Fifty shades of quantum

Under the sign of enlightenment

On November 21, 2013, the enlightener awards will be held, at which we will learn the names of the main enlighteners of this year. Recall that one of the laureates of the Award of 2009 was the member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Leonid Ponomarev and his book “Under the sign of Quantum”. This is a truly legendary book, because it was translated into 16 languages, and in many countries it is used as a manual on the history of physics. The first version of the book “On the other side of Quantum” was seen in 1971, then supplemented publications “under the sign of Quantum” were published in 1984, 1989 and 2007. The final version of the book appeared in 2012, and Leonid Ivanovich notes that everything, the point is set, it's time to take up a new job.

The jury member Alexei Semikhatov devoted his article to the careful analysis of Leonid Ponomarev’s legendary book “under the sign of Quantum”.

The naughty child of the XX century - the fruit of the passion of their parents, who boldly stepped beyond tradition - no i'enfant Terrist, it turns out, but rather - a messenger, whose phenomenon is a great luck for all subsequent generations.

This resume, a detailed justification of such a view on quantum mechanics, occupies more than 400 pages. What is there?

1. Personal quantum mechanics.

In addition to the quantum mechanics in the text, the author is weightily present (albeit without a single “I”). He sees as a moralist, and at all not shy. Each chapter begins with the maxim of general order - about science, about cognition, about the nature of physical laws, etc.; Almost everything is successful. And the text generally contains a lot of “meta” of the case of the structure of science, about zigzags in the development of our understanding of nature, about the despair of dead ends and about the triumphs of overcoming. They are given mainly very to the place, and often turn out to be part of the plot. “Meta”-outputs are collected together in the last chapter; A more famous moralist acted in a similar way in the epilogue of "War and Peace."

Everyone who thought about quantum mechanics has to some extent his own. Leonid Ponomarev makes his book unique by the fact that he does not “set out the standard set of information about the subject” , but expresses what he personally worries. If you distract from all specifics, then the focus is on the life of the ideas and the life of scientists among ideas. After all, quantum mechanics are several non -trivial ideas, and even combined together, which seemed impossible for a long time. Is there a best subject to demonstrate how crazy facts, after a dozen years of desperate efforts and search, lead to something that is an infinite number of times superior to any number of facts -with a qualitatively new picture of the world?

About facts: there are many of them. They managed to do two “additional” things with them, if you expressed themselves in the language of Niels Bor. The reader learns about the phenomena that were contrary to the picture of the world at the time of their discovery; Some were discovered by accident, followed by the found already purposefully, but not demonstrating any order. The reader is not long and the reason why, it seems, such a few textbooks on quantum mechanics run the risk of dwelling in the “background” in detail, and so many are in a hurry to move on to “formalism”). But - a miracle - before our eyes, concepts grow from facts. At the same time, the author is not afraid to first state only part of the full concept, and the part is postponed until the next portion of facts appears. Again, a confusion could turn out - but a tangible and convincing picture is built.

It was possible (almost) to avoid another extreme. The storyteller of history, whose motivation scooped up from several fields of knowledge, risks forced to swing at the “brief history of natural science”. However, the balance between conciseness and encyclopedicity was observed, and this is another success (yes, due to indulgence to personal preferences).

2. Aspects of history. The author is attentive to the individuals of key participants in the history of the creation of quantum mechanics. It is not in the sense of a stupid reservation of biographies-this book is as far from the many modern Pole-Kipedia compilations, where the appearance of a particular material, for the lack of another material, must not be preferred a report on which post in which town his father occupied, in which church his parents were married, etc.

Ponomarev talks about some episodes of the biography, and sometimes something about the parents of the scientist (when it comes to scientific dynasties), if these episodes make up part of the plot. Since the same episode (say, someone’s arrival in Copenhagen or lunch with E. Fermi) can have far-reaching and various consequences, some stories are definitely mentioned more than once. (The same with “inanimate” facts: a particular discovery that had various consequences may be mentioned in each of the threads of the story, without references to previous references; I firmly decided that this is not a disadvantage, and that the “optimization” of the presentation would deprive the book of part of its color.)

