The quantum vacuum : a scientific and philosophical concept, from electrodynamics to string theory and the geometry of the microscopic world / Luciano Boi.

Author
Boi, L. (Luciano), 1957- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011.
Description
viii, 222 p. : ill. ; 24 cm.

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Lewis Library - Stacks QC174.52.V33 B65 2011 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references and index.
    Contents
    • Introduction: the vacuum as a scientific and philosophical concept
    • The role of vacuum in modern physics
    • The quantum vacuum in the early universe
    • The problem of the vacuum and the conceptual conflict between general relativity theory and quantum mechanics
    • Topology and curvature as sources of vacuum fields
    • The Dirac "full-of-particles sea" idea and the vacuum in quantum field theory
    • The role of the vacuum in quantum electrodynamics, the casimir effect, and vacuum polarization
    • Hole theory, negative energy solutions, and vacuum fluctuations
    • Further theoretical remarks on the vacuum fluctuations: Poincaré conformal invariance and spontaneous symmetry-breaking symmetry
    • More intuitive remarks on the casimir effect and force, and on their significance
    • Dynamical principles of invariance and the physical interactions
    • Quantum electrodynamics and gauge theory
    • Vacuum as the source of asymmetry
    • Topological quantum field theories and gauge theories: a far-reaching interface between geometry and physics
    • Remarks on Kaluza-Klein theory and supergravity
    • Creation of universes from nothing
    • String landscape and vacuum energy: the emergence of a multidimensional world from geometrical possibilities
    • Concluding remarks
    • A. The difference between the causality/determinism of classical physics and that of quantum physics
    • B. The similarities between the "quantum vacuum" and Plato's "Chora" (space)
    • C. Remarks on the quantum effects in supersymmetric quantum field theories
    • D. How "fock space" can help to represent the vacuum fluctuations in quantum field theory
    • E. Is the word "vacuum" suitable for what is happening in modern physics?
    • F. Mathematical concepts and techniques
    • G. Path integral and Yang-Mills connections.
    ISBN
    • 9781421402475 ((hardcover ; : alk. paper))
    • 1421402475 ((hardcover ; : alk. paper))
    LCCN
    2011000991
    OCLC
    701493145
    Other standard number
    • 6893248
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