The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics [Paperback]

Roland Omnès (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 11, 1994 | ISBN-10: 0691036691 | ISBN-13: 978-0691036694

The interpretation of quantum mechanics has been controversial since the introduction of quantum theory in the 1920s. Although the Copenhagen interpretation is commonly accepted, its usual formulation suffers from some serious drawbacks. Based mainly on Bohr's concepts, the formulation assumes an independent and essential validity of classical concepts running in parallel with quantum ones, and leaves open the possibility of their ultimate conflict. In this book, Roland Omns examines a number of recent advances, which, combined, lead to a consistent revision of the Copenhagen interpretation. His aim is to show how this interpretation can fit all present experiments, to weed out unnecessary or questionable assumptions, and to assess the domain of validity where the older statements apply.

Drawing on the new contributions, The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics offers a complete and self-contained treatment of interpretation (in nonrelativistic physics) in a manner accessible to both physicists and students. Although some "hard" results are included, the concepts and mathematical developments are maintained at an undergraduate level. This book enables readers to check every step, apply the techniques to new problems, and make sure that no paradox or obscurity can arise in the theory. In the conclusion, the author discusses various philosophical implications pertinent to the study of quantum mechanics.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book gives an excellent account of the modern interpretation of quantum mechanics from the Copenhagen point of view. It is a seminal work that should be bought and studied by everyone interested in the field. -- Physics World

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (July 11, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691036691
• ISBN-13: 978-0691036694
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,258,007 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I recomend this book if you are interested by decoherence, July 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Paperback)

Although I am skeptical about the real significance of decoherence, I recommend this book if you want to learn this topic, because the style is brilliant and clear. If however you desire a (relatively) more cursory introduction, buy Omnes' more recent book "Understanding Quantum Mechanics", which in my opinion is even more brilliant. The desire to write for beginners and not for experts has apparently improved his writing a lot with respect to the present book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Extensive coverage of an interesting topic, March 10, 2007

By 

Dean Welch - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Hardcover)

The Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics seems to be the dominant point of view (at least implicitly) for both undergraduate and graduate quantum mechanics courses. This is certainly adequate for understanding a tremendous amount of quantum mechanics and doing pretty much any calculations one would want to do. However, this approach suffers some shortcomings and cannot be the last word. Among these shortcomings are the postulated existence of an external classical world, the fundamental role of measurement and the collapse of the wavefunction. Obviously any classical world is just an approximation of a quantum one and when considering the universe as a whole there is no external observer of any kind. Also, there can't be anything fundamentally special about a measurement.

From a practical point of view perhaps the main limitation of this is probably the study of quantum cosmology, which surely requires something beyond the Copenhagen interpretation. There is one additional additional problem this can lead to. It's not so much a problem for physics students or other serious scholars, but rather for those only engaging in casual thought about quantum mechanics. The problem is that elevating external observers and measurement to fundamental roles seems to lead to a lot of nonsense ideas, for example consious observers defining reality.

This book presents a thorough discussion that will help one to develop a more satisfying perspective of quantum mechanics. The level of the quantum mechanics assumed isn't high, mainly basic undergraduate quantum mechanics. The material in the book varies in difficulty from simple to fairly challenging. The material includes discussions of consistent histories, quantum logic, decoherence and many of the quantum mechanics paradoxes (EPR, Wigner's friend and of course the ubiquitous Schrodinger's cat). It's pretty clear that the last word on this subject hasn't been said, but this book contributes a lot to the discussion. I think quantum mechanical paradoxes in general are harder to resolve than the ones from relativity, but this book does a nice job of describing them and showing how they often arise from asking questions one isn't allowed to ask in the quantum framework (although these questions are perfectly sensible in the classical world).

This kind of material might not be absolutely required for physics students. However, in my opinion students (especially specialists in theoretical physics) should at least be familiar with most of the ideas, especially the consistent histories approach and decoherence. This book is very comprehensive and might be overkill for some who might prefer something more condensed, but I liked it a lot and found it well worth reading.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This edition is out of date, there is a 1999 edition., July 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Paperback)

This edition is out of date. Update your listing with the 1999 edition