Vladimir Krivchenkov
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Dmitrievich Krivchenkov ' onMouseout='HidePop("25710")' href="/topics/Russia">Russia
n physicist, professor, creator of the "Deterministic concept of Quantum Mechanics", author of textbooks, translated into many languages and published many times..
V.Krivchenkov worked at the Physics Department of the Moscow State University.
Мария Михайловна Калугина, 1893) in Elisarovo, Podolsk
Uyezd
Moscow Governorate
, Russia (Елизарово Подольского уезда Московской губернии).
of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is completely deterministic systems, where any event always has a cause and any cause always has an effect. However, some quantum mechanical systems are complicated, so we have to describe them classically (quasi-classically, semi-classically, pseudo-classically, ...). Then, immediately, probability appears, because classical mechanics cannot interpret events in a deterministic way. An intermediate step is provided by the formalism of the density matrix
, that allows us to keep some quantum mechanical properties in the classical description; however, such a description is not complete and it is just a compromise between the deterministic description of too complicated a system and wishes to make any (at least probabilistic) predictions.
As an example of the superiority of quantum mechanics, Krivchenkov usually cited the 3-body problem. The 2-body Keppler problem has an analytic ("exact") solution, which is periodic. The quantum-mechanical analogy corresponds to the Hydrogen atom
, which also has an analytic ("exact") solution in closed form, described with the Columb wave function. The addition of a third particle Helium atom
still admits analytic estimates that can be performed by a 3rd-grade student. However, the classical analogy becomes so complicated that it is not even included in a university course of astronomy.
In such a way, it is classical mechanics that could in some sense be interpreted in terms of quantum mechanics (the correspondence principle
). By itself, quantum mechanics is a self-consistent deterministic theory that does not need any interpretation.
Quantum field theory
is a generalization of quantum mechanics. Krivchenkov believed that people need to understand at least the non–relativistic theory. He almost asked students to excuse him for the field theory, where only perturbation theory can be offered. Not only do the perturbation theory series diverge, but each perturbational term also in some sense is infinite, and a special renormalization of the interaction constant is required to give the result the physical sense.
One of the colleagues of Krivchenkov, Yurii Shirokov
tried to construct quantum field theory
in terms of wave packets, without divergences, using the algebra of generalized functions, but even now this approach is not sufficiently developed. Krivchenkov told students that they are supposed to build up a "true" theory, not just a perturbation, that always gives a divergent series. This statement (dogma) applies not only to Field Theory and quantum mechanics, but to any perturbation theory with respect to any distributed system; the perturbation series always diverges. Krivchenkov had realized this and brought this knowledge to students. Many problems in his books stress this property of perturbation theory.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n physicist, professor, creator of the "Deterministic concept of Quantum Mechanics", author of textbooks, translated into many languages and published many times..
V.Krivchenkov worked at the Physics Department of the Moscow State University.
Life
- V.Krivchenkov was born on 15 October 1917 in the family of Dmitrii Krivchenkov (Дмитрий Петрович Кривченков, 1886) and Maria Kalugina
Мария Михайловна Калугина, 1893) in Elisarovo, Podolsk
Podolsk
Podolsk is an industrial city and the administrative center of Podolsky District of Moscow Oblast, Russia. It is located on the Pakhra River...
Uyezd
Uyezd
Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...
Moscow Governorate
Moscow Governorate
Moscow Governorate , or Government of Moscow, was an administrative division of the Russian Empire, which existed in 1708–1929....
, Russia (Елизарово Подольского уезда Московской губернии).
- 1935, entered the physics department of Moscow State UniversityMoscow State UniversityLomonosov Moscow State University , previously known as Lomonosov University or MSU , is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be one of the oldest university in Russia and to have the tallest educational building in the world. Its current rector is Viktor Sadovnichiy...
, getting an "excellent" qualification in all exams. - 1937, August 1937, August 28, mother of V.Krivchenkov died.
- 1941, March, father of V.Krivchenkov was arrested.
- 1941, June 32, Graduated from the MSU with qualification "Physicist".
