Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
August 29, 2010 by admin
Filed under Mathematical Physics
Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
A revision of a successful junior/senior level text, this introduction to elementary quantum mechanics clearly explains the properties of the most important quantum systems. Emphasizes the applications of theory, and contains new material on particle physics, electron-positron annihilation in solids and the Mossbauer effect. Includes new appendices on such topics as crystallography, Fourier Integral Description of a Wave Group, and Time-Independent Perturbation Theory.
Rating: 
(out of 22 reviews)
Price: $ 65.70
Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos
Is the universe actually a giant quantum computer? According to Seth Lloyd—Professor of Quantum-Mechanical Engineering at MIT and originator of the first technologically feasible design for a working quantum computer—the answer is yes. This wonderfully accessible book illuminates the professional and personal paths that led him to this remarkable conclusion.
All interactions between particles in the universe, Lloyd explains, convey not only energy but also information—in other words
Rating: (out of 39 reviews)
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Review by Thomas Wikman for Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
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This book is an excellent introduction to Quantum Physics. This book gives the non-expert reader an insight into the tremendous explanatory power of quantum mechanics. It describes why and how Quantum Mechanics was developed, and it is primarily concerned with the understanding of concepts and ideas, rather than focusing on mathematical techniques. For this reason it might appear a little verbose to some readers.The first five chapters gives the reader a good insight into the history of Quantum Physics and to why classical mechanics was insufficient. Chapter 6 is an excellent overview of how to solve the Schroedinger Equation in a few specific cases, at the same time as the reader is given a very good “feeling” for how Quantum Mechanics works. The remainder of the chapters focuses on specific situations, applications and phenomena’s.There are plenty of books that use less mathematics, but I do not believe they give a good understanding of the topic. There are also plenty of books that uses a lot more complex mathematics, but they are not for beginners. I recommend this book as an introduction to Quantum Physics for undergraduate physics students, engineers, science professionals, and mathematically literate others.For reference, these are the chapters in the book:
(1) Thermal Radiation and Plank’s Postulate
(2) Photons–Particlelike Properties of Radiation
(3) De Broglie’s Postulate–Wavelike Properties of Particles
(4) Bohr’s Model of the Atom
(5) Schroedinger’s Theory of Quantum Mechanics
(6) Solutions of Time-Independent Schroedinger Equations
(7) One-Electron Atoms
(8) Magnetic Dipole Moments, Spin, and Transition Rates
(9) Multielectron Atoms–Ground States and X-Ray Excitations
(10) Multielectron Atoms–Optical Excitations
(11) Quantum Statistics
(12) Molecules
(13) Solids–Conductors and Semiconductors
(14) Solids–Superconductors and Magnetic Properties
(15) Nuclear Models
(16) Nuclear Decay and Nuclear Reactions
(17) Introduction to Elementary Particles
(18) More Elementary Particles I liked Appendix A, “The Special Theory of Relativity”. In only sixteen pages, the authors succeed to correctly explain the special theory of relativity. I also liked Appendix C, “The Boltzmann Distribution”, which was good concise description of classical statistical mechanics (you need to understand it, to understand why it was not good enough).
Review by Michael Wischmeyer for Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
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I am using Eisberg’s and Resnick’s text to review quantum physics. I am particularly impressed by the author’s development of plausibility arguements for the mathematics before developing the mathematics itself. I found the first couple of chapters a bit laborious, but the succeeding chapters are very well-written. I was particularly impressed by the chapter on Schroedinger’s Theory of Quantum Mechanics and the chapter on Solutions of Time-Independent Schroedinger Equations. I found the text particularly useful for self-instruction and review.
Review by Muzaffer Muctehitzade for Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
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This book is perfect for introduction to Quantum Physics, especially for those who want to go into the subject step by step with an understanding of Physical concepts behind it. Most books I have seen basically are dry Mathematical Formulas which requires a lot to reading into formulas to get the real physical meaning behind those formulas. This book is perfect it tells you why certain things can not be explained by Classical Physics (Instead of simply stating that) and what assumptions are being made and where the problem was and therefore the Quantum Physics is there. It has numerous examples for you to see real applications and scales of the things. Everytime I opened the book I was so happy that I finally came across such a good book. I have no problem with the amount of verbatim in the book as some of the commentators had. I believe it is that feature of the book that makes it clear Physics book. Every line has a significance in the fundamentals of the subject.
