Quantum Theory (Dover Books on Physics) by David Bohm (PDF)

Description

This superb text by David Bohm, formerly Princeton University and Emeritus Professor of Theoretical Physics at Birkbeck College, University of London, provides a formulation of the quantum theory in terms of qualitative and imaginative concepts that have evolved outside and beyond classical theory. Although it presents the main ideas of quantum theory essentially in nonmathematical terms, it follows these with a broad range of specific applications that are worked out in considerable mathematical detail. Addressed primarily to advanced undergraduate students, the text begins with a study of the physical formulation of the quantum theory, from its origin and early development through an analysis of wave vs. particle properties of matter. In Part II, Professor Bohm addresses the mathematical formulation of the quantum theory, examining wave functions, operators, Schrödinger’s equation, fluctuations, correlations, and eigenfunctions.Part III takes up applications to simple systems and further extensions of quantum theory formulation, including matrix formulation and spin and angular momentum. Parts IV and V explore the methods of approximate solution of Schrödinger’s equation and the theory of scattering. In Part VI, the process of measurement is examined along with the relationship between quantum and classical concepts.Throughout the text, Professor Bohm places strong emphasis on showing how the quantum theory can be developed in a natural way, starting from the previously existing classical theory and going step by step through the experimental facts and theoretical lines of reasoning which led to replacement of the classical theory by the quantum theory.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is probably the best book on the Copenhagen (the standard orthodoxy) approach to quantum mechanics. It was written by the most radical theoretical physicist in the last 70 years. Bohm wrote it when he was teaching at Princeton before Oppenheimer’s machination got him thrown out of the US to protect Oppenheimer’s own communist background (he was also envious of Bohm’s genius). In the 1940s, there were still extensive discussions about what QM means (all the theorists were comfortable with the various equivalent math approaches but were utterly confused.) The rivalry between Bohr/Heisenberg’s view (subsequently called the Copenhagen Interpretation) and the views of Schroedinger, Einstein & de Broglie was brutal; each camp accused the other of producing nonsensical interpretations. Ironically, Bohm (who was a sincere admirer of Einstein and Bohr) created this masterpiece that attempted to explicate the vague, ambiguous ramblings of Bohr by using the mathematics of de Broglie and Schroedinger. In fact, as several reviewers have pointed out, all the math you need is Fourier Analysis but this approach smuggles in all the ideas of electrons as waves. So pay a lot of attention at this point.The problem here is that (as Bohm admits in his preface) this new view requires a dramatic shift in our fundamental conceptual framework (not just of classical mechanics but ordinary language and the western model of reality as isolated things; both of which can be readily visualized and thus “understood”). Bohm believes he has presented wave mechanics in an understandable and imaginative manner. Unfortunately, this new way of looking at reality is exceedingly difficult so that QM today has regressed to its original mathematical formulation, which is now fully acceptable to math-soaked theoretical physicists.Bohm’s solution is to resurrect Heisenberg’s “potentia” approach where quantum objects, no longer have fixed properties that we think about at normal times but they change their character depending on how the electron interacts with other matter. This leads to Bohm’s conclusion that at the atomic level (or smaller) the world operates as a single, integrated whole. This is the jumping off point for Bohm’s later investigations into the ‘Implicate Order’ that took the rest of his life to explore.It was Bohm’s intent to present the main ideas of quantum theory in non-mathematical terms rather than as some mysterious, axiomatic set of mathematics “that works”. Although this is by far (in my personal opinion & I’ve been studying QM for 50+ years) the best attempt to provide an explanation he cannot overcome the contradiction (physicists call it a “paradox”) that a single object (like an electron) cannot simultaneously BE a localized particle and a wave that extends across all of space. In other words, EXISTENCE is the primary property of reality; objects must first exist (somewhere) before two or more may interact together. The wave-function combines implied mutual existence between TWO electrons (one being in a macro-sized measuring device) with the Broglie’s periodic interactivity.None-the-less, I still highly recommend this book. At the very least, your head will have gone to the ‘mental gym’ for 12 months getting through it & you will learn all the wrinkles. QM is tough – there are no easy short-cuts as many authors imply.THIS BOOK PUTS THE LIE TO ALL THOSE “SIMPLE” MATHEMATICAL APPROACHES TO QM – IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS BOOK, THEN YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND QM.

⭐David Bohm has some interesting theories about an Atom being made up of Resonating Energy waves. Just curious how he came up with that theory. I didn’t realize the book had so many pages. That’s a great thing because after browsing through it, it appears he covers a lot of areas within Physics. The Book is more than I bargained for.

⭐Very solid text on quantum theory from 1951. Assumes a solid background in classical mechanics, electromagnetism, and optics. As well as a decent facility in math – Fourier analysis, integral equations et al. Not a light read. But refreshingly thorough. Boom does not hide away the hard bits, a common tactic of lesser minds/writers, but tackles them head on.Even In the 50s he discusses the EPR paradox, implications of non-locality, correlations between measurements and hidden variable. Ten years before Bell developed the Bell inequalities.The most interesting thing about the book is how resolutely he sticks to the orthodoxy of the Copenhagen interpretation while clearly beginning to challenge it in many ways. Clearly thinking of the wave function as something physical. And looking to explain the measurement process in this way. I wonder what the Danish High Priests thought of him and how they reacted to his emerging heresies. The challenge to their silly dogmas. Soon to expand into full bloom.

