The Origins of Modern Physics

Abstract

In this chapter we review the main results of early modern physics (which we suppose the reader learned in previous introductory courses), namely the special relativity of Einstein and the old quantum mechanics due to Planck, Bohr, Schrödinger, and others. The chapter gives also a brief description of the relevant axioms of quantum mechanics, historically introduced by Dirac and Von Neumann, and elementary notions of quantum information. The chapter ends with elements of quantum statistical mechanics.

Further Reading

For special relativity:

W. Rindler, Introduction to Special Relativity (Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1991)

For quantum mechanics:

C. Cohen-Tannoudji, B. Dui, F. Laloe, Quantum Mechanics (Wiley, New York, 1991) P.A.M. Dirac, The Principles of Quantum Mechanics (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1982)

For quantum information:

M. Le Bellac, A Short Introduction to Quantum Information and Quantum Computation (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006)

For quantum statistical mechanics:

K. Huang, Statistical Mechanics (Wiley, New York, 1987)