Quantum-Classical Analogies

Quantum-Classical Analogies
Author: Daniela Dragoman
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 355
Release: 2013-04-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3662096471

It is unanimously accepted that the quantum and the classical descriptions of the physical reality are very different, although any quantum process is "mysteriously" transformed through measurement into an observable classical event. Beyond the conceptual differences, quantum and classical physics have a lot in common. And, more important, there are classical and quantum phenomena that are similar although they occur in completely different contexts. For example, the Schrödinger equation has the same mathematical form as the Helmholtz equation, there is an uncertainty relation in optics very similar to that in quantum mechanics, and so on; the list of examples is very long. Quantum-classical analogies have been used in recent years to study many quantum laws or phenomena at the macroscopic scale, to design and simulate mesoscopic devices at the macroscopic scale, to implement quantum computer algorithms with classical means, etc. On the other hand, the new forms of light – localized light, frozen light – seem to have more in common with solid state physics than with classical optics. So these analogies are a valuable tool in the quest to understand quantum phenomena and in the search for new (quantum or classical) applications, especially in the area of quantum devices and computing.

Classical Analogies in the Solution of Quantum Many-Body Problems

Classical Analogies in the Solution of Quantum Many-Body Problems
Author: Aydın Cem Keser
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 110
Release: 2018-11-07
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 3030004880

This book addresses problems in three main developments in modern condensed matter physics– namely topological superconductivity, many-body localization and strongly interacting condensates/superfluids–by employing fruitful analogies from classical mechanics. This strategy has led to tangible results, firstly in superconducting nanowires: the density of states, a smoking gun for the long sought Majorana zero mode is calculated effortlessly by mapping the problem to a textbook-level classical point particle problem. Secondly, in localization theory even the simplest toy models that exhibit many-body localization are mathematically cumbersome and results rely on simulations that are limited by computational power. In this book an alternative viewpoint is developed by describing many-body localization in terms of quantum rotors that have incommensurate rotation frequencies, an exactly solvable system. Finally, the fluctuations in a strongly interacting Bose condensate and superfluid, a notoriously difficult system to analyze from first principles, are shown to mimic stochastic fluctuations of space-time due to quantum fields. This analogy not only allows for the computation of physical properties of the fluctuations in an elegant way, it sheds light on the nature of space-time. The book will be a valuable contribution for its unifying style that illuminates conceptually challenging developments in condensed matter physics and its use of elegant mathematical models in addition to producing new and concrete results.

From c-Numbers to q-Numbers

From c-Numbers to q-Numbers
Author: Olivier Darrigol
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 412
Release: 2023-11-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0520328280

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1992.

Quantum Analogues: From Phase Transitions to Black Holes and Cosmology

Quantum Analogues: From Phase Transitions to Black Holes and Cosmology
Author: William Unruh
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2007-04-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3540708596

Recently, analogies between laboratory physics (e.g. quantum optics and condensed matter) and gravitational/cosmological phenomena such as black holes have attracted an increasing interest. This book contains a series of selected lectures devoted to this new and rapidly developing field. Various analogies connecting (apparently) different areas in physics are presented in order to bridge the gap between them and to provide an alternative point of view.

Quantum-Classical Correspondence

Quantum-Classical Correspondence
Author: A. O. Bolivar
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2013-04-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3662096498

At what level of physical existence does "quantum behavior" begin? How does it develop from classical mechanics? This book addresses these questions and thereby sheds light on fundamental conceptual problems of quantum mechanics. It elucidates the problem of quantum-classical correspondence by developing a procedure for quantizing stochastic systems (e.g. Brownian systems) described by Fokker-Planck equations. The logical consistency of the scheme is then verified by taking the classical limit of the equations of motion and corresponding physical quantities. Perhaps equally important, conceptual problems concerning the relationship between classical and quantum physics are identified and discussed. Graduate students and physical scientists will find this an accessible entrée to an intriguing and thorny issue at the core of modern physics.

Information Physics

Information Physics
Author: Miroslav Svitek
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 156
Release: 2021-06-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0323910122

Information Physics: Physics-Information and Quantum Analogies for Complex Modeling presents a new theory of complex systems that uses analogy across various aspects of physics, including electronics, magnetic circuits and quantum mechanics. The book explains the quantum approach to system theory that can be understood as an extension of classical system models. The main idea is that in many complex systems there are incomplete pieces of overlapping information that must be strung together to find the most consistent model. This incomplete information can be understood as a set of non-exclusive observer results. Because they are non-exclusive, each observer registers different pictures of reality. - Provides readers with an understanding of the analogies between very sophisticated theories of electrical circuits and currently underdeveloped information circuits, including capturing positive and negative links, as well as serial and parallel ordering of information blocks - Integrates coverage of quantum models of complex systems using wave probabilistic functions which extend the classical probability description by phase parameters that allow researchers to model such properties as entanglement, superposition and others - Provides readers with illustrative examples of how to use the presented theories of complex systems in specific cases such as hierarchical systems, cooperation of a team of experts, the lifecycle of the company, and the link between short and long-term memory

Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics

Mathematics of Classical and Quantum Physics
Author: Frederick W. Byron
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Total Pages: 674
Release: 2012-04-26
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0486135063

Graduate-level text offers unified treatment of mathematics applicable to many branches of physics. Theory of vector spaces, analytic function theory, theory of integral equations, group theory, and more. Many problems. Bibliography.

Analogies in Optics and Micro Electronics

Analogies in Optics and Micro Electronics
Author: W. van Haeringen
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 257
Release: 2012-12-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9400920091

This book gives an account of a number of recent developments in two different subfields of research, optics and micro--electronics. The leading principle in presenting them together in one book is the striking similarity between a variety of notions in these two research areas. We mention in this respect tunneling, quantum interference and localization, which are important concepts in quantummechanics and more specifically in condensed matter physics. Miniaturization in solid state engineering has led to new phenomena in which these concepts play their significant roles. As it is the wave character of electrons which is strongly emphasized in these phenomena one's attention is quite naturally directed to the field of optics in which the above quantum-mechanical notions all seem to have their direct classical wavemechanical counterparts. Both micro--electronics and optics have been and still are in a mode of intensifying activity. The possibilities to technically "translate" devices developed within one research field to similar devices in the other field are strongly increasing. This opens, among other things, a door leading to "quantummechanics" on a macroscopic scale with visible light under relatively easily accessible experimental conditions, or to "wave optics II in the domain of solid state physics. Thinking in terms of analogies is important anyhow, but it is especially the cross-fertilization between optics and micro--electronics which according to the editors will lead to deepened insights and a new type of technology.

Alice in Quantumland

Alice in Quantumland
Author: Robert Gilmore
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 202
Release: 1995-07-21
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780387914954

In this cleverly conceived book, physicist Robert Gilmore makes accessible some complex concepts in quantum mechanics by sending Alice to Quantumland-a whole new Wonderland, smaller than an atom, where each attraction demonstrates a different aspect of quantum theory. Alice unusual encounters, enhanced by illustrations by Gilmore himself, make the Uncertainty Principle, wave functions, the Pauli Principle, and other elusive concepts easier to grasp.