⭐David Bohm was a near-great physicist of the twentieth century. Were it not for a flirtation with Communism in his youth, a dalliance that got him blacklisted in this country, he would have spent his career working with the likes of Wigner, Feynman, Oppenheimer and Einstein and might well have won his own Nobel Prize.Instead, he went to a post in Brazil where he was able to think deep thoughts about the nature of quantum mechanics. But this is not a philosophy book; it is a textbook aimed at advanced undergraduates, and it hits the bullseye perfectly.It cogently, carefully and extremely clearly explains both the formalism and mysteries of quantum mechanics. It is the only book on quantum theory that I know of that uses enough words to answer the myriad questions about the “why” of the subject as well as the “how.” The antithesis of most QM books that basically say to the student “Don’t ask. Shut up and calculate!”I used this book more than fifty years ago; today it remains useful to good students, at the least as a secondary text to whatever their professor requires. I am delighted but not surprised that Dover has kept it in print and that Amazon keeps it in stock for two day delivery.Pretty well printed, tho’ the type is a bit less than crisp. Decent cover

⭐This book has an excellent discussion of the experiments that led to the theoretical development of quantum ideas. The math is on par for an early to mid level undergraduate class class in physics. I appreciate having the mathematics developed in the text, so that there is also a rigorous development of the ideas. There are problems scattered through the text that are reasonable to do after having read the relevant sections. But the prose is excellent, the author really takes time to explain the intuition behind the math. Even if you skip over some or most of the math, one still learns much from the text alone.

⭐Definitely the best introductory QM book out there.Professor Bohm spends the first part of the book explaining the need for QM and the various subtleties of the subject material.He doesn’t just throw a bunch of equations at you and ask that you accept them as most other introductory QM texts do(Griffith’s QM book is extremely guilty of this) and it is this aspect of the book that really helps set it apart from the rest.This book also helped me to get through Sakurai’s more advanced QM textbook.Once you’re done with it,you can finally claim to understand QM.Highly recommended.

⭐Quantum Theory by David Bohm, Prentice-Hall, 1951; Dover, 1989; 672 ff.A basic quantum theory textbookHoward JonesThis is a comprehensive `introductory’ textbook of quantum mechanics. I put the word `introductory’ in quotes because this is not a textbook for the faint-hearted who feel intimidated by mathematics, or for the beginner who is new to the fundamental ideas of the subject. Indeed, to get to the heart of this book the reader needs to be a graduate in mathematics and physics. True, there are great swathes of text explaining in as simple terms as possible the basic concepts of quantum physics, presented in Bohm’s usual very readable style. As these are eloquently written by one of the pioneers of the subject, they are well worth reading, even if one ignores the mathematics.However, as early as page 7 we meet some integral calculus, Maxwell’s electromagnetic equations that describe the relationship between electric and magnetic fields, the nabla or del notation that represents a three-dimensional partial derivative operator, and then the notion of divergence describing the variations of a vector field at a given point. Page 10 brings us to Fourier analysis using triple integrals. I don’t know what book the other reviewers have read, but these concepts will be meaningless to anyone other than an able graduate in physics and mathematics. They would certainly be incomprehensible even to my A-level maths and physics students.So, if we exclude the maths, that leaves about one-third of the book as accessible descriptive text which is indeed very well worth reading and informative in its own right, but the significance of which is lost without the mathematics. What this book does, it does brilliantly – but for a very limited and rather specialized readership. For those wanting a historical approach to quantum mechanics there is an excellent book by Manjit Kumar. The basic ideas are explained well by Jim al-Khalili or by Brian Greene, and the practical applications by Alastair Rae. Then there’s the Very Short Introduction to Particle Physics by Frank Close. All these books give modern presentations of various aspects of subatomic particle physics and quantum theory that are more accessible for the general non-specialist reader.Dr Howard A. Jones is the author of The Thoughtful Guide to God (2006) and The Tao of Holism (2008), both published by O Books of Winchester, U.K.; and The World as Spirit published by Fairhill Publishing, Whitland, West Wales, 2011.

⭐Quantum: A Guide for the PerplexedQuantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of RealityThe Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality (Penguin Press Science)Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

⭐Maybe the best introduction there is for physicists, but it would not do for a mathematics course. The first part is useful in that it explains a lot of the philosophy behind quantum theory, and the second part is a pretty standard quasi-mathematical treatment of the bare bones of the classical theory, ie, with none of the particle interaction applications.Unfortunately, the thinking reader will still come away from it wondering what an observer really is, ie, can an observer be another particle or a bit of apparatus? Still, the book does more than most in explaining how phase changes cancel wave interactions and so destroy interference patterns. Most books wave their authors’ hands at this point.It would have been good to have seen more on the relationship between quantum probabilities and Bayesian probabilities in the observation process. Also, the usual treatment of the hydrogen atom with a drawing of the probability clouds of the first few orbitals makes the universal mistake of confusing the arbitrary direction in which the author pointed his z-axis with the physical direction in which one of these clouds has symmetries.Still the best of a bad bunch after all these years, though.

⭐This is a brilliant and possibly unique book. I am an non-physicist interested in the fundamental reality of quantum theory.As such I am unable to follow the arcane mathematics traditionally attached to it, such as the Schrödinger wave equation.This book helped me in two ways: firstly, there is lots of explanation using plain English and a variety of pedagogic analogies.Secondly, the mathematics used is based on basic calculus, such as Americans seem to learn at college. I was even able towork through and confirm some of his derivations, which gave me a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.Albert Einstein and Wolfgang Pauli spoke warmly of this book when it first appeared – which made it all the more ironic whenthe author diverged sharply from the prevailing orthodoxy.

⭐Tempi di consegna abissali ma oramai è divenuta una consuetudine pr il acquisti in GB da quando c’è stata la Brexit. Per il resto tutto ineccepibile.Um clássico de David Bohm que não é ideal para se usar como referência de um curso mas é fundamental para compreender outra escrita sobre fenômenos quânticos, além de ser referência para entender a discussão sobre a medida em Mecânica Quântica.

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