Probabilities in Quantum Mechanics

Catalog description

We will start from scratch. We will be rigorous, while making a careful accounting of the (surprisingly few) conceptual assumptions that lead inexorably to consequences that are almost impossible to believe. With an eye on some of the most startling and vexing of these, we will construct a minimum mathematical foundation sufficient to explore: the abrupt transition from the weird quantum to the familiar classical world; the uncertainty principles; teleportation; Bell’s theorem and the Einstein-Bohr debates; quantum erasure; the Conway-Kochen “free-will theorem”; (unbreakable) quantum encryption, and, an introduction to quantum computing.