Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory

Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory
by Richard Feynman

Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory
List Price: $19.00
Our Price: $15.29
You Save: $3.71 (20%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $12.21 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Richard Feynman
Editor: Laurie M. Brown
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-08-30
ISBN: 9812563806
Number of pages: 144
Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company

Book Reviews of Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory

Book Review: Pure Feynman - a real joy
Summary: 5 Stars

I did a course on quantum theory in the 1970s with John Ward who was recommended for the Nobel Prize in 1965 (Feynman, Schwinger and Tomogana shared it). Those close to the action will know of Ward's Identity. John (died in 2002 from memory) used Feynman's lectures as his course notes.

I must confess a soft spot for Feynman. I would have loved to have been in his lectures (buy his audio tapes and you will get the feel for his delivery). He was truly a great physics communicator and often understated his mathematical abilities (after all he had won the Putnam Prize at some stage so he was no mathematical slouch).

His development of QED is simple to understand and that says it all about his genius. He took the view that if he couldn't give a simple explanation then he really didn't understand the topic. The current crop of tool polishers should heed this.

Anyone who is really serious about physics (and maths) should read the original papers and this is a classic example. I suggest that you fill in the gaps in the derivations. If you can't do that then you haven't really understood it.

It is fascinating to compare Feynman's approach with Schwinger's more abstract approach. I prefer Feynman's but Schwinger does a hugely impressive job in stripping QED down to its logical (almost truth functional) essentials.

Buy this book and see how a first class mind works.

Peter Haggstrom
BONDI BEACH AUSTRALIA

Summary of Feynman's Thesis: A New Approach to Quantum Theory

Richard Feynman s never previously published doctoral thesis formed the heart of much of his brilliant and profound work in theoretical physics. Entitled The Principle of Least Action in Quantum Mechanics, its original motive was to quantize the classical action-at-a-distance electrodynamics. Because that theory adopted an overall space time viewpoint, the classical Hamiltonian approach used in the conventional formulations of quantum theory could not be used, so Feynman turned to the Lagrangian function and the principle of least action as his points of departure.

The result was the path integral approach, which satisfied -- and transcended -- its original motivation, and has enjoyed great success in renormalized quantum field theory, including the derivation of the ubiquitous Feynman diagrams for elementary particles. Path integrals have many other applications, including atomic, molecular, and nuclear scattering, statistical mechanics, quantum liquids and solids, Brownian motion, and noise theory. It also sheds new light on fundamental issues like the interpretation of quantum theory because of its new overall space time viewpoint.

The present volume includes Feynman s Princeton thesis, the related review article Space Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics [Reviews of Modern Physics 20 (1948), 367 387], Paul Dirac s seminal paper The Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics [Physikalische Zeitschrift der Sowjetunion, Band 3, Heft 1 (1933)], and an introduction by Laurie M Brown.

Contents: Least Action in Classical Mechanics: The Concept of Functional; The Principle of Least Action; Conservation of Energy. Constants of the Motion; Particles Interacting Through an Intermediate Oscillator; Least Action in Quantum Mechanics: The Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics; The Calculation of Matrix Elements in the Language of a Lagrangian; The Equations of Motion in Lagrangian Form; Translation to the Ordinary Notation of Quantum Mechanics; The Generalization to Any Action Function; Conservation of Energy. Constants of the Motion; The Role of the Wave Function; Transition Probabilities; Expectation Values for Observables; Application to the Forced Harmonic Oscillator; Particles Interacting Through an Intermediate Oscillator; Space Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics; The Lagrangian in Quantum Mechanics.

