The Principles of Quantum Mechanics

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The Principles of Quantum Mechanics
File:The principles of quantum mechanics - title page.jpg
Title page of the first edition
Author Paul Dirac
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Subject Physics, quantum mechanics
Publisher Oxford University Press
Publication date
 1930
Media type Print
Pages 257 pp.

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.[1] 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".[2] 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.[2]

Dirac is credited with developing the subject "particularly in Cambridge and Göttingen between 1925–1927" (Farmelo).[2]

History

The first and second editions of the book were published in 1930 and 1935.[3]

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.[3]

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.[3]

This book summarizes the ideas of quantum mechanics using the Bra–ket notation introduced in 1939 and largely developed by Dirac himself [4]

Contents

See also

References

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