The author with great understanding refers to his position on the shoulders of giants. He offers and teaches to look at the eyes of contemporaries that occurred in science. Great luck here is no condescending tone "from the heights of modern knowledge." Respect for ideas in general, to knowledge. We clearly see in what realities the thought developed in this or that period, which was considered incomprehensible first of all, what was the inertia of thinking. This allows you to evaluate the true scale of discoveries and the influence of related factors (such as luck or, again, arrival in Copenhagen).

A noticeable place is given to the doubts of scientists, and even torment. But at the same time, speaking of the state of science, say, in the early period of studying radioactivity, the author knows how not to leave modern views on the nature of things, showing how the ideas appeared together, forming a modern picture. And some impassivity in relation to everything that is not literally an idea is expressed, for example, as follows: “Subsequent generations, as a rule, are completely indifferent to the personal drawbacks of the scientist. They only remember the best in him - his ideas. Perhaps this is one of the reasons for human progress. ”

3. The core of the book: What is an atom? Ponomarev asks this question more, perhaps, the number of times than Tolstoy asks: "What power moves by peoples?" The answer arises - is formed - gradually, as the reader’s abilities to perceive (quite a metaphor for quantum mechanics itself develop, where, as you know, “observation over the phenomenon forms the phenomenon”).

The question "What is an atom?" It sets again, despite the fact that some answer was received in the previous iteration. Each iteration seems to clarify a lot, but the next one can inform something “orthogonal”, in which the author is a full report (anticipating, perhaps the next turn). At the next iteration, I caught myself that I ceased to treat this issue as the solved. He becomes not just a question about the atom or the structure of the world. It turns into an invitation to the creation of a theory (“Theory is an explanation of the visible complexity of the phenomena of invisible simplicity”) and, in general, to the theory of knowledge illustrated by the story of the formation of quantum mechanics.

The book is divided into three parts: “The origins” (chapters 1-5), “Ideas” (chapters 6-11) and “Results” (Chapter 12-20). The role of the epilogue is played by a fourth part, “thoughts”, consisting of one chapter. As briefly: “origins” are atomics (starting with the elements that dates back to antiquity, but with a mass of more modern details, often unexpected), spectra (thoughtfully and purposefully, the thread of the story hits exactly the target), the experiments of Rutherford, and the theory of Bor. Hurray, we found out what an atom is?

“Ideas” begin with pessimism and despair about the development of Bor theory; Then the Sturm und Drange era itself: first Gayzenberg and Max Bourne, then, through de Broil, we go to Schrödinger, and then - the principle of uncertainty, after which - probabilities and, finally, “what is an atom” and what is physical reality; Culmination is the principle of complementarity with which the author enjoys.

“Results” - radioactivity (we begin by returning to Beckerel), isotopes and decays, tunnel effect, artificial radioactivity, after which a chain reaction, separation of isotopes, critical mass and bombs; Next, nuclear energy and the transformation of elements into stars, then elementary particles and periodic table. The circle closed, we returned to the elements .

But what is the truth? “Over the past 100 years, not a single experience has been made that would contradict the picture we created. Therefore, it is better to talk not about its truth, but about its fruitfulness - about how much it helps us to explain and predict the features of atomic phenomena. ” And then: “We don’t really need to know“ what the atom actually looks like ”, we can predict everything: how the body color will change when heated, what spectral lines it will let out, and how their frequency will change if the body is placed in an electric or magnetic field. We can predict the form of crystals, their heat capacity and electrical conductivity. We can finally build a nuclear power plant and an atomic icebreaker - they will work. And all this - without the slightest references to the true form of the atom. ”

4. The nucleus of the atom and nuclear-what-it was received. We were very lucky that quantum mechanics arose. The author sees two main effects confirming this thesis: a revolution in the picture of the world and nuclear energy / energy. And two main subjects are told two, “theoretical” and “experimental”: the creation of quantum mechanics and the study of radioactivity and decay of nuclei.

