Print Price: $324.50

Format:
Hardback
608 pp.
165 mm x 241 mm

ISBN-13:
9780195066432

Publication date:
April 1995

Imprint: OUP US

Quaternionic Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Fields

Stephen L. Adler

Series : The International Series of Monographs on Physics, 88

It has been known since the 1930s that quantum mechanics can be formulated in quaternionic as well as complex Hilbert space. But systematic work on the quaternionic extension of standard quantum mechanics has scarcely begun. Authored by a world-renowned theoretical physicist, this book signals a major conceptual advance and gives a detailed development and exposition of quaternionic quantum mechanics for the purpose of determining whether quaternionic Hilbert space is the appropriate arena for the long sought-after unification of the standard model forces with gravitation. Significant results from earlier literature, together with many new results obtained by the author, are integrated to give a coherent picture of the subject. The book also provides an introduction to the problem of formulating quantum field theories in quaternionic Hilbert space. The book concludes with a chapter devoted to discussions on where quaternionic quantum mechanics may fit into the physics of unification, experimental and measurement theory issues, and the many open questions that still challenge the field. This well-written treatise is a very significant contribution to theoretical physics. It will be eagerly read by a wide range of physicists.

Readership : Physicists; adoption in graduate quantum mechanics courses

Reviews

• "Lucid. . . .Independently of the physical correctness of quaternionic quantum mechanics, comparing the alternative theory with standard quantum mechanics leads to a much better and deeper understanding of the usual formalism. In this sense the book presents not only a valuable investment for the expert, but also can be recommended to everybody interested in quantum mechanics or field theory."--Mathematical Reviews