Mathematical Physics in Mathematics and Physics - Quantum and Operator Algebraic Aspects (Hardcover)

The beauty and the mystery surrounding the interplay between mathematics and physics is captured by E. Wigner's famous expression, "The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics". We don't know why, but physical laws are described by mathematics, and good mathematics sooner or later finds applications in physics, often in a surprising way. In this sense, mathematical physics is a very old subject-as Egyptian, Phoenician, or Greek history tells us However, mathematical physics is a very modern subject, as any working mathematician or physicist can witness. It is a challenging discipline that has to provide results of interest for both mathematics and physics. Ideas and motivations from both these sciences give it a vitality and freshness that is difficult to find anywhere else. One of the big physical revolutions in the 20th century, quantum physics, opened a new magnificent era for this interplay. With the appearance of noncommutative analysis, the role of classical calculus has been taken by commutation relations, a subject still growing in an astonishing way.