Coll 002-002 Origins and Meaning of Quantum Theory
Fitts and Hatfield TR 10:30-12, Chem B-13
TF: Scott Edgar F 10-11, Logan 402 or Coll 314
Quantum theory provides the fundamental underpinning of modern physical science, yet its philosophical implications were so shocking that Einstein could not accept it. This course will follow the historical development of 20th century quantum science and examine its philosophical implications, which challenge the classical notions of causality and determinism, and undermine classical physical conceptions of the nature of matter itself.
Prior to the quantum revolution, scientists and philosophers alike believed that nature was governed by deterministic, causal laws. Kant had argued that the existence of such laws must be assumed if nature is to be intelligible. Helmholtz adapted this reasoning to nineteenth-century physics, and included it in his argument for the conservation of energy. Even when physicists proposed statistical laws to describe natural events, such as the behavior of gases, many of them believed that the underlying processes were not fundamentally statistical, but were deterministic. All this changed with the development of quantum mechanics. As expressed in the Copenhagen interpretation, quantum mechanics rejected the view that the laws of nature are deterministic at bottom, in favor of the view that irreducibly statistical laws govern subatomic events. This interpretation also denied that matter and force must take either a particle or wave form, in favor of wave-particle complementarity.
This course aims to provide the student with a basic understanding of the physics and chemistry of quantum phenomena, the various interpretations and theories proposed to account for those phenomena, and their philosophical implications. Although the presentation of the scientific material will be essentially nonmathematical, the student should expect to achieve an understanding of what quantum mechanics is about and how it relates to current thought. The student should also gain some appreciation of how a scientific theory grows and develops, and the strong interplay between a scientific observation and its philosophical meaning. The primary readings will be drawn from the popular writings of the main scientific protagonists, from popular presentations of the history of quantum mechanics and its principal ideas, and from philosophical interpretations of the implications of quantum mechanics for our understanding of science and its claim to describe reality. Walter Moore’s biography of Erwin Schrödinger puts a human face on the physical and philosophical topics and developments. Schrödinger was significantly involved in classical physics, quantum theory, and the philosophy of science. Moreover, his life and others’ were profoundly influenced by the political climate in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.
Requirements: first paper (4 pages, due 9/27); hour exam (10/25); second paper (5-6 pages, due 11/22); comprehensive final exam (exam schedule). In addition, three one-paragraph written assignments are due on 9/18, 10/30, and 11/13 (topics will be assigned, paragraphs will be discussed in recitation on the corresponding Friday, and marked +, 3 , - ). All papers and exams must be completed to pass the course. The two papers must be turned in as hard copies. Students are advised to retain a copy, or to have a secure back-up of the file. Paragraphs should be submitted electronically.
Required Books
Cline, Barbara. Men Who Made a New Physics: Physicists and the Quantum Theory. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987. (Also issued as The Questioners.)
Cushing, James. Philosophical Concepts in Physics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998.
Gribbin, John. Schrödinger's Kittens and the Search for Reality: Solving the Quantum Mysteries. Boston: Little Brown, 1995
Heisenberg, Werner. Physics and Philosophy: The Revolution in Modern Science. Amherst : Prometheus Books, 1999.
Moore, Walter. A Life of Erwin Schrödinger. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.
Sklar, Lawrence. Philosophy of Physics. Boulder: Westview Press, 1992.
Syllabus
Thursday, Sept. 5: Introductory. Science and philosophy. Scientific themes, philosophical themes.
Reading: Cushing, Philosophical Concepts in Physics, chs. 1-3.
Friday, Sept. 6: No meeting.
Classical Physics and Philosophy
Tuesday, Sept. 10: Classical physics. Newtonian mechanics, reversibility.
Reading: Cushing, chs. 7-8, 12.
Thursday, Sept. 12: Laplacian determinism. Free will, compatibilism and incompatibilism.
Reading: Hume, Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, pts. 7-8; Schopenhauer, "Free-Will and Fatalism" (course reserves).
Optional: Reid, Essays, "Of the Will"; van Inwagen, "The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism" (course reserves).
Friday, Sept. 13: Recitation: free will and determinism (all meet in Coll 314).
Tuesday, Sept. 17: Conservation of energy. Statistical mechanics, gas laws, entropy. Universal laws, induction. Philosophical approaches to conservation; empirical justification. First paper topics distributed.
Reading: Helmholtz, "Aim and Progress of Physical Science" (course reserves). Sklar, Philosophy of Physics, ch. 3, "Introduction of Probability into Physics."
Wednesday, Sept. 18: First paragraph writing assignment due.
Thursday, Sept. 19: Statistical mechanics [Computer demonstration]. Realism vs. phenomenalism (Boltzmann and Mach); reduction of gas laws.
Reading: Mach, "The Economical Nature of Physical Inquiry"; Boltzmann, "Second Law of Thermodynamics" (course reserves).
Friday, Sept. 20: Recitation: Realism and phenomenalism. Discuss paragraphs. Discuss paper topics and paper writing (Coll 314).
Tuesday, Sept. 24: Brownian motion. Wave nature of light [Lecture demonstration]. Plane waves, interference, Maxwell's equations.
