Product Description

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.

This study encompasses engagements across discipline boundaries and many nations rom the ear of Euler and Bernoulli o that of Hilbert and Einstein. At all times physicists and mathematicians retained their distinct sets of disciplinary standards and goals. Interactions within historical ears are handled using the standards of the time to define mathematics and physics. In this context, the works of Lagrange, Laplace, Fourier, Jacobi, William Thomson, Maxwell, Helmholtz, and many others are discussed, and by 1870, it is evident that the essentials of modern theoretical physics are in place. The epilogue, spanning the decades from 1870 to the First World War, deals with the decline of these interactions and the building of new connections. It is particularly significant that these new patterns of interactions became paradigmatic for the rest of the twentieth century.

The unique perspectives concerning the history of theoretical physics will undoubtedly cause some raised eyebrows, as 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.

Customer Reviews (1)

Anachronisms Corrected
For the first time Garber makes sense out of the threads which came together at the end of the nineteenth century to create modern theoretical physics.

Beginning in the late eighteenth century, scientists working on the development of differential and integral calculus showed how a group of bodies possessed invariant qualities such as kinetic energy, action, and potential energy.

Until Gerber's work, these scientists -- Bernoulli, Mayer, Lagrange, Laplace, Poisson, and Jacobi, among others -- were celebrated as doing great work in physics.

Their work did have consequences for physics, and implied quite a bit from the point of view of mathematical treatment of physical phenomena, but their intention had been to develop the boundaries of mathematics, specifically the differential equations of calculus.

Using detailed examples from not only mechanics but electromagnetism and thermodynamics as well, Garber revises the old-fashioned view of the development of theoretical physics, and proves how the work of a large number of her colleagues in the history of 18th- and 19th-century mathematics and physics supports her interpretation.

A major step forward in the history of science. ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides a comprehensive collection of problems together with their detailed solutions in the field of Theoretical and Mathematical Physics. All modern fields in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics are covered. It is the only book which covers all the new techniques and methods in theoretical and mathematical physics. Third edition updated with: Exercises in: Hilbert space theory, Lie groups, Matrix-valued differential forms, Bose-Fermi operators and string theory. All other chapters have been updated with new problems and materials. Most chapters contain an introduction to the subject discussed in the text.

• Complex Numbers and Functions
• Sums and Products
• Discrete Fourier Transform
• Algebraic and Transcendental Equations
• Vector and Matrix Calculations
• Matrices and Groups
• Matrices and Eigenvalue Problems
• Functions of Matrices
• Transformations
• L'Hospital's Rule
• Lagrange Multiplier Method
• Linear Difference Equations
• Linear Differential Equations
• Integration
• Continuous Fourier Transform
• Complex Analysis
• Special Functions
• Inequalities
• Functional Analysis
• Combinatorics
• Convex Sets and Functions
• Optimization

Product Description
This comprehensive textbook utilizes Green's functions and theequations derived from them to solve real physical problems insolid-state theoretical physics. Green's functions are used todescribe processes in solids and quantum fluids and to addressproblems in areas such as electron gas, polarons, electron transport,optical response, superconductivity and superfluidity.
The updated third edition features several new chapters on differentmean-free paths, Hubbard model, Coulomb blockade, and the quantum Halleffect. New sections have been added, while original sections havebeen modified to include recent applications.
This text is ideal for third- or fourth-year graduate students andincludes numerous study problems and an extensive bibliography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Comprehensive reference
If you're a condensed matter theorist, you'll want to have this book on your shelf to refer to.It is extremely comprehensive.If you're just starting out learning many body theory, I wouldn't recommend this book-- it doesn't give enough physical intuition, and because of its comprehensive nature, doesn't give you a good feeling for what is more or less important.I'd recommend reading Mattuck's "A Guide to Feynman Diagrams in the Many-Body Problem" and Bruus & Flensberg's "Many Body Quantum theory in condensed matter physics" first, and then reading Mahan.Now I'm rereading Mahan after reading Mattuck and Bruus, and I'm getting much more out of it than my first attempt.

If you got here, you probably need this as a reference
Dr. Mahan has crafted a veritable encyclopedia of results and methods in quantum many body and beyond.Much more complete that others, much clearer, less pedantic, it also has the advantage of not being too wedded to any particular formalism (like e.g. Fetter Walecka does with Green functions). Dr. Mahan, does not force unifying frameworks on the issue at hand, butinstead takes a more empirical approach, which allows him to present each problem in the most spontaneous and clear way. Highly recommended for all theoretical physicists.

Good Book for reference
It certainly deserves the title for encyclopedia. Has a lot of thing. Must keep if you are into into condensed matter physics.