About the nuclear core, the question "What is it?" It does not set (acquired enough about the atom). Understanding the radioactivity, isotopes and chains of transformations, the study of division and concomitant phenomena, the construction of a further part of the periodic table is no longer a material for developing concepts, but a landfill for their application. However, there is a place of history - interesting stories, such as a dramatic exchange of letters between key characters when opening Uranus division, from December 19, 1938 to January 26, 1939. At some point, time starts to tick by day, but the tension is growing, as if the seconds of the reverse reference was taking place: “In the afternoon of January 13, Frish began to prepare an experiment on verification of verification Hypotheses about the division of uranium nuclei. Already at 6 o’clock in the morning of January 14, he was convinced that the hypothesis of division is true ... ”(14 years before Gaisenberg, having secluded on the island, also did not try to fall asleep when he realized that he suddenly“ became the owner of all these treasures ” - having made a breakthrough with the help of not an experimental installation, but a handle and paper.)

Special luck is a story about isotopes. In both historical and substantive aspects (here, rather as an exception, illustrations do not distract, but help).

A separate chapter is dedicated to nuclear energy. This is not quite the same as the principles of quantum mechanics, but the author of the energy is worried (up to the energy balance of a person and the role of chlorophyll in maintaining life on Earth), and in addition, he seeks to dispel psychosis about nuclear stations. How much was the latter?- first is pronounced something like a hymn to the whole idea, followed by a light controversy with opponents, and only then a “main problem” is mentioned a couple of times- it turns out that it is. There is also a light technical failure: the same story (starting from the opening made in the Fermi Laboratory, and then) was repeated almost literally twice.

The chapter, nominally dedicated to the sun, adjoins the theme of the nucleus/energy; In fact, it is also told about the mechanism of synthesis of elements in stars - the stage of development of the Universe, necessary for our existence. Interesting, but concise. The evolution of the universe is also completely summarized (not quite, note, the section of quantum mechanics). The resulting “summary of the history of the Universe” is distinguished by the lack of indications of why this and that happen, and how they learned about it-despite the fact that it is the questions “why?” And "how?" In most other places, the book answers. Together with the stars and the sun here and about chlorophyll.

5. Style. The key difference from the (good) popular books of the new generation is a place of complexity. The author cannot be occupied by the author, but he is not limited to them. The text contains formulas-things are now believed to be murderous for a popular science book. The effect is double. It is possible to convey the feeling that "everything is actually." But at the same time, the scarecrow factor, of course, has not been canceled. The appearance of part of the formulas is successfully softened by the proposal of the reader to perceive them as pictures, “hieroglyphs” indicating some phenomena (in general, at times the author has to gently exhort the reader: yes, not everything is easy to understand, but it is necessary to suffer, then it will become good).

But closer to the end, the “seriously” formulas appear-some, in my opinion, are unnecessary (what the reader who has not passed a single exam on quantum mechanics can understand, from the formula on page 241? Why is an addition to one of the chapters about the ratio of uncertainty “Energy-time”? It looks like a borrowing from the textbook, and the forced abstract leaves only the chances of understanding the reader who is already I read it).

A significant part of quantum mechanics is “matrix mechanics”, the appearance of which is described quite exciting. It is clearly said about the matrices that these are tables that appeared as a response to the paradoxes of the time when nature seemed to contradict itself; The rescue recipe - about which we are experiencing with key characters - was to record only what is instrumentally accessible, without following the domestic intuition. The matrices turned out. I don’t know if you can tell you more clearly. But then matrix formulas are given, some of which can leave the reader in bewilderment (say, in XNKPKN - pnkxkn = ℏ there is no explanation that the letter K here implies the summation, but by n - no; hieroglyphs?).

Great luck without any reservations is a “wave” hypostasis of quantum mechanics, where it was possible to tell about their own functions, bypassing the radical mathematical complications, and even tie this abstraction to the “form of the atom”, making them (eigen functions) almost tangible. Almost as well told about the spin.

For almost all scientists mentioned, dates are given. And special thanks for the chronological table in which the periods of the life of the main participants are graphically presented. This is not all: the book has a nominal index - and this is contrary to the terrible domestic tradition on this subject. It is difficult, however, what tradition prompted the transliteration of the named after Eugene Wigner: with all the turns of his career (including a leather workshop in Hungary), it is not entirely clear why he turned out to be Eugene. It is great that at the end of the book a table of Nobel laureates is given (physicists - laureates in chemistry are not forgotten!). But Nobel prizes awarded after 2000, on which the table breaks off.

