Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Classical Magnetic Needles
- 3 The Stern–Gerlach Experiment
- 4 The Conundrum of Projections; Repeated Measurements
- 5 Probability
- 6 The Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen Paradox
- 7 Variations on a Theme by Einstein
- 8 Optical Interference
- 9 Quantal Interference
- 10 Amplitudes
- 11 Working with Amplitudes
- 12 Two-Slit Inventions
- 13 Quantum Cryptography
- 14 Quantum Mechanics of a Bouncing Ball
- 15 The Wavefunction
- Appendix A A Brief History of Quantum Mechanics
- Appendix B Putting Weirdness to Work
- Appendix C Sources
- Appendix D General Questions
- Appendix E Bibliography
- Appendix F Skeleton Answers for Selected Problems
- Index
- References
Appendix B - Putting Weirdness to Work
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- Contents
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Classical Magnetic Needles
- 3 The Stern–Gerlach Experiment
- 4 The Conundrum of Projections; Repeated Measurements
- 5 Probability
- 6 The Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen Paradox
- 7 Variations on a Theme by Einstein
- 8 Optical Interference
- 9 Quantal Interference
- 10 Amplitudes
- 11 Working with Amplitudes
- 12 Two-Slit Inventions
- 13 Quantum Cryptography
- 14 Quantum Mechanics of a Bouncing Ball
- 15 The Wavefunction
- Appendix A A Brief History of Quantum Mechanics
- Appendix B Putting Weirdness to Work
- Appendix C Sources
- Appendix D General Questions
- Appendix E Bibliography
- Appendix F Skeleton Answers for Selected Problems
- Index
- References
Summary
According to Charles de Gaulle, Napoleon's military genius lay in his ability “to grasp the situation, to adapt himself to it, and to exploit it to his own advantage”. Most of this book has treated the first two of these steps: learning what quantum mechanics is and how to work with it, whether we like it or not. This appendix moves on to the third step of exploitation.
The applications of quantum mechanics are myriad. Quantum mechanics underlies all chemical and biochemical reactions, the design of drugs and of alloys, and the generation of medical X-rays. It is essential to the laser, to the transistor, and to a sensitive detector of magnetic field called the SQUID (Superconducting QUantum Interference Device). But for the purposes of this book, it is useful to focus on only three of these applications: quantum cryptography, tunneling applications, and quantum computers. The first of these was treated in chapter 13; this appendix describes the second and third. These descriptions are segregated into an appendix because I don't know how to treat them thoroughly at the mathematical level of this book. Consequently, the treatments here are more descriptive and less analytic than the treatments in the chapters.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Strange World of Quantum Mechanics , pp. 133 - 137Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2000