Interpreting Quantum Mechanics

David Snoke leads a laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh studying fundamental optical effects. In 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society 'for his pioneering work on the experimental and theoretical understanding of dynamical optical processes.' He has published over 180 articles in science and philosophy journals, and five books, including Solid State Physics, (2nd edition published by Cambridge University Press, 2020), Universal Themes of Bose-Einstein Condensation (Cambridge University Press, 2017), and the well known 'green book,' Bose-Einstein Condensation (Cambridge University Press, 1996).

Preface; Part I. A Non-Mathematical Exposition of Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory: 1. It's all fields and waves; 2. How fields generate particles; 3. Jumpy detectors; 4. Nonlocality; 5. Alternative interpretations of quantum mechanics; 6. Decoherence and collapse; 7. Quantum mechanics and our view of reality; 8. Quantum mechanics and technology; Epilogue; Appendix A. Summary of quantum interpretations; Part II. Basic Results of Quantum Mechanics: 9. Schr¨odinger equation calculations; 10. Comparing classical and quantum systems; Part III. A short course in quantum field theory: 11. Preliminary mathematics; 12. Boson quantization; 13. Fermion quantization; 14. Transition rules; 15. Feynman diagrams; Part IV. Mathematical Considerations of Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: 16. Mathematical considerations of quantum interpretations; 17. Entanglement in a classical system; Part V. Decoherence, Spontaneous Coherence, and Spontaneous Collapse: 18. Irreversibility in unitary quantum field theory; 19. Decoherence in quantum field theory; 20. Spontaneous coherence: lasers, superfluids, and superconductors; Index.