Entangled World: The Fascination of Quantum Information and Computation

In the quantum world, a particle can behave like a wave and accordingly seems to be in two places at eh same time. This of course is contradictory to our daily experiences with classical particles. How then should this be understood? What happens in the transitional area between the classical world and quantum mechanics? The present book answers exciting questions like these in a way that is easy to follow and to understand and it shows that the link between these two worlds will have concrete and applied effects on our daily life in the near future. It will, for example, improve and change the conventional methods of information processing. With the help of quantum cryptography, it will be possible to communicate tap–proof. Using quantum computers we will be able to solve  highly complicated problems in a very short time.

Preface View into the quantum world I: Fundamental phenomena and concepts View into the quantum world II: Entanglement and its consequences The Bohr–Einstein debate and the fundamental problem of quantum mechanics An excursion into the quantum world Entangled quantum systems: From wave–particle duality to single–photon sources of light Quantum information Quantum computers – the new generation of supercomputers? Decoherence and the transition from quantum physics to classical physics Quantum information processing – Dream and realization Quantum theory: A challeng for philosophy!

Editor: Jürgen Audretsch was born in 1942 in Einbeck, Germany, and studied physics at the Universities of Tübingen and Freiburg. In 1980, he accepted a post as professor for theoretical physics at the University of Constance. His fields of activity were at first the General Relativity Theory and Quantum Field Theory, lately he has been doing research in theoretical quantum optics and the basic principles of quantum theory. Authors: Jürgen Audretsch Carsten Held Robert Löw and Tilman Pfau Gerhard Rempe Harald Weinfurter Reinhard F. Werner Erich Joost Rainer Blatt Michael Esfeld Professor Audretsch has not only published numerous scientific articles which appeared in scientific journals and books, he is also the author of a number of books for a wider readership interested in physics, which depict the relations between physics and philosophy or physics and theology. Professor Jürgen Audretsch Fakultät für Physik der Universität Konstanz Fach M 673 D–78457 Konstanz Germany

"... a comprehensible, friendly and insightful introduction into modern ideas in quantum physics." Nature "This collection of articles by experts on a wide range of quantum–related topics is well organized...recommended." CHOICE "...this book has much to offer and is reasonably priced..." Cern Courier