- 1942-1944, Worked at the Physical Military Institute (НИИФ) on the destruction of magnetic mines.
- 1944-2000, work at the Physics department of MSU as assistant professor and later professor.
Interpretation of Quantum mechanics
According to Krivchenkov, the intents to "interpret" quantum mechanics in terms of classical mechanics nave no more sense than interpretation of heliocentric cosmological system in terms of geocentric system. Only the old tradition forced the physicists to discuss the so-called Copenhagen interpretationCopenhagen interpretation
The Copenhagen interpretation is one of the earliest and most commonly taught interpretations of quantum mechanics. It holds that quantum mechanics does not yield a description of an objective reality but deals only with probabilities of observing, or measuring, various aspects of energy quanta,...
of quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is completely deterministic systems, where any event always has a cause and any cause always has an effect. However, some quantum mechanical systems are complicated, so we have to describe them classically (quasi-classically, semi-classically, pseudo-classically, ...). Then, immediately, probability appears, because classical mechanics cannot interpret events in a deterministic way. An intermediate step is provided by the formalism of the density matrix
Density matrix
In quantum mechanics, a density matrix is a self-adjoint positive-semidefinite matrix of trace one, that describes the statistical state of a quantum system...
, that allows us to keep some quantum mechanical properties in the classical description; however, such a description is not complete and it is just a compromise between the deterministic description of too complicated a system and wishes to make any (at least probabilistic) predictions.
As an example of the superiority of quantum mechanics, Krivchenkov usually cited the 3-body problem. The 2-body Keppler problem has an analytic ("exact") solution, which is periodic. The quantum-mechanical analogy corresponds to the Hydrogen atom
Hydrogen atom
A hydrogen atom is an atom of the chemical element hydrogen. The electrically neutral atom contains a single positively-charged proton and a single negatively-charged electron bound to the nucleus by the Coulomb force...
, which also has an analytic ("exact") solution in closed form, described with the Columb wave function. The addition of a third particle Helium atom
Helium atom
Helium is an element and the next simplest atom to solve after the hydrogen atom. Helium is composed of two electrons in orbit around a nucleus containing two protons along with either one or two neutrons, depending on the isotope. The hydrogen atom is used extensively to aid in solving the helium...
still admits analytic estimates that can be performed by a 3rd-grade student. However, the classical analogy becomes so complicated that it is not even included in a university course of astronomy.
In such a way, it is classical mechanics that could in some sense be interpreted in terms of quantum mechanics (the correspondence principle
Correspondence principle
In physics, the correspondence principle states that the behavior of systems described by the theory of quantum mechanics reproduces classical physics in the limit of large quantum numbers....
). By itself, quantum mechanics is a self-consistent deterministic theory that does not need any interpretation.
Perturbation theory
Quantum field theory
Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...
is a generalization of quantum mechanics. Krivchenkov believed that people need to understand at least the non–relativistic theory. He almost asked students to excuse him for the field theory, where only perturbation theory can be offered. Not only do the perturbation theory series diverge, but each perturbational term also in some sense is infinite, and a special renormalization of the interaction constant is required to give the result the physical sense.
One of the colleagues of Krivchenkov, Yurii Shirokov
Yurii Shirokov
Yurii Shirokov, , writer, physicist, professor.Graduated from Moscow State University in 1948. Worked in the same university, then in the Steklov Mathematical Institute...
tried to construct quantum field theory
Quantum field theory
Quantum field theory provides a theoretical framework for constructing quantum mechanical models of systems classically parametrized by an infinite number of dynamical degrees of freedom, that is, fields and many-body systems. It is the natural and quantitative language of particle physics and...
in terms of wave packets, without divergences, using the algebra of generalized functions, but even now this approach is not sufficiently developed. Krivchenkov told students that they are supposed to build up a "true" theory, not just a perturbation, that always gives a divergent series. This statement (dogma) applies not only to Field Theory and quantum mechanics, but to any perturbation theory with respect to any distributed system; the perturbation series always diverges. Krivchenkov had realized this and brought this knowledge to students. Many problems in his books stress this property of perturbation theory.