Quantum Mechanics: Symbolism of Atomic Measurements [Hardcover]

Julian Schwinger (Author), Berthold-Georg Englert (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3540414088 | ISBN-13: 978-3540414087 | Publication Date: April 29, 2003 | Edition: Corrected

A unique legacy, these lecture notes of Schwinger’s course held at the University of California at Los Angeles were carefully edited by his former collaborator Berthold-Georg Englert and constitute both a self-contained textbook on quantum mechanics and an indispensable source of reference on this fundamental subject by one of the foremost thinkers of twentieth century physics.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

量子力学と原子の測定を詳説したJ. シュウィンガーのテキスト.UCLAでの講義を基に、量子現象の基本的概念と研究法、量子速度論、水素類似原子、電子原子、2粒子のクローン問題、電磁放射などの問題が扱われている.
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Review

From the reviews:

"Quantum Mechanics: Symbolism of Atomic Measurements is not just another textbook on quantum mechanics. Rather, it contains truly novel elements of both content and style. In particular, Schwinger begins his treatment not with de Broglie waves or the Schrödinger equation but rather with the measurement process. His idea is to derive, or at least make plausible, the formalism of state vectors, bras and kets, by reference to quantum measurements such as the Stern-Gerlach experiment. This [...] is simply the basis of a new way of teaching quantum mechanics. This opening chapter should be of interest to all scholars of quantum theory and might form a new topic of research for philosophers of quantum mechanics." (Contemporary Physics, 44/2, 2003)

"There are dozen of excellent textbooks on the market. But this one really is different." (T. Kibble, The Times Higher Education Supplement, 2001)

"The material covered is superficially similar to that of a typical graduate quantum mechanics course [...] However, each chapter has beautiful and unusual treatments of familiar topics. [...] This book would make an outstanding supplement and reference for a graduate quantum mechanics course. Theoretical physicists will delight in this wonderful book, which should be available in the library system of any institution with a research or graduate program in physics. Graduate students through professionals." (CHOICE, Dec. 2001)

"The book is a tour-de-force. Once the groundwork is laid, he goes into subjects with the mathematical virtuosity for which he was famous – not advanced mathematics, but the incredible use of simple mathematics. … there are gems throughout the book. … it is a wonderful book for a professor to own, like Feyman’s lectures, because there is so much to learn from it. … The book was lovingly edited from some UCLA lecture notes, by Berthold-Georg Englert, a longtime student and assistant of Schwinger’s … ." (Daniel Greenberger, American Journal of Physics, Vol 71 (9), 2003)

"Editor Englert has performed a service for physicists everywhere by making available this book, which is based on Schwinger’s unpublished UCLA lecture notes. … each chapter has beautiful and unusual treatments of familiar topics. … There are excellent problems at the end of each chapter. This book would make an outstanding supplement and reference for a graduate quantum mechanics course. Theoretical physicists will delight in this wonderful book, which should be available in the library system of any institution with a research or graduate program … ." (M. C. Ogilvie, CHOICE, December, 2001)

"The book commences with an absorbing prologue in which Schwinger talks us through the development of quantum mechanic and quantum field theory in an easy conversational style. … The book is packed with exercises for the reader to attempt. … Anyone who works religiously through these exercises will acquire a thoroughly adequate command of quantum mechanics." (W. Cox, Mathematical Reviews, Issue 2002 h)

"Quantum mechanics: Symbolism of Atomic Measurements is not just another textbook on quantum mechanics. Rather, it contains truly novel elements of both content and style. … This opening chapter should be of interest to all scholars of quantum theory and might form a new topic of research for philosophers of quantum mechanics. Throughout the text, new material is presented at a breathless pace. All the usual elements of the subject are there, but Schwinger’s presentation reveals surprises in even the most familiar of these." (S. M. Barnett, Contemporary Physics, Vol. 44 (2), 2003)

"In the beginning, the editor has added an important material in the form of a prologue … . This is one of the best treatments of the philosophy of quantum mechanics, which I have come across. … One of the major features of the book is the incorporation of a large number of problems … . the contents of the problems are well integrated in the text and have become part of it. This has caused a rich and tight structure of the logical arguments." (S. S. Bhattacharyya, Indian Journal of Physics, Vol. 76B (3), 2002)

