One of the pillars of modern science, statistical mechanics, owes much to one man, the Austrian physicist Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906). As a result of his unusual working and writing styles, his enormous contribution remains little read and poorly understood. The purpose of this book is to make the Boltzmann corpus more accessible to physicists, philosophers, and historians, and so give it new life. The means are introductory biographical and historical materials, detailed and lucid summaries of every relevant publication, and a final chapter of critical synthesis. Special attention is given to Boltzmann's theoretical tool-box and to his patient construction of lofty formal systems even before their full conceptual import could be known. This constructive tendency largely accounts for his lengthy style, for the abundance of new constructions, for the relative vagueness of their object—and for the puzzlement of commentators. This book will help the reader cross the stylistic barrier and see how ingeniously Boltzmann combined atoms, mechanics, and probability to invent new bridges between the micro- and macro-worlds.

In 1900 many eminent scientists did not believe atoms existed, yet within just a few years the atomic century launched into history with an astonishing string of breakthroughs in physics that began with Albert Einstein and continues to this day. Before this explosive growth into the modern age took place, an all-but-forgotten genius strove for forty years to win acceptance for the atomic theory of matter and an altogether new way of doing physics. Ludwig Boltz-mann battled with philosophers, the scientific establishment, and his own potent demons. His victory led the way to the greatest scientific achievements of the twentieth century. Now acclaimed science writer David Lindley portrays the dramatic story of Boltzmann and his embrace of the atom, while providing a window on the civilized world that gave birth to our scientific era. Boltzmann emerges as an endearingly quixotic character, passionately inspired by Beethoven, who muddled through the practical matters of life in a European gilded age. Boltzmann's story reaches from fin de siècle Vienna, across Germany and Britain, to America. As the Habsburg Empire was crumbling, Germany's intellectual might was growing; Edinburgh in Scotland was one of the most intellectually fertile places on earth; and, in America, brilliant independent minds were beginning to draw on the best ideas of the bureaucratized old world. Boltzmann's nemesis in the field of theoretical physics at home in Austria was Ernst Mach, noted today in the term Mach I, the speed of sound. Mach believed physics should address only that which could be directly observed. How could we know that frisky atoms jiggling about corresponded to heat if we couldn't see them? Why should we bother with theories that only told us what would probably happen, rather than making an absolute prediction? Mach and Boltzmann both believed in the power of science, but their approaches to physics could not have been more opposed. Boltzmann sought to explain the real world, and cast aside any philosophical criteria. Mach, along with many nineteenth-century scientists, wanted to construct an empirical edifice of absolute truths that obeyed strict philosophical rules. Boltzmann did not get on well with authority in any form, and he did his best work at arm's length from it. When at the end of his career he engaged with the philosophical authorities in the Viennese academy, the results were personally disastrous and tragic. Yet Boltzmann's enduring legacy lives on in the new physics and technology of our wired world. Lindley's elegant telling of this tale combines the detailed breadth of the best history, the beauty of theoretical physics, and the psychological insight belonging to the finest of novels.

This is the first volume of textbooks on atomic, molecular and optical physics, aiming at a comprehensive presentation of this highly productive branch of modern physics as an indispensable basis for many areas in physics and chemistry as well as in state of the art bio- and material-sciences. It primarily addresses advanced students (including PhD students), but in a number of selected subject areas the reader is lead up to the frontiers of present research. Thus even the active scientist is addressed. This volume 1 provides the canonical knowledge in atomic physics together with basics of modern spectroscopy. Starting from the fundamentals of quantum physics, the reader is familiarized in well structured chapters step by step with the most important phenomena, models and measuring techniques. The emphasis is always on the experiment and its interpretation, while the necessary theory is introduced from this perspective in a compact and occasionally somewhat heuristic manner, easy to follow even for beginners.

Quantum Theory, together with the principles of special and general relativity, constitute a scientific revolution that has profoundly influenced the way in which we think about the universe and the fundamental forces that govern it. The Historical Development of Quantum Theory is a definitive historical study of that scientific work and the human struggles that accompanied it from the beginning. Drawing upon such materials as the resources of the Archives for the History of Quantum Physics, the Niels Bohr Archives, and the archives and scientific correspondence of the principal quantum physicists, as well as Jagdish Mehra's personal discussions over many years with most of the architects of quantum theory, the authors have written a rigorous scientific history of quantum theory in a deeply human context. This multivolume work presents a rich account of an intellectual triumph: a unique analysis of the creative scientific process. The Historical Development of Quantum Theory is science, history, and biography, all wrapped in the story of a great human enterprise. Its lessons will be an aid to those working in the sciences and humanities alike.

This classic of modern physics includes a vast array of approximation methods, mathematical tricks, and physical pictures that are also useful in the application of quantum mechanics to other fields. Students and professionals will find it an essential reference for calculations pertaining to hydrogen-like and helium-like atoms and their comparison with experimental results. In-depth explorations of the Dirac theory of the electron and of radiative effects include brief accounts of relevant experiments. The specific application of general field-theoretic results to atomic systems also receives a thorough examination. Author Hans A. Bethe (1906–2005), Professor of Physics at Cornell University, won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1967. Co-author Edwin E. Salpeter is James Gilbert White Distinguished Professor of the Physical Sciences at Cornell University.

In this book van Fraassen develops an alternative to scientific realism by constructing and evaluating three mutually reinforcing theories.

This volume deals with those topics of mathematical physics, associated with the study of the Schrödinger equation, which are considered to be the most important. Chapter 1 presents the basic concepts of quantum mechanics. Chapter 2 provides an introduction to the spectral theory of the one-dimensional Schrödinger equation. Chapter 3 opens with a discussion of the spectral theory of the multi-dimensional Schrödinger equation, which is a far more complex case and requires careful consideration of aspects which are trivial in the one-dimensional case. Chapter 4 presents the scattering theory for the multi-dimensional non-relativistic Schrödinger equation, and the final chapter is devoted to quantization and Feynman path integrals. These five main chapters are followed by three supplements, which present material drawn on in the various chapters. The first two supplements deal with general questions concerning the spectral theory of operators in Hilbert space, and necessary information relating to Sobolev spaces and elliptic equations. Supplement 3, which essentially stands alone, introduces the concept of the supermanifold which leads to a more natural treatment of quantization. Although written primarily for mathematicians who wish to gain a better awareness of the physical aspects of quantum mechanics and related topics, it will also be useful for mathematical physicists who wish to become better acquainted with the mathematical formalism of quantum mechanics. Much of the material included here has been based on lectures given by the authors at Moscow State University, and this volume can also be recommended as a supplementary graduate level introduction to the spectral theory of differential operators with both discrete and continuous spectra. This English edition is a revised, expanded version of the original Soviet publication.