Shimon Malin – författare

The strangeness of modern physics has sparked several popular books - such as The Tao of Physics--that explore its affinity with Eastern mysticism. But the founders of quantum mechanics were educated in the classical traditions of Western civilization and Western philosophy. In Nature Loves to Hide, physicist Shimon Malin takes readers on a fascinating tour of quantum theory - one that turns to Western philosophical thought to clarify this strange yet inescapable explanation of reality. Malin translates quantum mechanics into plain English, explaining its origins and workings against the backdrop of the famous debate between Niels Bohr and the skeptical Albert Einstein. Then he moves on to build a philosophical framework that can account for the quantum nature of reality. He shows, for instance, how Platonic and Neoplatonic thought resonates with quantum theory. He draws out the linkage between the concepts of Neoplatonism and the more recent process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. The universe, Whitehead wrote, is an organic whole, composed not of lifeless objects, but "elementary experiences." Beginning with Whitehead's insight, Malin shows how this concept of "throbs of experience" expresses quantum reality, with its subatomic uncertainties, its constituents that are waves and also particles, its emphasis on acts of measurement. Once any educated person could explain the universe as a vast Newtonian web of cause and effect, but since quantum theory, reality again appears to be richer and more mysterious than we had thought. Writing with broad humanistic insight and deep knowledge of science, and using delightful conversations with fictional astronauts Peter and Julie to explain more difficult concepts, Shimon Malin offers a profound new understanding of the nature of reality - one that shows a deep continuity with aspects of our Western philosophical tradition going back 2500 years, and that feels more deeply satisfying, and truer, than the clockwork universe of Newton.

Spinors are used extensively in physics. It is widely accepted that they are more fundamental than tensors, and the easy way to see this is through the results obtained in general relativity theory by using spinors — results that could not have been obtained by using tensor methods only.The foundation of the concept of spinors is groups; spinors appear as representations of groups. This textbook expounds the relationship between spinors and representations of groups. As is well known, spinors and representations are both widely used in the theory of elementary particles.The authors present the origin of spinors from representation theory, but nevertheless apply the theory of spinors to general relativity theory, and part of the book is devoted to curved space-time applications.Based on lectures given at Ben Gurion University, this textbook is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics and mathematics, as well as being a reference for researchers.

Spinors are used extensively in physics. It is widely accepted that they are more fundamental than tensors, and the easy way to see this is through the results obtained in general relativity theory by using spinors — results that could not have been obtained by using tensor methods only.The foundation of the concept of spinors is groups; spinors appear as representations of groups. This textbook expounds the relationship between spinors and representations of groups. As is well known, spinors and representations are both widely used in the theory of elementary particles.The authors present the origin of spinors from representation theory, but nevertheless apply the theory of spinors to general relativity theory, and part of the book is devoted to curved space-time applications.Based on lectures given at Ben Gurion University, this textbook is intended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in physics and mathematics, as well as being a reference for researchers.

It is naturally important for any of us to have a correct view of the universe we are in. Having realized that the Newtonian world-view is untenable, this book joins others that are searching for an alternative world-view. It is unique in using quantum physics to promote this search.One aim of the book is to present a lucid exposition of quantum mechanics in terms accessible to the general reader. Another aim is to show that realism (the belief that the outside world exists “from its own side” regardless of acts of consciousness) and locality (the belief that nothing moves faster than light) are invalid, and should be replaced by a new paradigm according to which the universe is alive. A third aim is to show that the thinking of quantum physicists evokes the philosophies of Plato and Plotinus.The revised edition will include a conversation between two fictional characters to elucidate the discussion of the meaning of wave functions.