In each chapter there is something like an application - the “around the quantum” section, which is probably not in linear order; The heading is successfully highlighted by the format: not two, as the rest of the text, but in one column, and with large fields on which there are quotes of aphorisms and portraits of scientists (cheers! Domestic publications ceased to relieve the efforts of the printing house and instead began to facilitate the reader perception of the printed). Aphorisms are almost all beautiful. Of course, they correlate with what is stated nearby, somewhat indirectly, but they undoubtedly have some attitude. Portraits of scientists are tied to the text we are weaker than even aphorisms: the portrait of Saadi Carno accompanies the story of the natural nuclear reactor of OKLO, the mentioned correspondence of December 1938 - January 1939 (Gan, Matner, Frish and Strassman), illustrates the portrait of Enriko Fermi, and a brief essay on Boshchovich - the portrait of Erwin Schrödinger, etc. (True, the essay on Erenfest is illustrated by the portrait of Erenfest); Well, maybe nothing that some “quantum fluctuations” bring a revitalization in a “trivial” arrangement.

The chapters have no "names". More precisely, their names sound like “first”, “eleventh”, etc. The summary of the chapter was added to them - from three to nine points, plus one or more points in “around the quantum”. Perhaps the absence of “ready -made” unambiguous names of things contributes to thoughts about their nature.

6. Humanitarian aspects. An eternal topic when discussing natural science texts. If the inquisitive reader-humanitarium decides to open this book, then he is offered to go through the most serious test urgently: on the 9th line of the first chapter it is said that in our time everyone heard about something “quantum”, and even in the 19th century there was no such QUANT .

There was really no word, as it is still not; But since the time, probably, the laws of the XII tables have the word quantum, with numerous derivatives. The chances of our imaginary humanitaria to get acquainted with the book could be increased by replacing the passage about the non -existent Pseudolatinsk word given further in the book by comparison: to learn matrix calculus more than to learn Latin (and at the same time removed the dubious etymology of the word “element [s]”).

Может быть потенциального читателя-гуманитария призваны привлечь иллюстрации? Мне они определенно не близки: малоинформативны, склонны отвлекать от содержания своей «абстрактностью», а поясняют содержание далеко не везде, где это несложно было бы сделать с помощью менее претенциозной картинки. Но я подозреваю, что мои возражения сродни кампании, которая велась против уродующей город башни Эйфеля в первые годы ее существования — иллюстрации превратились уже в часть стиля «Под знаком кванта», изменить который нельзя, не нарушив восприятия всего явления, ставшего классическим.

7. Чего в книге нет, а что лишнее.

Не очень честно упрекать какую-либо книгу за то, чего в ней нет. Поэтому упрек у меня один: в книге, где: а) много внимания уделяется личностям ученых; б) говорится, причем не раз и по существу, об ответственности ученых и о моральных страданиях тех, кто открыл дорогу, приведшую, среди прочего, к ядерной бомбардировке Японии; в) обсуждается не просто ядерное оружие, но в том числе и водородная бомба; г) упомянут Э. Теллер — в этой книге не упомянут А.Д. Saharov.

А теперь, уже без намека на упрек, о том, что в этой книге могла бы, в принципе, присутствовать такая часть истории квантовой механики, как разнообразные интригующие подробности и повороты дискуссии Эйнштейна с Бором; парадокс Эйнштейна-Подольского-Розена и всяческие разветвления сюжета, вплоть до неравенств Белла. Обсуждение этих тем, если бы оно состоялось, по необходимости затронуло бы и развитие такого метода познания, как мысленный эксперимент.

Недавно, более того, некоторые из ключевых мысленных экспериментов перестали быть только мысленными — их поставили . На того читателя, которого Пономарев до некоторой степени воспитал своей книгой, произвел бы впечатление рассказ о том, что славные страницы истории человеческой мысли удалось воплотить в экспериментах и в результате инструментально убедиться в том, что квантовая механика ведет себя именно так, как ей полагается, нимало не беспокоясь о наших проблемах ее интерпретации. Вместе с запутанностью состояний не упомянуты или почти не упомянуты квантовая криптография, квантовая телепортация, квантовые компьютеры (а здесь тоже появились эксперименты).

