Author: Elizabeth Garber
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2012-12-06
Total Pages: 410
ISBN-13: 1461217660
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This work is the first explicit examination of the key role that mathematics has played in the development of theoretical physics and will undoubtedly challenge the more conventional accounts of its historical development. Although mathematics has long been regarded as the "language" of physics, the connections between these independent disciplines have been far more complex and intimate than previous narratives have shown. The author convincingly demonstrates that practices, methods, and language shaped the development of the field, and are a key to understanding the mergence of the modern academic discipline. Mathematicians and physicists, as well as historians of both disciplines, will find this provocative work of great interest.
Author: Rudolf Peierls
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2020-09-01
Total Pages: 178
ISBN-13: 0691217882
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →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 of possibilities to look for, he suggests, scientists may be able to avoid errors in future problems. In some cases the surprise is that the outcome of a calculation is contrary to what physical intuition seems to demand. In other instances an approximation that looks convincing turns out to be unjustified, or one that looks unreasonable turns out to be adequate. Professor Peierls does not suggest, however, that theoretical physics is a hazardous game in which one can never foresee the surprises a detailed calculation might reveal. Rather, he contends, all the surprises discussed have rational explanations, most of which are very simple, at least in principle. This book is based on the author's lectures at the University of Washington in the spring of 1977 and at the Institut de Physique Nucleaire, University de Paris-Sud, Orsay, during the winter of 1977-1978.
Author: Georg Joos
Publisher: Courier Corporation
Published: 2013-04-22
Total Pages: 928
ISBN-13: 0486318532
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Classic treatise covers mathematical topics needed by theoretical and experimental physicists (vector analysis, calculus of variations, etc.), followed by coverage of mechanics, electromagnetic theory, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics.
Author: S. D'Agostino
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2012-12-06
Total Pages: 406
ISBN-13: 9401090343
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book presents a perspective on the history of theoretical physics over the past two hundreds years. It comprises essays on the history of pre-Maxwellian electrodynamics, of Maxwell's and Hertz's field theories, and of the present century's relativity and quantum physics. A common thread across the essays is the search for and the exploration of themes that influenced significant con ceptual changes in the great movement of ideas and experiments which heralded the emergence of theoretical physics (hereafter: TP). The fun. damental change involved the recognition of the scien tific validity of theoretical physics. In the second half of the nine teenth century, it was not easy for many physicists to understand the nature and scope of theoretical physics and of its adept, the theoreti cal physicist. A physicist like Ludwig Boltzmann, one of the eminent contributors to the new discipline, confessed in 1895 that, "even the formulation of this concept [of a theoretical physicist] is not entirely without difficulty". 1 Although science had always been divided into theory and experiment, it was only in physics that theoretical work developed into a major research and teaching specialty in its own right. 2 It is true that theoretical physics was mainly a creation of tum of-the century German physics, where it received full institutional recognition, but it is also undeniable that outstanding physicists in other European countries, namely, Ampere, Fourier, and Maxwell, also had an important part in its creation.
Author: David Wallace
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2021
Total Pages: 169
ISBN-13: 0198814321
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Philosophy of physics is concerned with the deepest theories of modern physics - quantum theory, our theories of space, time and symmetry, and thermal physics - and their strange, even bizarre conceptual implications. This book explores the core topics in philosophy of physics, and discusses their relevance for both scientists and philosophers.
Author: Dariusz Chruscinski
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2012-12-06
Total Pages: 346
ISBN-13: 0817681760
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Several well-established geometric and topological methods are used in this work in an application to a beautiful physical phenomenon known as the geometric phase. This book examines the geometric phase, bringing together different physical phenomena under a unified mathematical scheme. The material is presented so that graduate students and researchers in applied mathematics and physics with an understanding of classical and quantum mechanics can handle the text.
Author: G. W. Gibbons
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2003-10-23
Total Pages: 924
ISBN-13: 9780521820813
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →Based on lectures given in honour of Stephen Hawking's sixtieth birthday, this book comprises contributions from some of the world's leading theoretical physicists. It begins with a section containing chapters by successful scientific popularisers, bringing to life both Hawking's work and other exciting developments in physics. The book then goes on to provide a critical evaluation of advanced subjects in modern cosmology and theoretical physics. Topics covered include the origin of the universe, warped spacetime, cosmological singularities, quantum gravity, black holes, string theory, quantum cosmology and inflation. As well as providing a fascinating overview of the wide variety of subject areas to which Stephen Hawking has contributed, this book represents an important assessment of prospects for the future of fundamental physics and cosmology.
Author: Felix Finster
Publisher: Springer Nature
Published: 2020-04-09
Total Pages: 302
ISBN-13: 3030389413
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →This book focuses on a critical discussion of the status and prospects of current approaches in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, in particular concerning gravity. It contains a carefully selected cross-section of lectures and discussions at the seventh conference “Progress and Visions in Quantum Theory in View of Gravity” which took place in fall 2018 at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences in Leipzig. In contrast to usual proceeding volumes, instead of reporting on the most recent technical results, contributors were asked to discuss visions and new ideas in foundational physics, in particular concerning foundations of quantum field theory. A special focus has been put on the question of which physical principles of quantum (field) theory can be considered fundamental in view of gravity. The book is mainly addressed to mathematicians and physicists who are interested in fundamental questions of mathematical physics. It allows the reader to obtain a broad and up-to-date overview of a fascinating active research area.
Author: Armin Wachter
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2005-12-08
Total Pages: 530
ISBN-13: 0387257993
DOWNLOAD EBOOK →The Compendium of Theoretical Physics contains the canonical curriculum of theoretical physics. From classical mechanics over electrodynamics, quantum mechanics and statistical physics/thermodynamics, all topics are treated axiomatic-deductively and confimed by exercises, solutions and short summaries.