The Physical Basis of The Direction of Time
The Physical Basis of The Direction of Time

Author: H. Dieter Zeh

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-04-17

Total Pages: 194

ISBN-13: 3662027593

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The asymmetry of natural phenomena under time reversal is striking. Here Zehinvestigates the most important classes of physical phenomena that characterize the arrow of time, discussing their interrelations as well as striving to uncover a cosmological common root of the phenomena, such as the time-independent wave function of the universe. The description of irreversible phenomena is shown to be fundamentally "observer-related". Both physicists and philosophers of science who reviewed the first edition considered this book a magnificent survey, a concise, technically sophisticated, up-to-date discussion of the subject, showing fine sensivity to some of the crucial philosophicalsubtleties. This new and expanded edition will be welcomed by both students and specialists.

Time-Reversal Symmetry
Time-Reversal Symmetry

Author: Ion I. Geru

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-12-31

Total Pages: 372

ISBN-13: 3030012107

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This book introduces new developments in the field of Time-Reversal Symmetry presenting, for the first time, the Wigner time-reversal operator in the form of a product of two- or three time-reversal operators of lower symmetry. The action of these operators leads to the sign change of only one or two angular momentum components, not of all of them. It demonstrates that there are six modes of time-reversal symmetry breaking that do not lead to the complete disappearance of the symmetry but to its lowering. The full restoration of the time-reversal symmetry in the six cases mentioned is possible by introducing six types of metaparticles. The book also confirms the presence of six additional time-reversal operators using a group-theoretical method. The problem is only where to seek these metaparticles. The book discusses time-reversal symmetry in classical mechanics, classical and relativistic electrodynamics, quantum mechanics and theory of quantized fields, including dynamical reversibility and statistical irreversibility of the time, Wigner’s and Herring’s criteria, Kramers theorem, selection rules due to time-reversal symmetry, Onsager’s relations, Poincaré recurrence theorem, and CPT theorem. It particularly focuses attention on time-reversal symmetry violation. It is proposed a new method of testing the time-reversal symmetry, which is confirmed experimentally by EPR spectroscopy data. It shows that the traditional black-white point groups of magnetic symmetry are not applicable to magnetic systems with Kramers degeneration of energy levels and that magnetic groups of four-color symmetry are adequate for them. Further, it addresses the predicted structural distortions in Kramers three-homonuclear magnetic clusters due to time-reversal symmetry that have been identified experimentally. Lastly, it proposes a method of synthesis of two-nuclear coordination compounds with predictable magnetic properties, based on the application of the time-reversal transformation that was confirmed experimentally.

Modern Quantum Mechanics
Modern Quantum Mechanics

Author: J. J. Sakurai

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2020-09-17

Total Pages: 571

ISBN-13: 1108473229

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A comprehensive and engaging textbook, providing a graduate-level, non-historical, modern introduction of quantum mechanical concepts.

Quantum Worlds
Quantum Worlds

Author: Olimpia Lombardi

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2019-04-11

Total Pages: 411

ISBN-13: 1108473474

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Offers a comprehensive and up-to-date volume on the conceptual and philosophical problems related to the interpretation of quantum mechanics.

The k p Method
The k p Method

Author: Lok C. Lew Yan Voon

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2009-06-06

Total Pages: 452

ISBN-13: 3540928723

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I ?rst heard of k·p in a course on semiconductor physics taught by my thesis adviser William Paul at Harvard in the fall of 1956. He presented the k·p Hamiltonian as a semiempirical theoretical tool which had become rather useful for the interpre- tion of the cyclotron resonance experiments, as reported by Dresselhaus, Kip and Kittel. This perturbation technique had already been succinctly discussed by Sho- ley in a now almost forgotten 1950 Physical Review publication. In 1958 Harvey Brooks, who had returned to Harvard as Dean of the Division of Engineering and Applied Physics in which I was enrolled, gave a lecture on the capabilities of the k·p technique to predict and ?t non-parabolicities of band extrema in semiconductors. He had just visited the General Electric Labs in Schenectady and had discussed with Evan Kane the latter’s recent work on the non-parabolicity of band extrema in semiconductors, in particular InSb. I was very impressed by Dean Brooks’s talk as an application of quantum mechanics to current real world problems. During my thesis work I had performed a number of optical measurements which were asking for theoretical interpretation, among them the dependence of effective masses of semiconductors on temperature and carrier concentration. Although my theoretical ability was rather limited, with the help of Paul and Brooks I was able to realize the capabilities of the k·p method for interpreting my data in a simple way.