Review by for Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
Magnetic Dipole Moments, Spin, and Transition Rates9) Multielectron Atoms–Ground States and X-Ray Excitations 10) Multielectron Atims–Optical Excitations 11) Quantum Statistics 12) Molecules 13) Solids–Conductors and Semiconductors 14) Solids–Superconductors and Magnetic Properties 15) Nuclear Models 16) Nuclear Decay and Nuclear Reactions 17) Introduction to Elementary Particles 18) More Elementary Particles
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I disagree with the reviewer who said that this book has too much commentary. That reviewer also said that he liked Griffiths better. Well it sounds to me like that reviewer was put in the same position as I was by having to use this book for a introductory QM course rather than the type of course it is suited for–a first course in modern physics or what some people refer to as quantum *physics* rather than mechanics.I agree, Griffiths is much better for intro QM because that is what it was meant for. But who would use Griffiths for a modern physics course?Aside from the fact that Eisberg and Resnick should not be used for a intro QM course, it is an excellent text that, in my opinion, is the best place to learn modern physics prior to undertaking a full-fledged undergraduate QM course. It does not have a treatment of special relativity, as most modern texts have, but I would still reccomend professors use this text for a modern physics course even if they have to introduce relativity via handouts and notes–it’s just that good. The selection of problems is excellent and there are answers to selected problems in the back.This text is also an excellent place to study for the GRE physics subject test in that the material in this book is probably the single most important material to know for the test besides classical mechanics and classical electromagnetism. There are very few typos also. From the standpoint of a modern physics text, this is by far nothing close to being too verbose. It strikes a perfect balance between mathematical formalism and plain english explanations–which is a far cry from many modern texts that want to explain everything with words and leave the mathematics totally behind (take a look at Krane for instance!).I havn’t seen all the modern physics texts out there, but of those I’ve seen, this is by far the best. Serway is not bad if you want something that has an intro to SR in it (I really can’t say anything bad about Serway’s modern book), but I much prefer to use Eisberg & Resnick and get the SR in a separate course that is devoted to the subject.Contents1) Thermal Radiation and Plank’s Postulate 2) Photons–Particlelike Properties of Radiation 3) De Broglie’s Postulate–Wavelike Properties of Particles 4) Bohr’s Model of the Atom 5) Schroedinger’s Theory of QM 6) Solutions of Time-Independent SE 7) One-Electron Atoms
Review by James Elkins for Quantum Physics of Atoms, Molecules, Solids, Nuclei, and Particles
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This is one of the best introductory quantum mechanics textbooks. Since the mid-twentieth century, the tendency to avoid philosophical problems in favor of sheer calculation–a tendency supported by Dirac’s famous maxim “follow the mathematics”–has resulted in increasingly terse books laden with practical formulae. There may be no returning to the period in which calculation and meditation went hand in hand, but at least this book has enough prose to raise issues of realism and reality, calculability and motivation, discovery and error. I can’t imagine the attitude of students (and reviewers!) who prefer the equations alone.
Review by Ramesh Gopal for Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos
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Great ideas lead to short papers in peer-reviewed journals. Often, the more prestigious the journal (Science, Nature), the shorter is the paper because of space constraints. Not so good ideas, on the other hand, lead to rambling books. The author is well published and certainly knows this. The premise here is that the universe is a quantum computer. Okay. What is it computing? Seth Lloyd asserts that it is computing itself. From here on the argument becomes circular. The universe is what it is because it is doing what it is doing. Computation is defined in a general way as essentially any kind of atomic change in state. Therefore, interactions (between particles) become synonymous with computation. The problem here is that when you equate something that clearly exists (the universe) with something which in fact really does not (a quantum computer is hypothetical, you cannot go out and buy one) you define the latter in terms most favorable to yourself. So, since an atom flipping states is equivalent to flipping bits, the physical world performs computation. Since the physical world follows quantum laws, it must be a quantum computer. At some point the whole thing becomes an issue of semantics.
