The Ghost in the Atom: A Discussion of the Mysteries of Quantum Physics

by Edited by P. C. W. Davies , Julian R. Brown

• ISBN13: 9780521457286
• ISBN10: 0521457289
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1993-07-30
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Anybody who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it. Niels Bohr's dictum bears witness to the bewildering impact of quantum theory, flying in the face of classical physics and dramatically transforming scientists' outlook on our relationship with the material world. While the theory has been supremely successful in its explanation of some of the major problems in twentieth-century physics, its meaning (presenting a number of basic philosophical contradictions) is nevertheless the subject of unprecedented controversy amongst scientists. In this book, which has its origin in a series of radio broadcasts, Paul Davies interviews eight physicists involved in debating and testing the theory, with radically different views of its significance.

Table of Contents

Foreword	ix
The strange world of the quantum	1	(39)
What is quantum theory?	1	(1)
Origins	2	(3)
Waves or particles?	5	(6)
What does it all mean?	11	(2)
The Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) experiment	13	(2)
Bell's theorem	15	(2)
Aspect's experiment	17	(3)
The nature of reality	20	(6)
The paradox of measurement	26	(2)
Schrodinger's cat paradox, and worse	28	(12)
The pragmatic view	31	(1)
Mind over matter	31	(3)
The many-universes interpretation	34	(4)
The statistical interpretation	38	(1)
The quantum potential	38	(2)
Alain Aspect	40	(5)
John Bell	45	(13)
John Wheeler	58	(12)
Rudolf Peierls	70	(13)
David Deutsch	83	(23)
John Taylor	106	(12)
David Bohm	118	(17)
Basil Hiley	135	(14)
Glossary	149	(5)
Further reading	154	(1)
Index	155