Aspects of Quantum Theory

Originally published in 1972, the twelve articles in this volume discuss various aspects of quantum mechanics that owe their origin to the work of P. A. M. Dirac. Each of the distinguished contributors reviews Dirac's work and discusses its development in some detail. Since Dirac's work ranged widely, the resulting volume constitutes a valuable survey of the state of quantum mechanics. A small part of the book contains personal reminiscences of Dirac in Cambridge and of his early visits to the USA and gives a historical account of the development of quantum mechanics during the decade 1924?1933, aptly termed 'the golden age of theoretical physics'.

Preface; List of contributors; Bibliography of P. A. M. Dirac; 1. Dirac in Cambridge R. J. Eden and J. C. Polkinghorne; 2. Travels with Dirac in the Rockies J. H. Van Vleck; 3. 'The golden age of theoretical physics': P. A. M. Dirac's scientific work from 1924 to 1933 Jagdish Mehra; 4. Foundation of quantum field theory Res Jost; 5. The early history of the theory of electron: 1897–1947 A. Pais; 6. The Dirac equation A. S. Wightman; 7. Fermi-Dirac statistics Rudolph Peierls; 8. Indefinite metric in state space W. Heisenberg; 9. On bras and kets J. M. Jauch; 10. The Poisson bracket C. Lanczos; 11. La 'fonction' et les noyaux L. Schwartz; 12. On the Dirac magnetic poles Edoardo Amadli and Nicola Cabibbo; 13. The fundamental constants and their time variation Freeman J. Dyson; 14. On the time-energy uncertainty relation Eugene P. Wigner; 15. The path-integral quantisation of gravity Abdus Salam and J. Strathdee; Index; Plates.