Erwin Brüning

Francesco Petruccione

Based on eight extensive lectures selected from those given at the renowned Chris Engelbrecht Summer School in Theoretical Physics in South Africa, this text on the theoretical foundations of quantum information processing and communication covers an array of topics, including quantum probabilities, open systems, and non-Markovian dynamics and decoherence. It also addresses quantum information and relativity as well as testing quantum mechanics in high energy physics. Because these self-contained lectures discuss topics not typically covered in advanced undergraduate courses, they are ideal for post-graduate students entering this field of research. Some of the lectures are written at a more introductory level while others are presented as tutorials that survey recent developments and results in various subfields.

Selected Topics

Theoretical Foundations of Quantum Information Processing and Communication

Selected Theoretical and Experimental Aspects

Emerging Quantum Technologies

Philippe Blanchard

The first edition (in German) had the prevailing character of a textbook owing to the choice of material and the manner of its presentation. This second (translated, revised, and extended) edition, however, includes in its new parts considerably more recent and advanced results and thus goes partially beyond the textbook level. We should emphasize here that the primary intentions of this book are to provide (so far as possible given the restrictions of space) a selfcontained presentation of some modern developments in the direct methods of the cal culus of variations in applied mathematics and mathematical physics from a unified point of view and to link it to the traditional approach. These modern developments are, according to our background and interests: (i) Thomas-Fermi theory and related theories, and (ii) global systems of semilinear elliptic partial-differential equations and the existence of weak solutions and their regularity. Although the direct method in the calculus of variations can naturally be considered part of nonlinear functional analysis, we have not tried to present our material in this way. Some recent books on nonlinear functional analysis in this spirit are those by K. Deimling (Nonlinear Functional Analysis, Springer, Berlin Heidelberg 1985) and E. Zeidler (Nonlinear Functional Analysis and Its Applications, Vols. 1-4; Springer, New York 1986-1990).

A Unified Approach

Variational Methods in Mathematical Physics

The second edition of this textbook presents the basic mathematical knowledge and skills that are needed for courses on modern theoretical physics, such as those on quantum mechanics, classical and quantum field theory, and related areas. The authors stress that learning mathematical physics is not a passive process and include numerous detailed proofs, examples, and over 200 exercises, as well as hints linking mathematical concepts and results to the relevant physical concepts and theories. All of the material from the first edition has been updated, and five new chapters have been added on such topics as distributions, Hilbert space operators, and variational methods. The text is divided into three parts: - Part I: A brief introduction to (Schwartz) distribution theory. Elements from the theories of ultra distributions and (Fourier) hyperfunctions are given in addition to some deeper results for Schwartz distributions, thus providing a rather comprehensive introduction to the theory of generalized functions. Basic properties and methods for distributions are developed with applications to constant coefficient ODEs and PDEs. The relation between distributions and holomorphic functions is considered, as well as basic properties of Sobolev spaces. - Part II: Fundamental facts about Hilbert spaces. The basic theory of linear (bounded and unbounded) operators in Hilbert spaces and special classes of linear operators - compact, Hilbert-Schmidt, trace class, and Schrödinger operators, as needed in quantum physics and quantum information theory – are explored. This section also contains a detailed spectral analysis of all major classes of linear operators, including completeness of generalized eigenfunctions, as well as of (completely) positive mappings, in particular quantum operations. - Part III: Direct methods of the calculus of variations and their applications to boundary- and eigenvalue-problems for linear and nonlinear partial differential operators. The authors conclude with a discussion of the Hohenberg-Kohn variational principle. The appendices contain proofs of more general and deeper results, including completions, basic facts about metrizable Hausdorff locally convex topological vector spaces, Baire’s fundamental results and their main consequences, and bilinear functionals. Mathematical Methods in Physics is aimed at a broad community of graduate students in mathematics, mathematical physics, quantum information theory, physics and engineering, as well as researchers in these disciplines. Expanded content and relevant updates will make this new edition a valuable resource for those working in these disciplines.

Erwin Brüning

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