Quantum Physics: an overview of a weird world: A primer on the conceptual foundations of quantum physics - Paperback

by Marco Masi (Author)

Are you looking for a comprehensive A-Z guide to the conceptual foundations of quantum physics, focusing on topics that usually aren't explained at an introductory level? Are you searching for an overview that fills the gap between a too-popularized version of quantum physics and overly advanced university textbooks? This overview will save you a ton of time that you'd otherwise spend searching for by piecing together a variety of information. A review of the standard concepts, including Young's double-slit experiment, the wave-particle duality, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, quantum entanglement and the superposition principle, vacuum zero-point energy, quantum tunneling, Schrödinger's cat, the EPR paradox, Bell's theorem, and the modern which-way or quantum erasing experiments, all explained in a concise but rigorous style. Some considerations on why and how quantum physics suggests a worldview based on philosophical idealism conclude this first volume.
In an era when the conflict between 'quantum woo' vs. material physicalism is raging, both sides should first gain clarity of concepts to avoid confusion and jumping to unwarranted conclusions. This is a 'vademecum' for those seeking a serious introduction and deeper understanding and which dispels the most common misconceptions, allowing you to learn the basics of quantum physics.
This treatise goes, at times, into technical details that demand some effort and therefore requires some basics of high school math (calculus, algebra, trigonometry, elementary statistics). It is more accessible than usual academic courses, but more serious than usual popularizations. The final payoff will be invaluable: Your knowledge of, and grasp on, the subject of the conceptual foundations of quantum physics will be deep, wide, and outstanding.
While schools, colleges, and universities teach quantum physics using a dry and almost exclusively formal approach which furnishes only a superficial insight into its conceptual foundations, this book is recommended for school, undergraduate, and graduate students who would like to look further. Additionally, physicists can (re-)discover some topics while philosophers, engineers, IT students, or historians of science can acquire a basic preparation that is unlikely to be offered in most departments.
[This is the first book in a two-volume series. The present volume introduces the basics of the conceptual foundations of quantum physics. It appeared first as a series of video lectures on the online learning platform Udemy.]