Quantum Theory: Concepts and Methods: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:47, 6 October 2020

Revision as of 18:33, 15 October 2020

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To generate the figures in his chapter on quantum chaos, including plots in [[phase space]] of chaotic motion, Peres wrote [[PostScript]] code that executed simulations in the printer itself.{{efn|Section 11-7, "Appendix: PostScript code for a map", p. 370}}

The book develops the methodology of mathematically representing quantum measurements by [[POVM|POVMs]],<ref name="Mermin" /><ref>{{Cite journal|lastlast1=Flammia|firstfirst1=Steven T.|last2=Silberfarb|first2=Andrew|last3=Caves|first3=Carlton M.|author-link3=Carlton M. Caves|date=2005-12-01|title=Minimal Informationally Complete Measurements for Pure States|journal=[[Foundations of Physics]]|language=en|volume=35|issue=12|pages=1985–2006|arxiv=quant-ph/0404137|bibcode=2005FoPh...35.1985F|doi=10.1007/s10701-005-8658-z|s2cid=119382552|issn=1572-9516}}</ref> and it provided the first pedagogical treatment of how to use a POVM for [[quantum key distribution]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Brandt|first=Howard E.|author-link=Howard Brandt|date=May 1999|title=Positive operator valued measure in quantum information processing|journal=[[American Journal of Physics]]|language=en|volume=67|issue=5|pages=434–439|doi=10.1119/1.19280|bibcode=1999AmJPh..67..434B|issn=0002-9505}}</ref> Peres downplayed the importance of the [[uncertainty principle]]; that specific term only appears once in his index, and its entry points to that same page in the index.<ref name="PhysToday">{{cite journal|last1=Terzian |first1=Joseph E.|last2=Bennett |first2=Charles H.|author2-link=Charles H. Bennett (computer scientist)|last3=Mann |first3=Ady|last4=Wootters |first4=William K.|author4-link=William Wootters|title=Obituary: Asher Peres|journal=[[Physics Today]]|date=August 2005|volume=58|issue=8|pages=65–66|doi=10.1063/1.2062925|bibcode = 2005PhT....58h..65A }}</ref>

==Reception==

Physicist Leslie E. Ballentine gave the textbook a positive review, declaring it a good introduction to [[quantum foundations]] and ongoing research therein.<ref name="Ballentine">{{Cite journal|last=Ballentine|first=Leslie E.|date=March 1995|title=none|url=|journal=[[American Journal of Physics]]|language=en|volume=63|issue=3|pages=285–286|doi=10.1119/1.17946|issn=0002-9505 }}</ref> [[John C. Baez]] also gave the book a positive assessment, calling it "clear-headed" and finding that it contained "a lot of gems that I hadn't seen", such as the [[Wigner–Araki–Yanase theorem]].<ref name="Baez">{{Cite web|url=http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/week33.html|title=week33|last=Baez|first=John C.|authorlink=John C. Baez|date=1994-05-10|website=[[This Week's Finds in Mathematical Physics]]|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-04-10}}</ref> [[Michael Nielsen]] wrote of the textbook, "Revelation! Suddenly, all the key results of 30 years of work (several of those results due to Asher) were distilled into beautiful and simple explanations."<ref>{{cite web|last=Nielsen|first=Michael A.|author-link=Michael Nielsen|title=Asher Peres|url=http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/asher-peres/|date=2005-01-05|website=michaelnielsen.org|access-date=2018-02-21}}</ref> Nielsen and [[Isaac Chuang]] said in their own influential textbook that Peres' was "superb", providing "an extremely clear exposition of elementary quantum mechanics" as well as an "extensive discussion of the Bell inequalities and related results".<ref>{{Cite book|lastlast1=Nielsen|firstfirst1=Michael A.|title=Quantum Computation and Quantum Information: 10th Anniversary Edition|url=https://archive.org/details/quantumcomputati00niel_720|url-access=limited|last2=Chuang|first2=Isaac L.|date=2010-12-09|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9781107002173|___location=|pages=[https://archive.org/details/quantumcomputati00niel_720/page/n151 118]|language=en|oclc=844974180|author-link=Michael Nielsen|author-link2=Isaac Chuang}}</ref>

[[N. David Mermin]] wrote that Peres had bridged the "textual gap" between conceptually-oriented books, aimed at understanding what quantum physics implies about the nature of the world, and more practical books intended to teach how to apply quantum mechanics. Mermin found the book praiseworthy, noting that he had "only a few complaints". He wrote: