Read more
The measurement problem has been a central puzzle of quantum theory since its inception, and understanding how the classical world emerges from our fundamentally quantum universe is key to its resolution. While the 'Copenhagen' and 'Many Worlds' interpretations have dominated discussion of this philosophically charged question, Zurek builds on the physics of decoherence and introduces the theory of 'Quantum Darwinism' to provide a novel account of the emergence of classical reality. Opening with a modern view of quantum theory, the book reconsiders the customary textbook account of quantum foundations, showing how the controversial axioms (including Born's rule) follow from the consistent core postulates. Part II discusses decoherence and explores its role in the quantum-to-classical transition. Part III introduces Quantum Darwinism, explaining how an information-theoretic perspective complements, elucidates, and reconciles the 'Copenhagen' and 'Many Worlds' interpretations. This insightful book is essential reading for any student or researcher interested in quantum physics.
List of contents
Preface; Part I. Foundations: 1. Introduction; 2. Discrete events from repeatability: 'Quantum Jumps' and the wave packet collapse; 3. Born's rule from the symmetries of entanglement; Part II. Decoherence: 4. Environment-induced decoherence; 5. Decoherence, Einselection, and its consequences; 6. Quantum and classical in phase space: decoherence and the second law; Part III. Quantum Darwinism: 7. Quantum Darwinism: environment as a witness; 8. Quantum Darwinism in action; 9. Quantum Darwinism and the existential interpretation.
About the author
Wojciech Hubert Zurek is credited with developing the theory of decoherence. He is also known for Quantum Darwinism, the no-cloning theorem (a cornerstone of quantum information), and quantum discord. Applications of the Kibble–Zurek mechanism that describes the creation of topological defects in phase transitions range from cosmology to condensed matter physics. Member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the American Physical Society, Zurek is a recipient of the Smoluchowski and Los Alamos Medals and a Humboldt Prize. He is a Laboratory Fellow at Los Alamos, Doctor Honoris Causa of the University of Science and Technology in Cracow (AGH), the Jagiellonian University, and was Einstein Professor at the Ulm University.