Традиционный пример проявления квантового поведения на макроуровне, который обойден стороной,— сверхпроводимость. Я сознаю, что это отдельная большая тема, и что расширить рамки законченного высказывания, каковым является хорошая книга, всегда нелегко. Насколько это нелегко, видно из добавленной в последнее издание главы «Девятнадцатой», про элементарные частицы.

Предпринятая там попытка рассказать обо всем — от открытия нейтрона до стандартной модели, о фейнмановских диаграммах, о калибровочных теориях и т.д., и т.п. — заранее обречена. Такое можно втиснуть в три десятка страниц разве что в не предназначенном для линейного чтения стиле справочника. К сожалению, не получилось и справочника: с одной стороны, текст содержит явные повторы, а с другой — оперирует понятиями, на определения которых просто не хватило места.

Заметно и достаточно сырое состояние текста, особенно по сравнению с другими главами: вблизи фразы «в том же году триумфально подтвердилось» нет никаких указаний на год; изотопическим спином называется то сам спин, то его проекция, да, собственно, к моменту, когда он появляется, понять что-либо уже не представляется возможным; на какого читателя рассчитан вдруг появляющийся «истинный изотопический синглет»? Как интерпретировать «потому что» во фразе «Глюоны могут взаимодействовать непосредственно, потому что несут по два цвета»? А главное — начисто «сбит» стиль, дидактика: используемый понятийный ряд подразумевает знания, превосходящие те, которые отсюда можно почерпнуть. Во всей остальной книге картина обратная.

8. Глава «Двадцать первая». В этой завершающей главе автор отступает на несколько шагов в сторону от нарисованной им монументальной картины и смотрит на нее, вооружившись мудрым скептицизмом; в поле зрения при этом попадают и другие продукты человеческого интеллекта и духа. Здесь обсуждаются научная картина мира вообще (где царит Платон, однако не забыта и предсказательная сила науки), границы науки (опять же Платон, но: «быть может, когда-нибудь мы сможем… как узник Платона, вырвавшийся из пещеры, восстановить… истину во всей полноте и блеске») , ее взаимоотношение с искусством и даже религией.

О науке в целом: «Факты и понятия науки могут показаться случайными хотя бы потому, что установлены в случайное время, случайными людьми и часто при случайных обстоятельствах. Но, взятые вместе, они образуют единую закономерную систему, в которой число перекрестных связей настолько велико, что в ней нельзя заменить ни одного звена, не затронув при этом остальных. Под давлением новых фактов система эта непрерывно меняется и уточняется, но никогда не теряет целостности и своеобразной законченности. Нынешняя система научных понятий — продукт длительной эволюции: в течение многих лет (и веков) старые звенья в ней заменялись новыми, более совершенными, и даже истинно революционные открытия всегда возникали с учетом и на основе прежних знаний».

И тут же: «Далеко не всё можно разложить на элементы и представить в виде формул и чисел, но не стоит огорчаться по этому поводу: ведь это означает просто, что мир богаче и сложнее, чем его образ, даваемый наукой». В наблюдениях по поводу религии можно усмотреть легкую непоследовательность, но резюме, пожалуй, таково: «В наш просвещенный век религии не осталось места в научной картине мира. Однако дух ее обычно возвращается, как только наука достигает своих естественных пределов, — будь то проблема происхождения жизни на Земле или вопрос о начале мира».

9. Итоги . Затронутые в книге различные темы, взятые вместе, образуют единую закономерную систему, в которой не так просто что-нибудь изменить. Со времени первого издания система эта уточнялась, но никогда не теряла целостности и своеобразной законченности. Далеко не всё можно вместить на страницы одной книги, но не стоит огорчаться по этому поводу: ведь это просто означает, что квантовая механика богаче и сложнее, чем любой ее образ.

И еще: наблюдательный факт состоит в том, что число потенциальных читателей, интересующихся квантовой механикой — да и вообще склонных воспринимать науку как достойное внимания проявление человеческого духа, — не растет с течением времени. А книга Леонида Пономарева обращена в первую очередь к ним. Но глубина, охват и продуманность изложения делают книгу явлением — причем таким, которое способно повлиять на само количество потенциальных читателей.

Алексей Семихатов