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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9789814425414 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | World Scientific Publishing Company, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 05/06/2013 |
| Pages: | 520 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.30(d) |
Table of Contents
Preface vii
Part I The Nature of Physical Law 1
1 A Bird's Eye View of our Quest 3
1.1 Duality, plurality, and reality 3
1.1.1 Contextuality, non-locality and de-coherence 4
1.2 The 'standard model' of matter according to physics 6
1.2.1 Atoms, nuclei, quarks and quantum fields 8
1.3 Scales of energy and length 12
1.3.1 Hierarchical structure in logic, language and life 16
1.4 The direct approach and its modern critics 21
1.4.1 The 'reductionist' approach and its alternatives 22
1.5 Evolution, and human' questions 25
1.5.1 Evolution as a physical process 25
1.5.2 Existential and social questions 27
1.5.3 Exorcising the soul and inducting new notions 30
2 An Epistemic Hunt for Scientific Truth 33
2.1 The'fundamental1 questions 33
2.1.1 The morality debate - science as a vocation 36
2.1.2 Belief, probability and doubt 37
2.2 Scientific knowledge and model construction 39
2.2.1 Induction 40
2.2.2 Using data to model, verify or refute a theory 44
2.2.3 Verification, assimilation and falsification 44
2.2.4 Isaac Newton and the Copernican revolution 46
2.2.5 Neural-networks for modeling natural phenomena 52
2.2.6 Searle's Chinese room and child's play 55
2.3 Description, complexity and quantifiability 56
2.3.1 Simplicity as a desirable attribute of a theory 59
2.3.2 Definition of holistic systems and complexity 60
2.3.3 Normal modes of a holism 61
2.3.4 Reduction of a holism, and external interactions 61
2.3.5 Measuring complexity 62
2.3.6 Energy scales, length scales, and complexity 63
2.4 Paradigms and scientific revolutions 65
2.4.1 Scientific revolutions and their genesis 69
2.4.2 Cross sections of reality 72
2.4.3 Plato's cave, shadows and their explanations 74
2.4.4 Attempts to discuss scientific 'method' 78
2.4.5 The scientific revolution in high-energy physics 79
2.4.6 A mini-revolution in condensed-matter physics 81
2.4.7 Scientific method viewed as a simulation 83
2.5 The cognitive conundrum 85
2.6 Leaping over energy, length and time scales 87
3 The Laws of Nature and the Supremacy of Symmetry 93
3.1 A grand-stand view of the laws of nature 93
3.2 What do we mean by symmetry? 95
3.2.1 Crystal defects and information - clay crystals 97
3.3 Coordinate transformations and Galilean symmetries 99
3.4 Before Galileo and Newton 101
3.4.1 Modern critics of Galileo 104
3.5 Subatomic symmetry 107
3.6 The principle of least action and the simplicity of nature 108
3.7 How docs a particle know the best path? 109
3.8 The local texture of the world and the simplicity of nature 109
3.9 The worm's eye view - The Euler-Lagrange equations 111
3.9.1 The inverse square laws 111
3.10 The 'unreasonable effectiveness' of mathematics 112
4 Maxwell's Magical Trinity - Electricity, Magnetism and Light 115
4.1 Electricity and magnetism 115
4.2 The equation of continuity 116
4.3 The gauge principle 117
4.4 Maxwell's equations and the ether (aether) 118
4.4.1 The Aharanov-Bohm effect 120
4.5 The four-dimensional structure of Maxwell's equations 121
4.6 The Michelson-Morley experiment 123
4.7 Lorentz, Fitzgerald, Poincare and the dawn of relativity 125
5 The Theory of Relativity 127
5.1 The historical context 127
5.2 Special relativity - Einstein's two postulates 129
5.3 Marrying space and time to get spacetime 130