Reading: Cushing, ch. 13; Gribbin, Schrödinger's Kittens, ch. 1.
Origins of quantum theory
Thursday, Sept. 26: Black-body radiation. Photoelectric effect (Compton effect).
Reading: Cline, Men Who Made a New Physics, chs. 1-4; Gribbin, ch. 2.
Friday, Sept. 27: Atomic spectra [Lecture demonstration]. Papers due in class (Logan 402).
Tuesday, Oct. 1: Bohr atom. De Broglie's wave-particle duality (Electron/neutron diffraction).
Reading: Cline, chs. 6-7; Cushing, ch. 19, 19.1-4.
Schrödinger and wave mechanics
Thursday, Oct. 3: Schrödinger’s education. Philosophy and Bildung.
Reading: Moore, Schrödinger, chs. 1-4.
Optional: Ringer, Decline of the German Mandarins, chs. 1-2 (course reserve).
Friday, Oct. 4: Recitation: Bildung. Papers are returned; discussion of papers (Coll 314).
Tuesday, Oct. 8: Fin-de-siècle Vienna.
Reading: Janik and Toulmin, Wittgenstein’s Vienna, ch. 1 (pp. 13-19, 27-32 only), ch. 2 (all); pick one essay from Schopenhauer: "Metaphysics of Sexual Love," "On Man’s Need of Metaphysics," or "On Women" (course reserves).
Thursday, Oct. 10: Wave/particle duality. Schrödinger equation. Born/Copenhagen probabilism. Matrix mechanics.
Reading: Moore, chs. 5-6; Cline, ch. 8; Cushing, 19.5-6.
Friday, Oct. 11: Fall Break
Matrix mechanics and the Copenhagen interpretation
Tuesday, Oct. 15: Particle in a box. Average values. Uncertainty principle. Born/Copenhagen probabilism.
Cline, chs. 9-10; Cushing, 20.1-4.
Thursday, Oct. 17: Double slit experiment. Locality and superposition. Indeterminacy. Electron spin. Stern-Gerlach experiment.
Reading: Cline, ch. 11; Cushing, 20.5. Fitts, Principles of Quantum Mechanics, 1.6-7 (course reserves).
Friday, Oct. 18: Question session (Fitts and Hatfield, Logan 402).
Tuesday, Oct. 22: Dirac equation, Pauli exclusion principle. Atoms. Indistinguishable particles, fermions and bosons. Antimatter.
Reading: Gribbin, In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat, pp. 81-128 (course reserves).
Thursday, Oct. 24: Philosophical differences. Positivism and realism. Causal determinism, probabilistic laws. Freedom and determinism.
Reading: Planck, "Is the External World Real" and "The Scientist’s Picture of the Physical Universe," in Where Is Science Going? (course reserves).
Optional: Northrop, Introduction to Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy.
Friday, Oct. 25: Hour exam (Logan 402)
Tuesday, Oct. 29: Heisenberg uncertainty principle. Complementarity. Heisenberg and Born on subject/object distinction.
Reading: Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy, chs. 3, 5. Born, "On the Meaning of Physical Theories," in Physics in My Generation (course reserves).
Optional: Holton, "The Roots of Complementarity," in Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought (course reserves).
Wednesday, Oct. 30: Second paragraph writing assignment due.
Thursday, Oct. 31: Philosophical differences: Bohr vs. Einstein.
Reading: Cline, ch. 13. Bohr, "Discussion with Einstein on Epistemological Problems of Atomic Physics," in Schilpp (ed.), Albert Einstein: Philosopher-Scientist (course reserves).
Friday, Nov. 1: Recitation: Determinism and indeterminacy. Discuss paragraphs. (Coll 314)
Tuesday, Nov. 5: Effects of political ideology on science.
Reading: Moore, chs. 7-9; Cline, ch. 14.
Optional: Moore, ch. 10.
Meaning of quantum theory
Thursday, Nov. 7: Completeness, hidden variables. Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen. Nonlocality.
Schrödinger's cat thought experiment.
Reading: Cushing, ch. 21; Gribbin, pp. 1-23.
Friday, Nov. 8: Recitation: Epistemology and ontology in quantum theory. (Coll 314)
Tuesday, Nov. 12: Bell's theorem and its implications. Second paper topics.
Reading: Gribbin, Schrödinger’s Cat, ch. 10; B. d'Espagnat, "Quantum Theory and Reality" (course reserves).
Optional: Cushing, ch. 22.
Wednesday, Nov. 13: Third paragraph assignment due.
Thursday, Nov. 14: Aspect et al. experiments. Recent experiments (since 1995).
Reading: Gribbin, pp. 23-30, ch. 3.
Friday, Nov. 15: Recitation: Bell's theorem. Discuss paragraphs. Discuss paper topics and paper writing. (Coll 314)
Tuesday, Nov. 19: Other interpretations: "Many-Worlds," Cramer, Bohm, others.
Reading: Gribbin, ch. 4.
Thursday, Nov. 21; Bohm and realism.
Reading: Cushing, ch. 23. Bohm, "Hidden Variables and the Implicate Order" (course reserves).
