Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory [Paperback]

Richard Feynman (Author), Laurie M. Brown (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 30, 2005 | ISBN-10: 9812563806 | ISBN-13: 978-9812563804

Richard Feynman s never previously published doctoral thesis formed the heart of much of his brilliant and profound work in theoretical physics. Entitled The Principle of Least Action in Quantum Mechanics, its original motive was to quantize the classical action-at-a-distance electrodynamics. Because that theory adopted an overall space time viewpoint, the classical Hamiltonian approach used in the conventional formulations of quantum theory could not be used, so Feynman turned to the Lagrangian function and the principle of least action as his points of departure.

The result was the path integral approach, which satisfied -- and transcended -- its original motivation, and has enjoyed great success in renormalized quantum field theory, including the derivation of the ubiquitous Feynman diagrams for elementary particles. Path integrals have many other applications, including atomic, molecular, and nuclear scattering, statistical mechanics, quantum liquids and solids, Brownian motion, and noise theory. It also sheds new light on fundamental issues like the interpretation of quantum theory because of its new overall space time viewpoint.

The present volume includes Feynman s Princeton thesis, the related review article Space Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics [Reviews of Modern Physics 20 (1948), 367 387], Paul Dirac s seminal paper The Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics [Physikalische Zeitschrift der Sowjetunion, Band 3, Heft 1 (1933)], and an introduction by Laurie M Brown.

Contents: Least Action in Classical Mechanics: The Concept of Functional; The Principle of Least Action; Conservation of Energy. Constants of the Motion; Particles Interacting Through an Intermediate Oscillator; Least Action in Quantum Mechanics: The Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics; The Calculation of Matrix Elements in the Language of a Lagrangian; The Equations of Motion in Lagrangian Form; Translation to the Ordinary Notation of Quantum Mechanics; The Generalization to Any Action Function; Conservation of Energy. Constants of the Motion; The Role of the Wave Function; Transition Probabilities; Expectation Values for Observables; Application to the Forced Harmonic Oscillator; Particles Interacting Through an Intermediate Oscillator; Space Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics; The Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The young Feynman revealed here was full of invention, verve, and ambition. His new approach to quantum mechanics, after simmering for decades beneath the surface of theoretical physics, burst into new prominence in the 1970s. Now its influence is pervasive, and still expanding. Feynman's original presentation is not only uniquely clear, but also contains insights and perspectives that are not widely known, and might well provide ammunition for another explosion or two. --Frank Wilczek, 2004 Physics Nobel Laureate

Historians and physicists alike will enjoy this easy-to-read little book ... The thesis itself is a masterpiece of clear exposition ... it is written in Feynman's uniquely chatty style, and reminiscent of the famous Feynman lectures. It is a delight to read and is likely to offer an insight, even to non-physicists, into both physics and the workings of Feynman's mind. I would not hesitate to recommend the book to anyone working physicists, historians, philosophers and even 'curious fellows' who would like to 'peak over the shoulder' of one of the 20th century's great physicists at work --CERN Courier

The path integral approach is now something that every graduate student in theoretical physics is supposed to know ... the thesis provides a very good background for the way these ideas came about. The two companion articles, although available in print, also gives a complete picture of the development of this line of thinking. The helpful introductory remarks by the editor also puts things in the proper historical perspective. This book would be very helpful to anyone interested in the development of modern ideas in physics --Classical and Quantum Gravity

Review

Historians and physicists alike will enjoy this easy-to-read little book ... The thesis itself is a masterpiece of clear exposition ... it is written in Feynman's uniquely chatty style, and reminiscent of the famous Feynman lectures. It is a delight to read and is likely to offer an insight, even to non-physicists, into both physics and the workings of Feynman's mind. I would not hesitate to recommend the book to anyone -- working physicists, historians, philosophers and even 'curious fellows' who would like to 'peak over the shoulder' of one of the 20th century's great physicists at work. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9812563806
• ISBN-13: 978-9812563804
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,523 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard P. Feynman was born in 1918 and grew up in Far Rockaway, New York. At the age of seventeen he entered MIT and in 1939 went to Princeton, then to Los Alamos, where he joined in the effort to build the atomic bomb. Following World War II he joined the physics faculty at Cornell, then went on to Caltech in 1951, where he taught until his death in 1988. He shared the Nobel Prize for physics in 1965, and served with distinction on the Shuttle Commission in 1986. A commemorative stamp in his name was issued by the U.S. Postal Service in 2005.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Feynman - a real joy, June 6, 2006

By 

Peter Haggstrom (BONDI BEACH, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory (Paperback)

I did a course on quantum theory in the 1970s with John Ward who was recommended for the Nobel Prize in 1965 (Feynman, Schwinger and Tomogana shared it). Those close to the action will know of Ward's Identity. John (died in 2002 from memory) used Feynman's lectures as his course notes.

