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This comprehensive volume gives a balanced and systematic treatment of both the interpretation and the mathematical-conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. It is written in a pedagogical style and addresses many thorny problems of fundamental physics.
The first aspect concerns Interpretation. The author raises the central problems: formalism, measurement, non-locality, and causality. The main positions on these subjects are presented and critically analysed. The aim is to show that the main schools can converge on a core interpretation.
The second aspect concerns Foundations. Here it is shown that the whole theory can be grounded on information theory. The distinction between information and signal leads us to integrating quantum mechanics and relativity. Category theory is presented and its significance for quantum information shown; the logic and epistemological bases of the theory are assessed.
Of relevance to all physicists and philosophers with an interest in quantum theory and its foundations, this book is destined to become a classic work.
List of contents
Introduction.- Summary of the Basic Elements of the Theory.- The Main Problems.- The Main Interpretations.- Quantum Computation.- Ontological Ascription and Operations.- Information, Signals, Networks.- Quantum Mechanics, Fields, and Geometry.- Category Theory and Quantum Mechanics.
About the author
Gennaro Auletta is a researcher at the University of Cassino and Aggregate Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University. His fields of interest are Foundations and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Information, System Biology, Cognitive Biology, Philosophy of Nature, Logic. Auletta is author and editor of 17 books and more than 100 papers. His books include: Foundations and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics: A Critical-Historical Analysis of the Problems and a Synthesis of the Results, World Scientific, 2000, a very complete historical and critical assessment of the field; Quantum Mechanics, Cambridge, University Press, 2009 (with M. Fortunato and G. Parisi), an advanced textbook; and Quantum Mechanics for Thinkers (with Shang-Yung Wang), Singapore, Pan Stanford Publications, 2014, a textbook addressed to people who are beginners or lack formal mathematical knowledge (the necessary math is explained step by step starting form high-school notion).
Summary
This comprehensive volume gives a balanced and systematic treatment of both the interpretation and the mathematical-conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics. It is written in a pedagogical style and addresses many thorny problems of fundamental physics.
The first aspect concerns Interpretation. The author raises the central problems: formalism, measurement, non-locality, and causality. The main positions on these subjects are presented and critically analysed. The aim is to show that the main schools can converge on a core interpretation.
The second aspect concerns Foundations. Here it is shown that the whole theory can be grounded on information theory. The distinction between information and signal leads us to integrating quantum mechanics and relativity. Category theory is presented and its significance for quantum information shown; the logic and epistemological bases of the theory are assessed.
Of relevance to all physicists and philosophers with an interest in quantum theory and its foundations, this book is destined to become a classic work.
