Quantum Measurement of a Single System
Published on 15. June 2001
Book
Hardback
XII, 136 pages
978-0-471-28308-9 (ISBN)
Description
This title offers a groundbreaking look at the nature of quantum mechanics. With new technologies permitting the observation and manipulation of single quantum systems, the quantum theory of measurement is fast becoming a subject of experimental investigation in laboratories worldwide. This original new work addresses open fundamental questions in quantum mechanics in light of these experimental developments. Using a novel analytical approach developed by the authors, "Quantum Measurement of a Single System" provides answers to three long-standing questions that have been debated by such thinkers as Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg, and Schrodinger. It establishes the quantum theoretical limits to information obtained in the measurement of a single system on the quantum wavefunction of the system, the time evolution of the quantum observables associated with the system, and the classical potentials or forces which shape this time evolution. The technological relevance of the theory is also demonstrated through examples from atomic physics, quantum optics, and mesoscopic physics.
Suitable for professionals, students, or readers with a general interest in quantum mechanics, the book features recent formulations as well as humorous illustrations of the basic concepts of quantum measurement. Researchers in physics and engineering will find "Quantum Measurement of a Single System" a timely guide to one of the most stimulating fields of science today.
Suitable for professionals, students, or readers with a general interest in quantum mechanics, the book features recent formulations as well as humorous illustrations of the basic concepts of quantum measurement. Researchers in physics and engineering will find "Quantum Measurement of a Single System" a timely guide to one of the most stimulating fields of science today.
Reviews / Votes
"Alter...and Yamamoto establish the quantum theoretical limits to the information that can be obtained from measuring a single system." (SciTech Book News, Vol. 25, No. 4, December 2001) "...well worth reading..." (American Journal of Physics, Vol. 71, No. 6, June 2003)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
John Wiley and Sons Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
Illustrations (some col.)
Dimensions
Height: 23.5 cm
Width: 16 cm
Weight
411 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-471-28308-9 (9780471283089)
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
ORLY ALTER, PhD, is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Genetics at Stanford University. YOSHIHISA YAMAMOTO, PhD, is a professor in the Departments of Applied Physics and Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. He is currently the director of the ICORP Quantum Entanglement Project of the Japanese Science and Technology (JST) Corporation. While they collaborated on the research presented in this book, Yamamoto was the director of the ERATO Quantum Fluctuation Project of JST, and Alter was a doctoral student at the Department of Applied Physics at Stanford. She was selected as a finalist for the American Physical Society Award for Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Atomic, Molecular or Optical Physics for 1998 for this work.
Content
Preface; List of Illustrations; Open Fundamental Questions of Limits to Information in the Quantum Measurement of a Single System; Impossibility of Determining the Unknown Quantum Wavefunction of a Single System; Quantum Nondemolition (QND) Measurements of a Single System; Measurements without Entanglement of a Single Quantum System; Adiabatic Measurements of a Single Quantum System; Quantum Zeno Effect of a Single System; Fundamental Quantum Limit to External Force Detection via Monitoring a Single Harmonic Oscillator (or Free Mass); Established Limits to Information in the Quantum Measurement of a Single System; Bibliography; Index.