5.4 General relativity 135
5.4.1 Black-holes, white dwarfs and neutron stars 137
5.5 The metric of spacetime 141
5.6 Specifying the curvature of spacetime 142
5.7 Einstein's equations of general relativity 143
5.7.1 The Friedmann-Robertson-Walker equations 143
5.8 The cosmological constant 144
5.9 The Inflationary Universe 146
5.9.1 M-branes and cosmology 148
5.10 The 'paradoxes' of relativity 149
5.10.1 Paradoxes involving the size of fast-moving objects 150
5.10.2 The Andromeda-attack paradox 151
5.10.3 The clock paradox or the traveling-twin paradox 152
5.11 Our quotidian sense of space and time 154
5.11.1 Physics and our innate notion of time 155
6 The Quantum World and 'Reality' 159
6.1 Innate reality and deduced reality 159
6.2 Quantum reality as a 'prepared' reality 162
6.2.1 The probability weight function 165
6.2.2 A new ball game: amplitudes and probabilities 168
6.2.3 Leggett's views regarding quantum reality 171
6.2.4 Copenhagen school and hidden variables 172
6.2.5 Bohm's causal quantum dynamics 176
6.2.6 The intuitive ontology of the working physicist 177
6.3 Quantum particles and wave fields 179
6.3.1 Electrons as quantum particles 179
6.3.2 Light waves and quantum particles 180
6.3.3 Polaritons as detectable photons 184
6.3.4 The wave nature of particles 185
6.4 Schrödinger's equation for a trapped panicle 188
6.4.1 Harmonic wells, zero-point energy, and tunneling 193
6.5 Is the wavefunction a real physical object? 194
6.6 The uncertainty principle and particle trajectories 196
6.6.1 The Planck scales of length and rime 198
6.62 Heisenberg Operators and state vectors 199
6.7 Bohm's interpretation of the Schrodinger equation 200
6.7.1 Bohm's quantum potential 203
6.7.2 Bohm's picture of a particle trapped in a well 205
6.8 Feynman-path formulation of quantum mechanics 208
6.9 Quantum mechanics as a theory about information 209
6.10 Relativistic quantum mechanics 211
6.10.1 Klein-Gordon equation 212
6.10.2 Dirac equation 213
6.10.3 Vacuum fluctuations and the Lamb shift 214
6.10.4 Wavefunction of the universe 215
7 Entanglement, Measurement and Quantum Paradoxes 219
7.1 Introduction 219
7.2 Superposition and interference 222
7.2.1 Quoits, qbits or quantum binary states 224
7.2.2 Double quantum wells and hydrogen bonds 228
7.3 Entangled states 229
7.3.1 The chemical bond, an ubiquitous entangled pair 230
7.3.2 LCAO approaches to chemical bonding 233
7.3.3 Entangling atoms and field modes 237
7.3.4 Entangled photons 238
7.3.5 Pure states and mixed slates 240
7.3.6 Quantum computers 241
7.3.7 Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen objections to entanglement 242
7.4 The Bell inequalities and quantum correlations 245
7.4.1 Violation of CHSH bounds by entangled photons 247
7.5 The 'collapse of the wavefunction' and measurement 248
7.5.1 Measurement as a sampling process 254
7.5.2 Weak measurement and post selection 255
7.5.3 Decoherence of correlations in quantum systems 256
7.5.4 Decoherence by localization or quantum gravity 260
7.6 Quantum muddles 262
7.6.1 Sir Karl Popper and the 'Quantum Muddle' 262
7.6.2 Mindful universes and entangled brains 265
7.7 Quantum paradoxes 267
7.7.1 Einstein's clock-photon paradox 269
7.7.2 The EPR paradox 270
7.7.3 Schrödinger's cat paradox 273
7.7.4 How does one know if the cat is dead? 277
7.7.5 Wheeler's delayed-choice paradox 279
7.7.6 The quantum Zeno (Watchdog) paradox 282
8 Many Particle Systems and the Classical Limit 287
8.1 The 'real world' of many-particle systems 287
8.2 Many-electron systems 291
8.2.1 The jellium model 292
8.2.2 Non-interacting electrons 293
