Kategoria BISAC: Science >> Physics - General

From classical mechanics to general relativity, the key principles in all areas of physics are surveyed in this one handy volume. Here Alan Tribble addresses the needs of students and practicing physicists alike. He starts with a review of mathematical methods and then summarizes the most widely used concepts in physics, detailing derivations and applications. With its mix of theory, application, and solved problems, Advanced Physics enables a student to grasp quickly the fundamentals of the field while providing physicists, engineers, and mathematicians with an ideal reference for...

Physics has the reputation of being difficult to understand and remote from everyday life. Robert Ehrlich, however, has spent much of his career disproving these stereotypes. In the long-awaited sequel to Turning the World Inside Out and 175 Other Simple Physics Demonstrations, he provides a new collection of physics demonstrations and experiments that prove that physics can, in fact, be "made simple." Intentionally using "low tech" and inexpensive materials from everyday life, Why Toast Lands Jelly-Side Down makes key principles of physics surprisingly easy to...

Astronomers believe that a supernova is a massive explosion signaling the death of a star, causing a cosmic recycling of the chemical elements and leaving behind a pulsar, black hole, or nothing at all. In an engaging story of the life cycles of stars, Laurence Marschall tells how early astronomers identified supernovae, and how later scientists came to their current understanding, piecing together observations and historical accounts to form a theory, which was tested by intensive study of SN 1987A, the brightest supernova since 1006. He has revised and updated The Supernova Story...

Because of the high symmetry involved, the Jahn-Teller effect is the natural starting point for considering electron-phonon (or vibronic) interactions in icosahedral molecules. This work is the first comprehensive theoretical analysis of the Jahn-Teller interaction in C60 and other icosahedral complexes. The importance of this research derives in part from the increasing, widespread interest in C60 and other molecular clusters and their application in science and industry. The electrical and spectroscopic properties of fullerene and fulleride compounds depend intimately on the...

The past century has seen fantastic advances in physics, from the discovery of the electron, x-rays, and radioactivity, to the era of incredible solid state devices, computers, quarks and leptons, and the standard model. But what of the next? Many scientists think we are on the threshold of an even more exciting new era in which breakthroughs in a startling variety of directions will produce significant changes in our understanding of the natural world. In this book, a group of eminent scientists define and elaborate on these new directions.

Ed Witten and Frank Wilczek discuss...

The quantum theory of macroscopic systems is a vast, ever-developing area of science that serves to relate the properties of complex physical objects to those of their constituent particles. Its essential challenge is that of finding the conceptual structures needed for the description of the various states of organization of many-particle quantum systems. In this book, Geoffrey Sewell provides a new approach to the subject, based on a "macrostatistical mechanics," which contrasts sharply with the standard microscopic treatments of many-body problems.

Sewell begins by presenting...

Problems in theoretical physics often lead to paradoxical answers; yet closer reasoning and a more complete analysis invariably lead to the resolution of the paradox and to a deeper understanding of the physics involved. Drawing primarily from his own experience and that of his collaborators, Sir Rudolf Peierls selects examples of such "surprises" from a wide range of physical theory, from quantum mechanical scattering theory to the theory of relativity, from irreversibility in statistical mechanics to the behavior of electrons in solids. By studying such surprises and learning what kind...

This book provides the first coherent account of the area of analysis that involves the Heisenberg group, quantization, the Weyl calculus, the metaplectic representation, wave packets, and related concepts. This circle of ideas comes principally from mathematical physics, partial differential equations, and Fourier analysis, and it illuminates all these subjects. The principal features of the book are as follows: a thorough treatment of the representations of the Heisenberg group, their associated integral transforms, and the metaplectic representation; an exposition of the Weyl calculus...

Physical scientists are problem solvers. They are comfortable "doing" science: they find problems, solve them, and explain their solutions. Roger Newton believes that his fellow physicists might be too comfortable with their roles as solvers of problems. He argues that physicists should spend more time thinking about physics. If they did, he believes, they would become even more skilled at solving problems and "doing" science. As Newton points out in this thought-provoking book, problem solving is always influenced by the theoretical assumptions of the problem solver. Too often, though, he...

This is a rare and much-needed book: a concise but comprehensive account of quantum mechanics for popular science readers written by a respected physicist. Sam Treiman--internationally renowned for his work in particle physics--makes quantum mechanics accessible to nonspecialists. Combining mastery of the material with clear, elegant prose and infectious enthusiasm, he conveys the substance, methods, and profound oddities of the field.

Treiman begins with an overview of quantum mechanics. He sketches the early development of the field by Einstein, Bohr, Heisenberg, Schrodinger,...

The mysterious beauty, harmony, and consistency of mathematics once caused philosopher Hilary Putnam to term its existence a "miracle." Now, advances in the understanding of physics suggest that the foundations of mathematics are encompassed by the laws of nature, an idea that sheds new light on both mathematics and physics.

The philosophical relationship between mathematics and the natural sciences is the subject of Converging Realities, the latest work by one of the leading thinkers on the subject. Based on a simple but powerful idea, it shows that the axioms needed for...

In this fascinating book, John Charap offers a panoramic view of the physicist's world as the twenty-first century opens--a view that is entirely different from the one that greeted the twentieth century. We have learned that the universe is billions of galaxies larger than we imagined--and billions of years older. We know more about how it came to be and what it is. Because of physics, we live in a world of greater danger and more convenience, smaller particles and bigger ideas.

Charap introduces these ideas but spares us the math behind them. After a review of the twentieth...