"This unique textbook is based upon the lecture notes that Julian Schwinger wrote up for the students of the quantum mechanics course … . this book would probably make an ideal quantum mechanics reference … . There are a large number of problems included at the end of each chapter, which comprise an excellent resource for any lecturer … . this textbook is a unique resource, which provides an insight into the thoughts and deliberations of one of this century’s giants of quantum mechanics." (P. C. Dastoor, The Physicist, Vol. 38 (5), 2001)

"There are dozens of excellent textbooks on the market. But this one really is different. … there is a carefully argued historical and philosophical prologue that sets the scene, centred on the two key features of quantum physics – atomicity and its probabilistic character; this alone would make the book worthwhile. The emphasis on discrete variables is a very modern approach… . To a theoretical physicist, this book is a delight and a wonderful resource. … This is a book I shall treasure." (Tom Kibble, Times Higher Education Supplement, September, 2001)

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 482 pages
• Publisher: Springer; Corrected edition (April 29, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3540414088
• ISBN-13: 978-3540414087
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #719,671 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A unique perspective by a unique man, December 25, 2001

By 

Assaf Tal (Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Quantum Mechanics: Symbolism of Atomic Measurements (Hardcover)

I presume I do not need to introduce Schwinger's list of credentials, including a nobel prize for QED alongside with Feynman and the third guy (I'm sorry, I never seem to remember his name). Schwinger has always had his own view of physics, much like Feynman, and in his books he usually follows that view. The consequence is a book on an old subject, such as QM, which includes many new viewpoints and ideas not found in other books, especially in use of action principles, of which Schwinger was a major proponent.

That being said, it should be stressed that you should not approach this book without taking a course or two in QM - Schwinger himself states so at the introduction. It would not only make the book hard to follow, but also make it pointless - the whole idea of reading this book is getting a fresh new perspective on QM.

For example, instead of stating the "axioms" of QM, Schwinger decides to examine physical experiments and try to see where these axioms come from. He is not always successful in doing that, but at the very least he should get every faithful reader to deeply ponder the foundations of QM. Instead of just writing down Schroedinger's equation and saying, "this is how our system evolves in time", he decides to take an action principle as his fundamental rule for time evolution and derive Schroedinger's equation from it. In short, he turns QM upside down - and gets away with it.

It is definitely worthwhile checking out this book, although many will not like the idea of doing things Schwinger's way - in a sense, the book's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. You have been warned.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars relatively easy to follow; unlike his research papers, October 26, 2006

By 

W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quantum Mechanics: Symbolism of Atomic Measurements (Hardcover)

Schwinger died in 1994, and this book is largely a summation of his lecture notes for courses he gave at UCLA in the 80s. To a physicist who already knows the subject, there are still chances of gleaning insight from Schwinger's approach.

Keep in mind that the notes were for lectures to undergrads and grads. They are not reprints of his journal papers. The latter are somewhat notorious to generations of physics grads. Yes, Schwinger's work on QED was seminal. No physicist disputes that. But his papers were sometimes so hard to follow. Feynman's approach was considered much clearer, especially with his refactorings into what we now call Feynman diagrams. These gave an intuition often lacking from reading the analysis in Schwinger's papers.

Anyhow, the level of dissertion in this book is a lot clearer than in those papers. Rather surprising, to me at least. Because my acquaintance with Schwinger was through the journal papers. I never knew that he could write so clearly as he did here.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Perfect Way to Do Quantum Mechanics, December 7, 2001

By 

Joe Tsou (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Quantum Mechanics: Symbolism of Atomic Measurements (Hardcover)

Schwinger has presented in the text the perfect way to do Quantum Mechanics. This book is actually transformed from lecture notes given by him for three quarters at UCLA in the mid-1980s. Just look at how he induses the general structure of quantum kinematics and establishes the dynamical principle - his quantum action principle, you would agree with me that it should be on the shelf of every physist, physics teacher and student.