Quantum Mechanics. Symbolism Of Atomic Measurements

Julian Schwinger, who shared the 1965 Nobel Prize for physics with Richard Feynman and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga for his pioneering work on quantum electrodynamics, had a considerable influence on the conceptual development of modern quantum field theory. In addition to being an extremely productive researcher he was also a brilliant teacher, and this book demonstrates his outstanding ability to expose a difficult subject in a clear and concise style. In marked contrast to many textbooks on quantum physics, his approach is inductive rather than deductive. The whole of quantum kinematics is inferred from a systematic analysis of experimental phenomena, and quantum dynamics is then based on the quantum action principle, which bears his name. Many applications, all worked out in detail, follow and culminate in an introduction to quantum electrodynamics. A unique legacy, these lecture notes of Schwinger's course held at the University of California at Los Angeles were carefully edited by his collaborator Berthold-Georg Englert and constitute both a self-contained textbook on quantum mechanics and an indispensable source of reference on this fundamental subject by one of the foremost thinkers of twentieth century physics.