The section on quantum computing could have been interesting. That quantum computers would potentially be very powerful we know. That they can simultaneously work on multiple questions is also clear enough. That so far they have done no more than factor the number 15 we might infer from the absence of any publicity. Lloyd points out that they should be able to factor a 400 digit number with ease. While I understand that they would do this by working on multiple problems simultaneously, what I am curious to know is how we would extract the desired answer (i.e. the 200 digit numbers that ARE factors) from all the other answers (i.e. the far more numerous numbers that are NOT factors) from this quantum computer. I am sure there is an answer, but where it matters the author is strangely silent.
In buying this book I naively assumed that computation is a well-defined process that conforms to certain principles. If the universe computes, it must do certain things, but not others. This might be expected to impose new constraints on the behavior of the universe and allow us to make predictions about where it is going and learn where it has been. Unfortunately, computation, as used here, is nothing of the sort. Any interaction becomes a computation and the universe is under no new constraints. It is simply doing what we already know it is doing and the theory gives us nothing new. It is simply another way of looking at the same thing. The underlying thesis could have been stated in a few pages and hardly seems to merit an entire book.
Review by Roy E. Perry for Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos
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In Programming the Universe, Seth Lloyd, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT and the designer of the first feasible quantum computer, presents an arresting new paradigm of the cosmos: The universe itself is a giant quantum computer.
Lloyd’s hypothesis is that all physical systems register and process information. Life, language, human beings, society, culture–all owe their existence to the intrinsic ability of matter and energy to process information. When systems evolve dynamically in time, asserts Lloyd, they transform and process that information.
“The goal of this book,” the author writes, “is to reveal the fundamental role that information plays in the universe. . . . By understanding how the universe computes, we can understand why it is complex.”
A critic for Publishers Weekly writes, “[Lloyd's] hypothesis bears important implications for the red-hot evolution-versus-intelligent design debate.” It comes as no great surprise that Lloyd, a scientist, comes down on the side of evolution.
“The conventional picture of the universe in terms of physics,” writes Lloyd, “is based on the paradigm of the universe of a machine. Contemporary physics is based on the mechanistic paradigm, in which the world is analyzed in terms of its underlying mechanisms; in fact, the mechanistic paradigm is the basis for all of modern science. . . . The primary quantity of interest in the mechanistic paradigm is energy.”
In his famous equation, E=mc2, Albert Einstein asserted the fundamental equivalence of matter and energy. But the universe, Lloyd asserts, is more than matter/energy: “This book advocates a new paradigm, an extension of the powerful mechanistic paradigm. I suggest thinking about the world not simply as a machine, but as a machine that processes information. In this paradigm, there are two primary quantities, energy and information, standing on an equal footing and playing off each other.”
As a giant quantum computer, the universe possesses the same information processing power as a universal quantum computer, and this quantum-computational power of the universe provides a direct explanation for its intricacy, diversity, and complexity.
What then are the implications of Lloyd’s hypothesis for “the red-hot evolution-versus-intelligent design debate”? Lloyd argues that the complexity of the universe evolved from the “simple universe” of the Big Bang, which occurred some 14 billion years ago. How, then, does one explain the universe’s present complexity?
Asserting that complexity arose out of simplicity, Lloyd argues that the “intelligent design” (complexity) of the universe is not the work of an Intelligent Designer but is a result of the evolution of the universe itself. The giant quantum computer operates according to the natural principles of physics and then develops and processes its own information.
According to Lloyd, there is no “ghost in the machine,” no Intelligent Mind or Spirit that designed the universe. On the contrary, the evolution of the universe occurred according to the actions, interactions, and reactions of its various physical components (atoms, electrons, protons, neurons, photons, quarks, and other subatomic particles). These physical (and chemical and biological)developments were (and are) spurred on to new complex combinations by entropy, gravity, and quantum fluctuations in the fabric of space/time.
