Modern electronics brings key experiments from the history of quantum mechanics within reach of the keen hobbyist, the science teacher, and the project group in a high school physics lab. This book details practical projects which demonstrate the wave-particle duality of light, energy quanta, particle spin, quantum tunneling and the quantum eraser. From these principles, the theory is developed, retracing the history of the various discoveries and insights, leading up to the present moment, where we stand at the dawn of the quantum computing era.
Author(s): SW Manley Trevelyan
Series: B07B4XTRGY
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC Kindle
Year: 2018
Language: english
Pages: 284
Tags: NMR Physics Chemistry DIY projects
Foreword......Page 6
List of Hobby Projects......Page 8
1. The Paradox......Page 9
2. Light as Waves......Page 11
2.1 – The Double Slit......Page 18
3. Light as Particles......Page 23
3.1 – The Photoelectric Effect......Page 24
3.2 – Critique of the Photon......Page 35
3.3 – Single Photons......Page 39
3.4 – Counterfactuals......Page 44
4. Interpretation......Page 47
5. Physics in the 19th Century......Page 54
5.1 – The Hydrogen Spectrum......Page 55
5.2 – Electricity and Magnetism......Page 58
5.3 – Electromagnetic Waves......Page 69
6. The Nuclear Atom......Page 78
6.1 – The Bohr Atomic Model......Page 80
6.2 – The Franck-Hertz Experiment......Page 83
6.3 – The Old Quantum Theory......Page 88
7. Spin......Page 90
7.1 – The Stern-Gerlach Experiment......Page 93
7.2 – Atomic Clocks......Page 97
7.3 – Nuclear Magnetic Resonance......Page 100
8. A Hobby NMR Project......Page 107
Polarizing the Spins......Page 108
Synchronizing the Spins: the B1 Field......Page 111
The Amplifier......Page 114
Noise......Page 117
Setting up the Equipment......Page 120
Signals at Last!......Page 121
Magnetic Field Homogeneity......Page 125
The Small-Sample, Twin-Coil Design......Page 128
8.1 – Recommendations......Page 131
9. Waves and Particles......Page 134
9.1 – Wave Mechanics......Page 139
9.2 – Tunneling......Page 150
10. Matrix Mechanics......Page 155
11. Entanglement and other Weirdness......Page 164
11.1 – Delayed Choice......Page 172
11.2 – Quantum Eraser......Page 175
12. Relativity......Page 180
12.1 – Clocks and Measuring Rods......Page 186
12.2 – Real or Relativistic?......Page 190
12.3 – Space, Time and Simultaneity......Page 195
12.4 – Presentism, Eternalism & Freewill......Page 202
12.5 – General Relativity......Page 208
12.6 – Relativity versus the Quantum......Page 214
13. Quantum Field Theory......Page 219
14. Quantum Informatics......Page 234
15. Making Sense of Quantum Mechanics......Page 245
15.1 – Superposition of States......Page 250
15.2 – Role of the Observer......Page 252
15.3 – Decoherence......Page 254
15.4 – Wave Packets......Page 256
15.5 – The Quantum Field Perspective......Page 258
16. Summation......Page 267
Footnotes:......Page 271