I must confess a soft spot for Feynman. I would have loved to have been in his lectures (buy his audio tapes and you will get the feel for his delivery). He was truly a great physics communicator and often understated his mathematical abilities (after all he had won the Putnam Prize at some stage so he was no mathematical slouch).

His development of QED is simple to understand and that says it all about his genius. He took the view that if he couldn't give a simple explanation then he really didn't understand the topic. The current crop of tool polishers should heed this.

Anyone who is really serious about physics (and maths) should read the original papers and this is a classic example. I suggest that you fill in the gaps in the derivations. If you can't do that then you haven't really understood it.

It is fascinating to compare Feynman's approach with Schwinger's more abstract approach. I prefer Feynman's but Schwinger does a hugely impressive job in stripping QED down to its logical (almost truth functional) essentials.

Buy this book and see how a first class mind works.

Peter Haggstrom
BONDI BEACH AUSTRALIA

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Phillips Feynman: American Physics Superstar, November 28, 2008

By 

Southern Jameson West (Taiwan) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory (Hardcover)

In this thesis we witness a drama unfolding. The young Feynman(later to be the shining light of J.Robert Oppenheimer's theoretical physcis division of The Legendary Manhatten Project in Los Alamos, New Mexico ) is "on to
something". He has read a paper on the "New" Quantum Mechanics written by
P.A.M. Dirac which outlines a possibly new and better way to formulate the theory. One much more radically different from what the original architects (most of them German) of the theory had had in mind. But one which he intuitively ( at this point ) knows will allow him to calculate
certain results that the original formulations seem unable to manage.
That is, up until that point, 1942 no one has been able to successfully calculate the basic photon-electron interaction without getting infinity
for an answer. Which of course is no answer at all. And that's an obvious
embarrassment for the "guys" with big egos who started it all but now can't do the calculations.( if you don't believe me check out the book by Leopold Infeld: "Why I Left Canada". That will give you a real insight to some of the pettiness and viciousness among so-called "high brow" intellectuals.)

He's right at the forefront of knowledge at this point and he knows it.
Nobody is contemplating or attempting to do what he's about to do. Neither
will they be able to understand it. This of course supplies the excitement
of the quest. He is on an adventure and he is doing it himself. And what comes out of the mathematical analysis done in this thesis will eventually lead to a brand new way of calculating Qunatum Mechanical events. One which will conveniently obviate the traps and pitfalls inherent in all of these failed attempts. And that new mathematical construction will be called a " Path Integral". Which in turn
will evolve into the now-famous "Feynman Diagrams" (a better and more efficient way to calculate these subatomic processes.) And which will eventually provide
a beautiful way to try to envision the Quantum phenomenon known as "entanglement".

The stakes are high at this point. The tension and competition are telling to say the least. Who will be first to get there? If Feynman were
to fail in this attempt it would be a great loss of face. But very dramatically just a few years after this thesis he succeeds in such a novel and clever way that it draws both praise and condemnation from the various "camps" of theoretical physics. Ultimately it will result in his sharing in the 1965
Nobel Prize for physics.

The young Feynman has not only won the day but has advanced the prestige of "American Physics" significantly further right on the heels of America's successful creation of the world's first Nuclear device. This would not be Feynman's only triumph. There would be in fact many, many more.

It is significant to note that one of the first professors ever to include Feynman's Path Integral formulation of Quantum Electrodynamics in his lectures
in the 1950's was none other than Wolfgang Pauli. ( Nobel Prize in physics 1945 unshared ) To those who are privy to the enigmatic workings and personalities of the community of theoretical physics at that time (and even now )acceptance
by Pauli would to some have exceeded a Nobel Prize. Now that truly would have been an exciting achievement.

Southern Jameson West
p.s. also, in the book Feynman offers a fair albeit non-rigorous explanation of the mathematical concept of "Functionals".
See my review on Morse and Feshbach

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book, March 6, 2006

By 

Donald A. Graft - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory (Paperback)

The section on quantum superposition and the essential difference between classical and quantum approaches, found in the article "Space-Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics", is mind-blowing stuff. This is a great book.