Quantum Theory Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Quantum Theory Books
Quantum Mechanics: A New Introduction ImageQuantum Mechanics: A New Introduction
by Kenichi Konishi, Giampiero Paffuti
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-05-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $104.24
Price in other shops: $132.00
Advances in the Casimir Effect (International Series of Monographs on Physics) ImageAdvances in the Casimir Effect (International Series of Monographs on Physics)
by Michael Bordag, Galina Leonidovna Klimchitskaya, Umar Mohideen, Vladimir Mikhaylovich Mostepanenko
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2009-08-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $111.00
Price in other shops: $165.00
Essential Quantum Mechanics ImageEssential Quantum Mechanics
by Gary Bowman
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2008-01-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $104.91
Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Field Theory (Clarendon Paperbacks) ImagePhilosophical Foundations of Quantum Field Theory (Clarendon Paperbacks)
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1990-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.60
Price in other shops: $60.00
The Quantum Dot: A Journey into the Future of Microelectronics ImageThe Quantum Dot: A Journey into the Future of Microelectronics
by Richard Turton
Oxford University Press; Published: 1996-09-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops: $44.99
At Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity ImageAt Home in the Universe: The Search for the Laws of Self-Organization and Complexity
by Stuart Kauffman
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1995-09-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops: $40.00
Chaos and Nonlinear Dynamics: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers ImageChaos and Nonlinear Dynamics: An Introduction for Scientists and Engineers
by Robert C. Hilborn
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1994-01-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.00
Price in other shops: $24.95
Speakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics (Collected Papers on Quantum Philosophy), 2nd Edition ImageSpeakable and Unspeakable in Quantum Mechanics (Collected Papers on Quantum Philosophy), 2nd Edition
by J. S. Bell
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2004-06-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $124.00
Price in other shops: $145.00
Molecular Quantum Mechanics ImageMolecular Quantum Mechanics
by Peter Atkins, Ronald Friedman
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2005-02-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $50.49
Price in other shops: $89.95
Molecular Quantum Mechanics ImageMolecular Quantum Mechanics
by P. W. Atkins, R. S. Friedman
Oxford University Press; Published: 1999-10-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $39.00
Price in other shops: $72.00
Similar Books and other products
A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations ImageA Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations
by Daniel Fleisch
Cambridge University Press; Published: 2008-01-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops: $30.99
Thermodynamics (Dover Books on Physics) ImageThermodynamics (Dover Books on Physics)
by Enrico Fermi, Physics
Dover Publications; Published: 1956-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.29
Price in other shops: $10.95
Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science (Great Discoveries) ImageQuantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science (Great Discoveries)
by Lawrence M. Krauss
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 2011-03-21; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.44
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Character of Physical Law (Messenger Lectures, 1964) ImageThe Character of Physical Law (Messenger Lectures, 1964)
by Richard Feynman
The MIT Press; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.85
Price in other shops: $17.95
The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist ImageThe Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist
by Richard P. Feynman
Basic Books; Published: 2005-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.00
Price in other shops: $13.95
Six Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher ImageSix Easy Pieces: Essentials of Physics By Its Most Brilliant Teacher
by Richard P. Feynman
Basic Books; Published: 2005-04-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Price in other shops: $13.95
Lectures on Quantum Mechanics ImageLectures on Quantum Mechanics
by Paul A. M. Dirac, Physics
Dover Publications; Published: 2001-03-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.86
Price in other shops: $7.95
Elementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures ImageElementary Particles and the Laws of Physics: The 1986 Dirac Memorial Lectures
by Richard P. Feynman, Steven Weinberg
Cambridge University Press; Published: 1999-07-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.79
Price in other shops: $18.00
QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Princeton Science Library) ImageQED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter (Princeton Science Library)
by Richard P. Feynman
Princeton University Press; Published: 2006-04-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.60
Price in other shops: $17.95
Quantum Mechanics and Path Integrals: Emended Edition (Dover Books on Physics) ImageQuantum Mechanics and Path Integrals: Emended Edition (Dover Books on Physics)
by Richard P. Feynman, Albert R. Hibbs
Dover Publications; Published: 2010-07-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $11.33
Price in other shops: $19.95
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories