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This book explains the alternative perspective of continuous spontaneous localization to address the shortcomings of quantum theory. It offers a solution to bridge the gap between probabilities and actual events.
List of contents
- 1.: Introduction
- 2.: Continuous Spontaneous Localization (CSL) Theory
- 3.: CSL Theory Refinements
- 4.: Non-Relativistic CSL
- 5.: Spontaneous Localization (SL) Theory
- 6.: Some Experiments Testing CSL
- 7.: Interpretational Remarks
- 8.: Supplement to Chapter 1
- 9.: Supplement to Chapter 2
- 10.: Supplement to Chapter 3
- 11.: Supplement to Chapter 4
- 12.: Supplement to Chapter 5
- 13.: Supplement to Chapter 6
- 14.: Supplement to Chapter 7
- 15.: A Stochastic Differential Equation Cookbook
- 16.: CSL Expressed as a Schrodinger Stochastic DE
- 17.: Applying the CSL Stratonovich Equation to the Free Particle Undergoing Collapse in Position
- 18.: Applying the CSL Stratonovich Equation to the Harmonic Oscillator Undergoing Collapse in Position
- Appendix A: Gaussians
- Appendix B: Random Walk
- Appendix C: Brownian Motion/Wiener Process
- Appendix D: White Noise
- Appendix E: White Noise Field
- Appendix F: Density Matrix
- Appendix G: Theoretical Constraint Calculations
About the author
Professor Philip Pearle was born and grew up in New York City. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1953, and then attended MIT. He studied Electrical Engineering and obtained his BS in 1957 and MS in 1958 in a cooperative program with Bell Labs. He then entered the MIT PhD program in Physics in 1959, and graduated in 1963. He taught at Harvard between 1963 and 1966, at Case Institute of Technology from 1966 to 1969 and at Hamilton College from 1969 until 2002.
As an undergraduate, he became interested in the foundations of Quantum Theory when taking his junior quantum physics course using David Bohm's textbook. He delved into particle physics at first but then followed a compulsion to delve into Foundations later. He was encouraged to do so at Harvard by Wendell Furry, at Case by Leslie Foldy, and in his first years at Hamilton College by Fred Belinfante and Roger Penrose.
Summary
This book explains the alternative perspective of continuous spontaneous localization to address the shortcomings of quantum theory. It offers a solution to bridge the gap between probabilities and actual events.
Additional text
Pearle is the master of this material and writes with beautiful clarity and well-judged occasional witticisms and side-remarks. His experience as teacher, as well as researcher, shows in the vivid explanations, and the careful and consistent level of detail in the exposition.