8.3 Density functional theory 298
8.3.1 The Kohn-Sham method for quantum systems 300
8.4 Classical maps for quantum systems 301
8.4.1 Quantum electron distributions from classical methods 302
8.5 The quantum to classical transition and 'decoherence' 303
8.5.1 GRW spontaneous localization theory 304
8.6 Emergence of indeterminism in complex systems 306
8.7 Conclusion 308
9 Energy, Entropy and Emergent Properties 311
9.1 Thermodynamics 311
9.1.1 The laws of thermodynamics 312
9.2 Statistical mechanics 315
9.2.1 Ergodicity and mixing 315
9.2.2 Ensembles as the bridge to macroscopic properties 317
9.2.3 Thermodynamic properties and particle-correlations 318
9.2.4 Entropy and statistical mechanics 321
9.2.5 Entropy and information 324
9.2.6 Non-equilibrium thermodynamics? 325
9.2.7 Quantum mechanics and irreversibility 327
9.3 Dynamic response of a many-panicle system 328
9.3.1 Emergent modes of many-particle systems 330
9.3.2 Phase transitions 332
9.4 Paradoxes proposed within statistical physics 335
9.4.1 Gibbs paradox 336
9.4.2 Determinism and the demon of Laplace 337
9.4.3 Loschmidt's reversibility paradox 339
9.4.4 Maxwell's demon 340
9.4.5 The paradox of spontaneous ordering in nature 341
Bibliography 343
Part II Complex Systems and Consciousness 353
10 Bio-Molecules, the Sub-Slime of Astrochemistry 355
10.1 Introduction 355
10.2 Chemical elements and molecules in the cosmos 357
10.3 Envisioning the early Earth 358
10.3.1 A hydrogen-rich atmosphere for the early Earth 360
10.4 The formation of prebiotic molecules 361
10.4.1 Prebiotics from extra-terrestrial sources 365
10.4.2 Prebiotics from electric discharges and photolysis 367
10.4.3 Hydrothermal vents and geological sources 373
10.5 Conclusion 377
11 The Cell as the Basic Unit of Life 379
11.1 The nature of cells 379
11.1.1 The main 'purpose' of the cell 381
11.1.2 Exchange between the cell and the environment 384
11.1.3 Generating energy from nutrients 386
11.1.4 Harvesting the sun - photosynthesis 388
11.1.5 Reproduction and replication - cell division 389
11.2 The awareness of the primitive living cell 392
11.2.1 Sensitivity of the cell to its environment 393
11.2.2 The cell as a computer 396
11.2.3 Simulations of 'life' 398
12 Specialized Cells for Sight, Insight, and Information 401
12.1 Adaptation and survival 401
12.2 Multicellular specialization 403
12.3 Cells adapted for vision 406
12.3.1 Visual perception 408
12.4 Neurons: Nature's telecom units 412
12.4.1 Communication among neurons 414
12.5 Molecular mechanisms of memory 417
12.5.1 Habituation and sensitization 419
12.5.2 Classical conditioning 420
12.5.3 Declarative memory 422
12.6 Neurons and information processing 424
12.6.1 Types of memory and types of consciousness 427
12.6.2 Bit capacity of the brain and the genome 428
13 Exotic, Quantum Explanations of Consciousness 431
13.1 Do we need exotic explanations? 431
13.1.1 Pan-consciousness or pan-psychism 434
13.1.2 Conventional quantum theory in living systems 436
13.1.3 The Penrose-Hameroff 'Orch-OR' model 437
13.2 Fröhlich's model of long-range coherence 441
13.3 Free will and attempts at 'quantum' explanations 444
13.4 Conclusion 445
14 Addressing the Enigmatic Questions 447
14.1 The awareness of 'self', and of 'others' 447
14.2 Why consciousness? 449
14.2.1 Constructing the subjective 'external world' 452
14.2.2 The binding problem 455
14.3 Causality and free will 458
14.3.1 Free will as a subdynamical concept 464
14.4 Self interest 465
14.5 Personality 467
14.6 Behaviour and guilt 468
14.7 Biology, egalitarianism and democracy 471
14.8 Happiness and suffering 476
Bibliography 481
Index 487