Friday, Nov. 22: Papers due. Question session (Fitts and Hatfield, Logan 402).
Mind, matter, and reality
Tuesday, Nov. 26: Realism and irrealism in modern philosophy of physics.
Reading: Cushing, chs. 24-25.
Optional: Hacking, "Experimentation and Scientific Realism" (course reserves).
Thursday, Nov. 28: Thanksgiving holiday.
Tuesday, Dec. 3: Observer relativity, subject and object, mind and matter. Freedom and determinism.
Reading: Heisenberg, ch. 6. Schrödinger, Mind and Matter, chs. 1, 4, 6 (course reserves).
Optional: Bohm, dialogue with Renée Weber on "Meaning as Being"; Kane "Quantum Mechanics, Consciousness, and Free Will" (course reserves). Moore, chs. 11-12.
Thursday, Dec. 5: Science as the product of scientists’ thinking.
Reading: Gribbin, ch. 5, Epilogue. Longino, "Values and Objectivity" (course reserves).
Friday, Dec. 6: Recitation: Return papers. Realism, subjectivity, mind/body, freedom. Distribution of final exam study questions. (Coll 314)
References and Further Readings
Classical
David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, ed. by L. A. Selby-Bigge, 2nd ed. (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1902).
Thomas Reid, Essays on the Powers of the Human Mind (Tegg, 1827), Essays on the Active Powers of the Human Mind, Essay II, "Of the Will."
Arthur Schopenhauer, The Will to Live: Selected Writings, ed. by R. Taylor (Anchor, 1962).
Hermann Helmholtz, Science and Culture, ed. by D. Cahan (University of Chicago Press, 1995).
Ludwig Boltzmann, Theoretical Physics and Philosophical Problems, ed. by Brian McGuiness (Reidel, 1974).
Ernst Mach, Popular Scientific Lectures (Open Court, 1895).
Allan Janik and Stephen Toulmin, Wittgenstein’s Vienna (Simon and Schuster, 1973).
Fritz Ringer, Decline of the German Mandarins: The German Academic Community, 1890-1933 (Wesleyan University Press, 1990).
Carl E. Schorske, Fin-de-siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture (Knopf , 1979).
Peter van Inwagen, "The Incompatibility of Free Will and Determinism," Philosophical Studies 27 (1975), 185-199.
Russell McCormmach, Night Thoughts of a Classical Physicist (Harvard University Press, 1982).
Quantum Interpretation
David Bohm, Causality and Chance in Modern Physics (Routledge, 1957).
David Bohm, Wholeness and the Implicate Order (Routledge, 1980).
B. J. Hiley and F. D. Peat (eds), Quantum Implications: Essays in Honour of David Bohm (Routledge, 1991).
Neils Bohr, "Discussions with Einstein on Epistemological Problems in Atomic Physics," in Albert Einstein, Philosopher-Scientist, ed. by P. A. Schilpp (Library of Living Philosophers, 1949), pp. 201-41, with Einstein’s reply (pp. 665-88).
Neils Bohr, Philosophical Writings (Ox Bow Press, 1987).
Max Born, Physics in My Generation (Pergamon Press, 1956).
Donald D. Fitts, Principles of Quantum Mechanics as Applied to Chemistry and Chemical Physics (Cambridge University Press, 1999).
Werner Heisenberg, Philosophic Problems of Nuclear Science (Pantheon , 1952).
Werner Heisenberg, Physicist's Conception of Nature (Harcourt, Brace, 1958).
Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy (Prometheus Books, 1959).
Max Planck, Where Is Science Going? (Norton, 1932).
Erwin Schrödinger, Mind and Matter (Cambridge University Press, 1958).
Popular Expositions
D. Z. Albert, Quantum Mechanics and Experience (Harvard University Press, 1994).
J. R. Gribbin, In Search of Schrödinger's Cat (Bantam Books, 1984).
N. Herbert, Quantum Reality: Beyond the New Physics (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1985).
A. Rae, Quantum Physics: Illusion or Reality? (Cambridge University Press, 1994).
S. Treiman, The Odd Quantum (Princeton University Press, 1999).
Historical Works
M. Beller, Quantum Dialogue: The Making of a Revolution (University of Chicago Press, 1999).
G. Holton, Thematic Origins of Scientific Thought (Harvard University Press, 1988).
H. Kragh, Quantum Generations (Princeton University Press, 1999).
T. Kuhn, Black-Body Theory & the Quantum Discontinuity (University of Chicago Press, 1987).
Philosophical Works
R. G. Colodny (ed.), From Quarks to Quasars: Philosophical Problems of Modern Physics (University Pittsburgh Press, 1986).
A. Fine, The Shaky Game: Einstein, Realism, and the Quantum Theory (University Chicago Press, 1996).
N. R. Hanson, Patterns of Discovery (Cambridge University Press, 1958).
R. I. G. Hughes, The Structure and Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (Harvard University Press, 1989).
T. Kuhn, Structure of Scientific Revolutions (University of Chicago Press, 1970).
E. MacKinnon, Scientific Explanation and Atomic Hypothesis (University Chicago Press,1982).