The universe is not “a random collocation of atoms”; although one must not ignore Heisenberg’s “uncertainty principle,” the atoms and subatomic particles largely “behave” according to the universe’s internally generated program. There is a duality in the universe, but it is not the duality of Mind vs. matter; it is the duality characteristic of the quantum nature of matter. For example, photons mysteriously behave both as particles and as waves.
“The medieval philosopher William of Occam,” writes Lloyd, “was interested in finding the simplest explanation for observed phenomena. Pluralitas non est ponenda sin necessitate, he declared: ‘Plurality should not be posited without necessity.’ Occam urged us to accept simple explanations for phenomena over complex ones.”
Employing Occam’s razor, Lloyd rejects the metaphysical (mystical, spiritualistic, and supernatural) claims of Creationists and advocates of so-called intelligent design. The modified mechanistic model of the universe that Lloyd champions is non-theistic, natural, secular, and humanistic.
In some places, Programming the Universe is difficult to understand. Computer gurus and physicists will be better equipped to follow Lloyd’s arguments. The main points of his hypothesis, however, are clear, and he often lightens the text with humorous quips and amusing anecdotes.
Roy E. Perry of Nolensville (rperry1778@aol.com) is an advertising copywriter at a Nashville publishing house. He is an amateur philosopher, Civil War buff, lover of classical music, avid chess player, and aficionado of fine literature.
Review by Chris Crawford for Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos
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I’ve always admired the notion (first promulgated by Voltaire?) that the true measure of intelligence is the ability to simultaneously comprehend two mutually contradictory ideas. So I tend to take a mellow approach to ideas that I disagree with. However, this book angered me, not because of its ideas, but because of its serious flaws.
The first serious flaw is that the author cannot keep his ego from seeping into the text. He regales us with triumphant tales of how he confounded his students with deep questions and then nobly revealed the true answers. Sheesh, man, why use the dialog approach using weaklings as your interlocutors? Pit yourself against somebody who can do more than behave as your straight man. Argue with yourself, if you have to! But presenting yourself as the all-knowing professor rubbed my fur the wrong way.
The problem of author vanity permeates the entire book. At no point does the author admit to uncertainty, or present two sides of a case, or even admit that anything he writes is controversial. One gets the strong impression that everything is crystal clear to this author. That impression raises my hackles.
The overwhelming self-assurance of the author explodes in his face when he gets it wrong. In the section “Exorcising Maxwell’s Demon” in Chapter 4, he writes:
“The full exorcism of the demon was not accomplished until recently. (I played some part in this ceremony myself.)”
Perhaps Mr. Lloyd is older than I imagine. The exorcism of Maxwell’s Demon was accomplished by Leon Brilloun, the physicist who patented the atomic bomb, in a paper published in 1951. Mr. Brilloun does not mention any contribution by Mr. Lloyd. It would appear that Mr. Lloyd is unaware of Mr. Brilloun’s paper. Worse, his explanation of the exorcism of Maxwell’s Demon is a turgid mess that makes no sense at all. Between claiming credit for another man’s achievement and botching the explanation of Maxwell’s Demon, I reached the limit of my tolerance. I literally threw the book away from me at that point.
Perhaps the material after Chapter 4 redeems the book; I do not know, because I did not read it.
The other serious flaw in the book is its smarmy vagueness. In attempting to avoid the intimidating reliance on mathematical and technical definitions, Mr. Lloyd resorts to poetic phrasings. These would be acceptable if they weren’t so damned cute — and if they made sense. For example, in attempting to make clear the difference between energy and information he writes, “Energy makes physical systems do things. Information tells them what to do.” At first glance, that seems a pithy observation. But go back and read it again; what is the author really saying? Does energy give molecules speed, and information give them direction? Does the energy in an A-bomb make the bang and information tells it what to destroy?
