The Infamous Boundary: Seven Decades of Heresy in Quantum Physics Book

In October of 1927, the world's atomic experts gathered at a Hotel in Brussels for a conference. Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein, Max Born, and Erwin Schrdinger were among the senior physicists present, along with younger scientists such as Louis de Broglie and Werner Heisenberg. The topic was the wave-particle paradox described in an atomic theory conceived only a year before. DeBroglie spoke first, outlining a seemingly elegant scheme, based on a wave picture of Schrdinger's, meant to banish the paradox. Einstein approved of this direction, though many of the younger scientists objected. Then Heisenberg and Born then gave a joint talk and argued a radically different interpretation, declaring ...quantum mechanics is a complete theory; its basic physical and mathematical hypotheses are not further susceptible to modification. It was the seminal moment of this scientific revolution, and yet the paradox remained. In the afternoon Niels Bohr proposed a scientific philosophy meant to unite these two contradictory pictures of a single phenomena. Einstein objected and debate ensued. It lasted into the evening and continued at breakfast the next morning. It broke out at other conferences, and raged in the scientific journals; and thus seven decades of controversy was born. Do you really believe the moon is only there when you look at it? Albert Einstein asked of proponents of quantum theory, whose troubling and even shocking predictions, form this Infamous Boundary conflict between classical and quantum mechanics. David Wick has traced the major line of the argument over the years in a most engaging style with clear descriptions of the concepts and ideas. This book, which will be accessible to those with little or no background in mathematics or physics, will be of interest to all who are intrigued by the philosophical implications of science and its historical development. David Faris has added a technical appendix on quantum probability.Read More