• Source: The Principles of Quantum Mechanics

      • The Principles of Quantum Mechanics is an influential monograph on quantum mechanics written by Paul Dirac and first published by Oxford University Press in 1930.
      Dirac gives an account of quantum mechanics by "demonstrating how to construct a completely new theoretical framework from scratch"; "problems were tackled top-down, by working on the great principles, with the details left to look after themselves". It leaves classical physics behind after the first chapter, presenting the subject with a logical structure. Its 82 sections contain 785 equations with no diagrams.
      Dirac is credited with developing the subject "particularly in the University of Cambridge and University of Göttingen between 1925–1927", according to Graham Farmelo. It is considered one of the most influential texts on quantum mechanics, with theoretical physicist Laurie M. Brown stating that it "set the stage, the tone, and much of the language of the quantum-mechanical revolution".


      History


      The first and second editions of the book were published in 1930 and 1935.
      In 1947 the third edition of the book was published, in which the chapter on quantum electrodynamics was rewritten particularly with the inclusion of electron-positron creation.
      In the fourth edition, 1958, the same chapter was revised, adding new sections on interpretation and applications. Later a revised fourth edition appeared in 1967.
      Beginning with the third edition (1947), the mathematical descriptions of quantum states and operators were changed to use the Bra–ket notation, introduced in 1939 and largely developed by Dirac himself.
      Laurie Brown wrote an article describing the book's evolution through its different editions, and Helge Kragh surveyed reviews by physicists (including Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli, and others) from the time of Dirac's book's publication.


      Contents


      The principle of superposition
      Dynamical variables and observables
      Representations
      The quantum conditions
      The equations of motion
      Elementary applications
      Perturbation theory
      Collision problems
      Systems containing several similar particles
      Theory of radiation
      Relativistic theory of the electron
      Quantum electrodynamics


      See also



      The Evolution of Physics (Einstein and Infeld)
      The Feynman Lectures on Physics Vol. III (Feynman)
      The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory (Heisenberg)
      Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (von Neumann)


      References

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