Overview

The Wonder of Quantum Spin is a confection of the history and the science of quantum spin sprinkled with quotations and excerpts from pioneers who lived and breathed science. The book unfolds two centuries of the golden era in mathematics and physics, where first glimpses of spin appeared nearly 200 years ago in the mathematics of rotations. In these studies, spinors emerged as a new entity that changes sign after a 360 degree rotation, reminiscent of the Mobius geometry. A century later, quantum spins described by spinors was discovered in physics in atomic spectra. This led to the discovery of antimatter and raised the possibility of parity violation. It gave the first warning that protons and neutrons are not elementary. As we approach the centennial of the discovery, the spin mystique prevails as we have no clue of what exactly is spinning. Nevertheless, the theoretical framework underlying the spin determines why we exist, and explains the mysteries of the 3000-year-old phenomenon of magnetism. This book showcases MRI - one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century with a tantalizing history of the application of nuclear spin to humanity. It narrates fascinating spin tales of the precision measurements of electron and muon spin magnetic moments displaying a mindboggling confrontation between theory and experiment that remains our ambassador to quantum physics.

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9780198884859

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A nice addition to the literature, discussing deep and fundamental issues which are pervasive in the entire field of physics and which usually cannot be discussed appropriately at the undergraduate or even graduate level. * Marco Sozzi, University of Pisa * Helpful to young undergraduates majoring in physics, graduate students as well as all those who want to learn more about quantum spin. * Radha Balakrishnan, The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai * Intriguing at so many levels. * Pradeep Kumar, University of Florida *

Author Information

Indubala I. Satija is a Physics Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. After graduating with a Masters in physics from Bombay University, she got her doctorate in theoretical physics at Columbia University. She has published numerous scientific articles on the diverse range of topics that include topological insulators, ultracold atoms, quantum phase transitions, solitons and classical and quantum chaos. In 2016, she wrote a book, Butterfly in the Quantum World with Douglas Hofstadter. Her current focus of research is topological states of matter.

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