The Pursuit of Reality : Narrative History of the Quantum and the Great Minds That Made It

In a highly accessible style, this book presents a narrative history of the quantum theory with the new developments that intrigue all inquisitive minds. Quantum theory is counter-intuitive and sometimes downright weird. Even Nobel Laureate physicists like Richard Feynman admit that they do not understand it. Yet, so far, there is not a shred of experimental data that conflicts with its predictions. Its effect on our lives is bound to increase with the quantum information era ushered in by the great Bohr–Einstein debate. Tantalizing applications of quantum information like teleportation, spy-proof communication, super-fast quantum computers, and more are going to influence our lives and change our beliefs about the nature of physical reality. This book takes the reader on an exhilarating journey through the intellectual history of quantum that is turning out to be more surprising every day. Preface Contents 1 The Quest for Knowledge 1.1 Newton's Dynamic Theory 1.2 Who Needs the First Law? 1.3 Newton's Gravitation 1.4 Who Invented Calculus? 1.5 First Test of Gravitation in Laboratory 1.6 Conservation Laws 1.7 Fictitious Forces 1.8 Newton's Bucket Experiment 1.9 Mach's Principle 1.10 Newton's Corpuscular Theory of Light 1.11 Young's Double-Slit Experiment 1.12 Fresnel and the Wave Theory 1.13 Maxwell's Theory and Light 2 Perpetual Motion Dream 2.1 Thermodynamics 2.2 Entropy and the Laws of Thermodynamics 2.3 Nothing New Left to Discover 2.4 Atoms and the Kinetic Theory 2.5 Entropy in Kinetic Theory 2.6 Dark Clouds over the Horizon 2.7 Planck's Black Body Radiation Formula 2.8 Reluctant Revolutionary 2.9 New Statistics 2.9.1 Boltzmann Distribution for Solids 2.9.2 Boltzmann Distribution for Gases 2.9.3 Bose-Einstein Distribution 3 Born Rebellious 3.1 Difficult Times for Einstein 3.2 Patent Office Clerk 3.3 Miracle Year of Physics 3.4 Photoelectric Effect 3.5 Brownian Motion and the Reality of Atoms 3.6 Universe with a Limit to Speed 3.6.1 Reference Frames 3.6.2 Moving Frames 3.6.3 Covariance Versus Invariance 3.6.4 Galilean Transformations 3.7 Problems with Newton's Laws 3.7.1 Nature of Physical Theories 3.7.2 A Stroke of Genius 3.7.3 Speed of Light 3.7.4 Space and Time 3.8 Minkowski Space-Time 3.8.1 Lorentz-FitzGerald Contraction 3.8.2 Time Dilation 3.8.3 Regions of Space-Time 3.8.4 Geometric Representation 3.9 An Iconic Formula 4 Atoms and Radioactivity 4.1 Bohr at Cambridge 4.2 Bohr Meets Rutherford 4.3 Bohr at Manchester 4.4 Germ of an Idea 4.5 Master Stroke 4.6 First Reactions 4.7 The Demon in Quantum 4.8 Shell Model and Bohr Festspiele 4.9 De Broglie and Particle-Wave Duality 4.10 Einstein Was Right 4.11 Electron Waves 5 Revolution Within Revolution 5.1 Footsteps of Quantum Mechanics 5.2 Pauli and the Exclusion Principle 5.3 White Dwarfs and Neutron Stars 5.4 Spin Without Spinning 5.5 Emergence of the New Theory 5.6 Heisenberg the Magician 5.7 Dirac Enters the Picture 6 Schrödiger's Wave Mechanics 6.1 Wave Equation and the Hydrogen Atom 6.2 First Reactions to Wave Mechanics 6.3 Heisenberg, Schrödinger, and Bohr Encounter 6.4 Born and the Meaning of Ψ (Psi) 6.5 Does God Play Dice? 7 Complementarity Embraces Particles and Waves 7.1 Uncertainty Principle 7.2 Heisenberg's Microscope 7.3 Bohr Returns from the Ski Trip 7.4 Complementarity 7.5 Copenhagen Interpretation 7.6 The Measurement Problem 7.7 Fifth Solvay Conference 7.8 Double-Slit Experiment and Einstein—Bohr Debate 7.9 After the Fifth Solvay Conference 8 Sixth Solvay Conference and Titans Meet Again 8.1 Einstein's Light Box Stuns Bohr 8.2 Bohr Could Not Believe His Eyes 8.3 Bohr Turns the Tables Completely 8.4 Tumultuous Years in Europe 9 Einstein at Princeton 9.1 Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen Argument 9.2 Reactions to EPR 9.3 Schrödinger and Entanglement 9.4 Schrödinger's Cat 9.5 Einstein, Bohr Meetings at Princeton 10 Bohm's Hidden Variables and Bell's Inequality 10.1 Quantum Potential 10.2 Reactions to Bohm's Theory 10.3 Bell's Inequality 10.4 Bell's Challenge and Clauser's Acceptance 10.5 Aspect's Experiment 10.6 Third Generation Experiments 10.7 Aftermath of Bell's Theorem 10.8 Everett and Many-Worlds Interpretation 11 The Gist of Quantum Mechanics 11.1 Entanglement and No Signaling Theorem 11.2 Single-Particle Systems and Quantum Information 11.3 Mach-Zehnder Interferometer 11.4 Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with a Channel-Blocker 11.5 Feynman's Double Slit Thought Experiment 11.6 Realization of Feynman's Thought Experiment 11.7 Scully-Drühl Version of the Double Slit Experiment 11.8 Quantum Eraser and the Delayed Choice Thought Experiment 11.9 Complementarity and the Quantum Eraser Experiment 11.10 Finally the Delayed Choice Experiment Done 11.11 Quantum Tunneling and More Quantum Weirdness 12 Can We Ever Hope to Understand Quantum Mechanics? 12.1 How to Define the State of a System 12.2 Weird or Just Counterintuitive 12.3 Wigner's Thought Experiment Realized in Laboratory 12.4 Non-locality and the EPR Thought Experiment 12.5 Does Quantum Mechanics Need Imaginary Numbers? 13 Navigating Between the Classical and the Quantum Worlds 13.1 Coherence Is What Determines ``Quantumness'' 13.2 Do All Objects Have a Wavefunction? 13.3 Where Does the Weirdness Begin or End? 13.4 The Essence of Quantum Mechanics 13.5 Defining Decoherence 13.6 Decoherence as a Theory 13.7 Pointer States and Einselection 13.8 Quantum Darwinism 14 Mathematics, Physics, and Nature 14.1 Laws of Nature 14.2 Could the New Physics Be Hiding in Living Matter? 14.3 Physics Versus Biology 14.4 Consciousness and Quantum Mechanics 14.5 Mathematics and Mind 14.6 Cracking the Brain's Memory Code 14.7 Is Mathematics the only Language for Nature? 14.8 Nature and Mankind Appendix References Index