The Wigner Symposium series is focussed on fundamental problems and new developments in physics and their experimental, theoretical and mathematical aspects. Particular emphasis is given to those topics which have developed from the work of Eugene P Wigner. The 2nd Wigner symposium is centered around notions of symmetry and geometry, the foundations of quantum mechanics, quantum optics and particle physics. Other fields like dynamical systems, neural networks and physics of information are also represented.This volume brings together 19 plenary lectures which survey latest developments and more than 130 contributed research reports.
Symposium on the Foundations of Modern Physics 1993 is the fourth in a series of conferences held in Joensuu, Finland, in the years 1985, 1987 and 1990 and is devoted to offering discussions on foundational problems of quantum mechanics and other fundamental physical theories, taking into account new experimental developments. The surveying of the progress with respect to fundamental questions of the quantum theory of measurement forms the guiding line of thought of the present Symposium, the main themes discussed being: the interrelation of quantum measurement and irreversibility; the physics of information (concerned with questions of information processing and quantum noise); quantum interference and mesoscopic quantum effects (searching for the micro-macro borderline); and the quantum-classical relationship (the need for classical pointer and their realisation).
The essays in this volume were written by leading researchers on classical mechanics, statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and relativity. They detail central topics in the foundations of physics, including the role of symmetry principles in classical and quantum physics, Einstein's hole argument in general relativity, quantum mechanics and special relativity, quantum correlations, quantum logic, and quantum probability and information.
In this monograph, we shall present a new mathematical formulation of quantum theory, clarify a number of discrepancies within the prior formulation of quantum theory, give new applications to experiments in physics, and extend the realm of application of quantum theory well beyond physics. Here, we motivate this new formulation and sketch how it developed. Since the publication of Dirac's famous book on quantum mechanics [Dirac, 1930] and von Neumann's classic text on the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics two years later [von Neumann, 1932], there have appeared a number of lines of development, the intent of each being to enrich quantum theory by extra polating or even modifying the original basic structure. These lines of development have seemed to go in different directions, the major directions of which are identified here: First is the introduction of group theoretical methods [Weyl, 1928; Wigner, 1931] with the natural extension to coherent state theory [Klauder and Sudarshan, 1968; Peremolov, 1971]. The call for an axiomatic approach to physics [Hilbert, 1900; Sixth Problem] led to the development of quantum logic [Mackey, 1963; Jauch, 1968; Varadarajan, 1968, 1970; Piron, 1976; Beltrametti & Cassinelli, 1981], to the creation of the operational approach [Ludwig, 1983-85, 1985; Davies, 1976] with its application to quantum communication theory [Helstrom, 1976; Holevo, 1982), and to the development of the C* approach [Emch, 1972]. An approach through stochastic differential equations ("stochastic mechanics") was developed [Nelson, 1964, 1966, 1967].
The three-volume major reference “Photons in Fock Space and Beyond” undertakes a new mathematical and conceptual foundation of the theory of light emphasizing mesoscopic radiation systems. The quantum optical notions are generalized beyond Fock representations where the richness of an infinite dimensional quantum field system, with its mathematical difficulties and theoretical possibilities, is fully taken into account. It aims at a microscopic formulation of a mesoscopic model class which covers in principle all stages of the generation and propagation of light within a unified and well-defined conceptual frame.The dynamics of the interacting systems is founded — according to original works of the authors — on convergent perturbation series and describes the developments of the quantized microscopic as well as the classical collective degrees of freedom at the same time. The achieved theoretical unification fits especially to laser and microwave applications inheriting objective information over quantum noise.A special advancement is the incorporation of arbitrary multiply connected cavities where ideal conductor boundary conditions are imposed. From there arises a new category of classical and quantized field parts, apparently not treated in Quantum Electrodynamics before. In combination with gauge theory, the additional “cohomological fields” explain topological quantum effects in superconductivity. Further applications are to be expected for optoelectronic and optomechanical systems.
The following topics are discussed in this volume: recent developments in operator theory, coherent states and wavelet analysis, geometric and topological methods in theoretical physics and quantum field theory, and applications of these methods of mathematical physics to problems in atomic and molecular physics as well as the world of the elementary particles and their fundamental interactions. Two extensive sets of lecture notes on quantization techniques in general, and quantum gauge theories and strings as an avenue towards quantum geometry, are also included. The volume should be of interest to anyone working in a field using the mathematical methods associated with any of these topics.
The following topics are discussed in this volume: recent developments in operator theory, coherent states and wavelet analysis, geometric and topological methods in theoretical physics and quantum field theory, and applications of these methods of mathematical physics to problems in atomic and molecular physics as well as the world of the elementary particles and their fundamental interactions. Two extensive sets of lecture notes on quantization techniques in general, and quantum gauge theories and strings as an avenue towards quantum geometry, are also included. The volume should be of interest to anyone working in a field using the mathematical methods associated with any of these topics.
Due to the probabilistic interpretation of quantum mechanics, quantum state evolution has both dynamic and stochastic features. Various systems show both features simultaneously and permanently. This workshop was intended to discuss the common trends, in measurement theory, statistical physics, quantum optics and cosmology.This proceedings volume contains most of the invited talks and may offer an insight into the current variety of related ideas.
