Quantum Confusions

A History of Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-24092-7
Verlag: Springer-Verlag GmbH

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: History of Physics

This book does not simply tell a story about the development of quantum mechanics, but clarifies our ideas about its meaning by discussing the many misunderstandings that one finds in the scientific literature. For instance, Erwin Schrödinger never thought that his cat was both dead and alive; that example was meant to be a reductio ad absurdum of the quantum orthodoxy. Most people believe that Bohr won his many debates with Einstein, but this book argues that Bohr never really understood Einstein’s objections. Louis de Broglie’s ideas about pilot waves were summarily dismissed at the 1927 Solvay Conference, which led him to abandon his own theory; he was, however, ahead of his time in some ways. One of history’s greatest mathematicians, John von Neumann, claimed to have a rigorous proof that quantum mechanics was “complete”, and many physicists took his result for granted, although he did not prove what he believed to have proven. In 1952, David Bohm rediscovered de Broglie's theory and extended it, but he was ignored due to reasons both ideological and political. John Bell actually proved that the world is nonlocal, but even now his work remains widely misunderstood. The target audience for this non-technical book includes undergraduate students (and above) in physics, mathematics, or history and philosophy of science, and even interested lay readers. 

Zielgruppe

Lower undergraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bricmont, Jean

Fachgebiete

• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction.- The Quantum Models before Quantum Mechanics.- The Quantum Revolution: 1923-1927.- Arguments for and Against Hidden Variables.- Bell’s Proof of Nonlocality.- Hidden Variables Theories.- Philosophy, Politics and Quantum Mechanics.- Conclusions.

Über Autor(innen)

Jean Bricmont is now retired. He spent his active career studying and working mostly in the University of Louvain (Belgium), but also in the US, at Rutgers and Princeton. Jean is the author of two books on (foundations of) quantum mechanics, both published by Springer: Making Sense of Quantum Mechanics (technical) and Quantum Sense and Nonsense (more popular). He also wrote Making Sense of Statistical Mechanics, published by Springer, and an earlier popular book, co-authored with Alan Sokal, Fashionable Nonsense.