I was disconcerted by the author’s fuzziness regarding information. He never defined it — which is not necessarily a fatal flaw, given that a book for the educated public should not burden its readers with undue technical detail. But he used the term in such a myriad of ways that I started to think that he was using it to refer to any magically powerful force. Information, in this book, seems capable of performing wondrous feats.
Physics is finally coming to terms with the concept of information as a physical concept. The change began after World War II and has been edging forward for fifty years; in the last ten years, progress has accelerated. A clearer concept of information and its relationship to the physical universe is emerging. Mr. Lloyd misses one of the most important factors in this process: that information itself is inextricably bound with the concept of time, in something like the way that mass and energy are bound together, only more complex. It is not information that is the fundamental quantity; it is information flow, or bandwidth.
Review by Craig Matteson for Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos
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Basically, there are two kinds of books on science for the general reader. The first and awful kind is written to make the mysteries of science a kind of Gee Whiz experience. The problem is that the explanations are so poor and misleading that the reader is actually further from a proper understanding of what modern science is about than they were before they read the book. The second kind is written by someone who not only has a profound insight into the topic they are sharing with the reader, they also have a special ability for stating things clearly and for making them less mysterious. This very interesting book is of the second kind and I recommend it to anyone who wants to think more clearly about quantum mechanics. Not the fake and misleading kind of popular fiction and the entertainment media, but of the kind that will actually help you understand the fabric of our universe.
While I am no scientist, and I cannot pretend to be able to explain everything in this book to you, I do feel that I have read the best explanations of the two-slit single electron interference pattern demonstration and the concepts of entanglement and decoherence. Seth Lloyd does a fine job of keeping these things understandable for those of us who are interested but clearly lack the proper background to delve into this stuff as he does.
This book would be superb for intelligent young people who are demonstrating a talent for science and engineering. I suspect that this book will results in stimulating a number of brilliant young minds to fine scientific careers. Possibly a few of them will work their way to becoming students of Dr. Lloyd at MIT. I am sure that this will be one of the positive outcomes of this strangely cool book.
I must admit that as I read through the book there was more than one time where my head was swimming, but the author makes his case well and the last two chapters pull everything together in a strong way that invite the reader to further study of this topic. The basic idea of the book is that, and realize that I am likely getting this wrong, as the energy created during the inflationary period of the big bang cooled and precipitated into matter, there was free energy (the stuff we use for “work” and that does things) and entropy. Entropy is a knottier problem than the casual observer might think. Dr. Lloyd says that a portion of entropy is really information. It is the universe processing and describing itself. The author demonstrates this to us in a step-by-step way that provides the reader with at least a sense of understanding. Dr. Lloyd does say at one point that if you don’t experience dizziness when thinking about quantum mechanics you aren’t trying hard enough (or words to this effect).
Dr. Lloyd demonstrates much of this to us through the notion of quantum computing (designing the first feasible quantum computer is one of the author’s accomplishments) and how information is created and processed at the atomic level by manipulating quantum structures through the notion of manipulating qubits.
This is an extension of the mechanistic view of the Universe that has been so popular in physics and engineering for the past few centuries and it should help young people, who think so easily in the language of bits and processing, to build strong intuitions about the quantum reality. These intuitions will allow them to go further and faster than those of us who formed our ideas in the classical model of things. Simply because we find the probabilistic view of matter counterintuitive does limit us, whereas a young person who grows up learning about reality as a probability event will find grasping the realities of quantum mechanics almost natural. This is the real service this book can provide young people and those of us with more antiquated notions of things.
Strongly recommended.
Review by Sutton for Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes On the Cosmos
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The author says that the universe is a computer because it manipulates matter in an automatic, unthinking way – just like a computer.
But surely this is a circular argument? As the computer works by using the laws of physics, it is a truism to say that the laws of physics themselves constitute a computation. What does this statement actually tell us?
I was hoping that the book would put some flesh on the author’s idea, but after reading it I’m still waiting.
At any point in the history of humanity, we have used our most sophisticated knowledge for explanatory purposes. When the most sophisticated machine was a clock, we described the universe as a clockwork machine. Now that the cleverest thing we know is quantum theory, we get books like this.