Mathematics For Quantum Mechanics

With the aid of entertaining short stories, anecdotes, lucid explanations and straight-forward figures, this book challenges the perception that the world of physics is inaccessible to the non-expert. Beginning with Neanderthal man, it traces the evolution of human reason and understanding from paradoxes and optical illusions to gravitational waves, black holes and dark energy. On the way, it provides insights into the mind-boggling advances at the frontiers of physics and cosmology.

Quantization of physical systems requires a correct definition of quantum-mechanical observables, such as the Hamiltonian, momentum, etc., as self-adjoint operators in appropriate Hilbert spaces and their spectral analysis. Though a “naïve” treatment exists for dealing with such problems, it is based on finite-dimensional algebra or even infinite-dimensional algebra with bounded operators, resulting in paradoxes and inaccuracies.

The principal intent of this monograph is to present in a systematic and self-con­ tained fashion the basic tenets, ideas and results of a framework for the consistent unification of relativity and quantum theory based on a quantum concept of spacetime, and incorporating the basic principles of the theory of stochastic spaces in combination with those of Born's reciprocity theory.

These notes are based on a series of twelve lectures given at the University of Bonn in the Wintersemester 1966-67 to a mixed group of mathematicians and theoretical physicists. I am grateful to Professors H~rzebruch, Bleuler and Klingenberg for giving me the opportunity of speak~at their seminar.

The problem of irreversibility is ubiquitous in physics and chemistry. The present book attempts to present a unified theoretical and conceptual framework for the description of various irreversible phenomena in quantum mechanics. In a sense, this book supplements conventional textbooks on quantum mechanics by including the theory of irreversibilities.