Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... The Undivided Universe: An Ontological Interpretation of Quantum Theory (original 1993; edition 1995)by David Bohm (Author), Basil J. Hiley (Author)The last couple of chapters are rubbish. But this book is hugely valuable (without commenting one way or another on the correctness of Bohm's theory) for disabusing the reader of the notion that QM as it is universally taught is the only plausible interpretation of the experimental results (I discount less-than-helpful stories such as Everett's and De Witt's speculations). This book presents a coherent picture of systems in which there is no bizarre collapse of the wavefunction, or superposition of states, or the troublesome division of the universe into "the system being measured" and "the system doing the measuring" -- hence the title -- and yet that reproduces the observed experimental results. A one-word (albeit a hyphenated one) description of this book: eye-opening. Richard Feynman once said “If you think you understand quantum mechanics, then you don't understand quantum mechanics”, and though such pessimism in science is not generally a good thing, he was right when he said it. Since then, however, this book has been published, and a consistent and understandable ontological interpretation of quantum mechanics put forth. The important things this book makes clear are several, and I won't list them all. Firstly it explains the wave particle duality in a way that uses both but does not require a changing from one to the other, with the particle always being present, and the wave behaviour explained by an extension on de Broglies pilot wave theory. This reconciles quantum theory with the classical viewpoint, eliminating such difficulties as collapse of the waveform while still fitting experimental data. The second important thing that is cleared up is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, which I personally have only ever seen as an ad hoc arrangement to bridge over the experimental difficulties in observing reality. Here it is explained that the particle is always present, and always at a definite position, and the uncertainty is only introduced with the procedure of observation, which is a special case of reality and brings in uncertainty due to the influence of the particle, shot in,(and its waveform), to detect the particle under observation. Also, from what I can gather, it suggests that the Schroedingers Cat paradox would be solved by the cat being either dead or alive, and not indeterminate, with the choice being made as soon as the particle hit the detector, but I cannot remember if the book states this explicitly, or if it is just a consequence of accepting the interpretation given. Non-Locality and the EPR paradox, which seems to go against the theory of relativity, are also dealt with here. It is explained by the wave part (quantum potential) of the two particles being entangled with the detectors and each other, and this carries the faster than light influence, and as gravity does this too in relativity theory, and not the particles creating the gravity, it is allowed; the particles are guided by the wave function here, and do not them selves breach the rule. This book is definitely not one for those unaccustomed to quantum theory, it has a lot of equations in it and is very technical, it is the most difficult book on quantum theory I have come across, (but I am not a physicist). It doesn't fit into the popular science category due to its technicality, and would only be of interest to someone with a sound understanding of standard quantum theory. I dislike the phrase “must read”, but for the student of physics it would go as far as saying this was highly recommended, there is so much of standard quantum theory that does not make proper sense, and this book resolves it, so it would be putting yourself at a disadvantage not to read it. |
Current DiscussionsNonePopular covers
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)530.12Natural sciences and mathematics Physics Physics Theoretical Physics Quantum MechanicsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
A one-word (albeit a hyphenated one) description of this book: eye-opening. ( )