Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Wonderful explanation of quantum weirdness

A discussion on the excellent Quora site led me to this series of articles explaining the mysteries of quantum mechanics at a level comprehensible by an armchair physicist or even myself.  No hand-waving, nothing above some basic arithmetic with complex numbers, perspicuous and concise.

While on the topic, I'll take the opportunity to plug Introducing Quantum Theory which tells the tale of how physics moved from classical to quantum theory.  There's no mathematics in the book, instead it tells the story of all the things that didn't quite make sense along the way and how Dirac, Schroedinger, Einstein, and the rest of the gang arrived at the new model.  Don't be put off by the cartoonesque presentation: it is a book for grown-ups.  I've bought it three times so far, having loaned it out twice and not had it returned...