Quantum Mechanics doesn’t have to be hard What if there was a way to learn Quantum Mechanics without all the usual fluff and mystification? What if there were a book that allowed you to see the whole picture and not just tiny parts of it? Thoughts like this are the reason that No-Nonsense Quantum Mechanics now exists. What will you learn from this book? Get to know the fundamental quantum features — grasp how different nature works at the level of elementary particles.Learn how to describe Quantum Mechanics mathematically — understand the origin and meaning of the most important quantum equations: the Schrödinger equation + the canonical commutation relations.Master the most important quantum systems — read step-by-step calculations and understand the general algorithm we use to describe them.Get an understanding you can be proud of — learn why there are alternative frameworks to describe Quantum Mechanics and how they are connected to the standard wave description. No-Nonsense Quantum Mechanics is the most student-friendly book on Quantum Mechanics ever written. Here’s why. First of all, it's is nothing like a formal university lecture. Instead, it’s like a casual conservation with a more experienced student. This also means that nothing is assumed to be “obvious” or “easy to see”.Each chapter, each section, and each page focusses solely on the goal to help you understand. Nothing is introduced without a thorough motivation and it is always clear where each equation comes from.The book contains no fluff since unnecessary content quickly leads to confusion. Instead, it ruthlessly focusses on the fundamentals and makes sure you’ll understand them in detail. The primary focus on the readers’ needs is also visible in dozens of small features that you won’t find in any other textbook In total, the book contains more than 100 illustrations that help you understand the most important concepts in visually. In each chapter, you’ll find fully annotated equations and calculations are done carefully step-by-step. This makes it much easier to understand what’s going on in.Whenever a concept is used that was already introduced previously there is a short sidenote that reminds you where it was first introduced and often recites the main points. In addition, there are summaries at the beginning of each chapter that make sure you won’t get lost.

We say that the processes going on in the world about us are asymmetric in time or display an arrow of time. Yet this manifest fact of our experience is particularly difficult to explain in terms of the fundamental laws of physics. This volume reconciles these profoundly conflicting facts.