Space, Time and the Limits of Human Understanding
Space, Time and the Limits of Human Understanding

Author: Shyam Wuppuluri

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-12-01

Total Pages: 524

ISBN-13: 3319444182

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In this compendium of essays, some of the world’s leading thinkers discuss their conceptions of space and time, as viewed through the lens of their own discipline. With an epilogue on the limits of human understanding, this volume hosts contributions from six or more diverse fields. It presumes only rudimentary background knowledge on the part of the reader. Time and again, through the prism of intellect, humans have tried to diffract reality into various distinct, yet seamless, atomic, yet holistic, independent, yet interrelated disciplines and have attempted to study it contextually. Philosophers debate the paradoxes, or engage in meditations, dialogues and reflections on the content and nature of space and time. Physicists, too, have been trying to mold space and time to fit their notions concerning micro- and macro-worlds. Mathematicians focus on the abstract aspects of space, time and measurement. While cognitive scientists ponder over the perceptual and experiential facets of our consciousness of space and time, computer scientists theoretically and practically try to optimize the space-time complexities in storing and retrieving data/information. The list is never-ending. Linguists, logicians, artists, evolutionary biologists, geographers etc., all are trying to weave a web of understanding around the same duo. However, our endeavour into a world of such endless imagination is restrained by intellectual dilemmas such as: Can humans comprehend everything? Are there any limits? Can finite thought fathom infinity? We have sought far and wide among the best minds to furnish articles that provide an overview of the above topics. We hope that, through this journey, a symphony of patterns and tapestry of intuitions will emerge, providing the reader with insights into the questions: What is Space? What is Time? Chapter [15] of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Parity-time Symmetry and Its Applications
Parity-time Symmetry and Its Applications

Author: Demetrios Christodoulides

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-11-28

Total Pages: 585

ISBN-13: 9811312478

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This book offers a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art theoretical and experimental advances in linear and nonlinear parity-time-symmetric systems in various physical disciplines, and surveys the emerging applications of parity-time (PT) symmetry. PT symmetry originates from quantum mechanics, where if the Schrodinger operator satisfies the PT symmetry, then its spectrum can be all real. This concept was later introduced into optics, Bose-Einstein condensates, metamaterials, electric circuits, acoustics, mechanical systems and many other fields, where a judicious balancing of gain and loss constitutes a PT-symmetric system. Even though these systems are dissipative, they exhibit many signature properties of conservative systems, which make them mathematically and physically intriguing. Important PT-symmetry applications have also emerged. This book describes the latest advances of PT symmetry in a wide range of physical areas, with contributions from the leading experts. It is intended for researchers and graduate students to enter this research frontier, or use it as a reference book.

Time and Chance
Time and Chance

Author: David Z Albert

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2003-02-28

Total Pages: 188

ISBN-13: 0674020138

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This book is an attempt to get to the bottom of an acute and perennial tension between our best scientific pictures of the fundamental physical structure of the world and our everyday empirical experience of it. The trouble is about the direction of time. The situation (very briefly) is that it is a consequence of almost every one of those fundamental scientific pictures--and that it is at the same time radically at odds with our common sense--that whatever can happen can just as naturally happen backwards. Albert provides an unprecedentedly clear, lively, and systematic new account--in the context of a Newtonian-Mechanical picture of the world--of the ultimate origins of the statistical regularities we see around us, of the temporal irreversibility of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, of the asymmetries in our epistemic access to the past and the future, and of our conviction that by acting now we can affect the future but not the past. Then, in the final section of the book, he generalizes the Newtonian picture to the quantum-mechanical case and (most interestingly) suggests a very deep potential connection between the problem of the direction of time and the quantum-mechanical measurement problem. The book aims to be both an original contribution to the present scientific and philosophical understanding of these matters at the most advanced level, and something in the nature of an elementary textbook on the subject accessible to interested high-school students.

Group Theory
Group Theory

Author: Mildred S. Dresselhaus

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-12-18

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 3540328998

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This concise, class-tested book was refined over the authors’ 30 years as instructors at MIT and the University Federal of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil. The approach centers on the conviction that teaching group theory along with applications helps students to learn, understand and use it for their own needs. Thus, the theoretical background is confined to introductory chapters. Subsequent chapters develop new theory alongside applications so that students can retain new concepts, build on concepts already learned, and see interrelations between topics. Essential problem sets between chapters aid retention of new material and consolidate material learned in previous chapters.

Field Quantization
Field Quantization

Author: Walter Greiner

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-06-29

Total Pages: 447

ISBN-13: 364261485X

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Theoretical physics has become a many-faceted science. For the young stu dent it is difficult enough to cope with the overwhelming amount of new scientific material that has to be learned, let alone obtain an overview of the entire field, which ranges from mechanics through electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, field theory, nuclear and heavy-ion science, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and solid-state theory to elementary-particle physics. And this knowledge should be acquired in just 8-10 semesters, during which, in addition, a Diploma or Master's thesis has to be worked on or examinations prepared for. All this can be achieved only if the university teachers help to introduce the student to the new disciplines as early on as possible, in order to create interest and excitement that in turn set free essential new energy. At the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt we therefore con front the student with theoretical physics immediately, in the first semester. Theoretical Mechanics I and II, Electrodynamics, and Quantum Mechanics I - An Introduction are the basic courses during the first two years. These lectures are supplemented with many mathematical explanations and much support material. After the fourth semester of studies, graduate work begins, and Quantum Mechanics II - Symmetries, Statistical Mechanics and Ther modynamics, Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Electrodynamics, the Gauge Theory of Weak Interactions, and Quantum Chromo dynamics are obligatory.