But beware of misprints!! thats why 4 stars

Good book but so much money
This book is massive and covers a huge spectrum of material.Probably not cost effective in comparison to Fetter and Walecka unless you get it for under eighty bucks.I enjoyed it quite a bit until the Postal Service stole it from me.

Containing too many misprints.
Unfortunately, the 3rd edition of Mahan's book contains enormous number of misprints. Sometimes, it is impossible to understand what is meant by the author without consulting the previous edition. For example, in Sec. 4.1.5. the author refers in the text to the equation which apparently should be between Eqs. (4.126) and (4.127) but which had been omitted. At the same time, some evident drawbacks of the previous edition have not been corrected. For example, the definition of the thermodynamic average used in Sec. 3.6 is different from that used in the previous sections, although it is not mentioned in the text. Despite the book is an excellent introduction into the field of Many-Particle Physics, I would recommend to the customer to either buy the previous edition or to wait for a new one. ... Read more

Product Description
Intended for undergraduate courses in physics for students in biological physics, life sciences, biophysics, physiology, medical physics, and biomedical engineering, this book is an introduction to statistical physics with examples and problems from the medical and biological sciences. Topics include the elements of the theory of probability, Poisson statistics, thermal equilibrium, entropy and free energy, and the second law of thermodynamics.

This new edition of the classic set of books, originally published in 1974 from the authors' typescript, has been edited, updated, corrected, indexed, and typeset. It will satisfy the growing need for a working knowledge of the physical sciences among students and practitioners in the medical and biological sciences. The books can be used as supplements to standard introductory physics courses, as texts for medical schools, medical physics courses, and biology departments, and as a reference for practitioners. Chapters include problems and references.

The authors are recognized experts in the field. Benedek was the recipient of the 1995 Irving Langmuir Prize from the American Physical Society's Division of Chemical Physics, and the 1994 Biological Physics Prize from the American Physical Society.

FROM THE REVIEWS:

PHYSICS TODAY"These are classic books, and anyone planning to include bio-physical examples in a calculus-level course should study them carefully...The authors are to be congratulated for their work, and I commend AIP Press and Springer-Verlag for making the books available again." ... Read more

Product Description
This textbook covers elements of quantum field theory, symmetry principles, gauge field theories and phenomenological descriptions of hadrons, with special emphasis on topics relevant to hadron and nuclear physics. Written at an introductory level, it is aimed at nuclear physicists in general and experimentalists in particular who need a working knowledge of field theory, symmetry principles of elementary particles and their interactions and the quark structure of hadrons. It will also be of benefit to graduate students who need an understanding of the basics of these topics for their work in other fields. ... Read more

Product Description
The book is written for advanced graduate students. The topics have been selected to present methods and models that have applications in both particle physics and polymer physics. The lectures may serve as a guide through more recent research activities and illustrate the applicability of joint methods in different contexts. The book deals with analytic tools (e.g. random walk models, polymer expansion), numerical tools (e.g. Langevin dynamics), and common models (the three-dimensional Gross-Neveu-Model). ... Read more

Product Description
In this book the author extends the concepts introduced in his Quantum Field Theory in Condensed Matter Physics to situations in which the strong electronic correlations are crucial for the understanding of the observed phenomena. Starting from a model field theory to illustrate the basic ideas, more complex systems are analyzed in turn. A special chapter is devoted to the description of antiferromagnets, doped Mott insulators, and quantum Hall liquids from the point of view of gauge theory. ... Read more

Product Description

Mathematica for Theoretical Physics:

Customer Reviews (1)

A bit outdated.
I'm working through the book with Mathematica 7. I've been told by the folks at Wolfram that Mathematica 7 will be replaced by a newer version.

Entering some of the examples in this book into Mathematica results in warnings like "Graphics`ImplicitPlot` is now obsolete" and Mathematica 7 doesn't recognize the old ImplicitPlot function, even though Mathematica said it loaded the old package. So, some of the examples in this book just don't work in Mathematica 7. This book is out of date with the latest version of Mathematica.

Also, keep in mind that this is volume 1 of a 2 volume set. The table of contents of this book spans both volumes. Chapter 4 and on is in the second volume.

All in all, though, it is much better than the very dull books that spend chapters on adding 2+2 as an example. :-D But for the price, I expected something more up-to-date. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume is mainly concerned with a systematic development of the theory of plasmas, the authority being firmly rooted in the pioneering work of Landau. Corresponding results are also given for partially ionized plasmas, relativistic plasmas, degenerate or non-ideal plasmas and solid state plasmas.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Beware: it is a Landau book
This is probably the best book written on the physical basis of (classical and quantum) kinetic phenomena. That said, the reader should be aware the book is written in the famous Landau style: derivations are carried out based on strong physical intuition and with minimum mathematical detailing and little rigour; much is expected from the reader. The rewards are high for those who (can) pursue the thing: you will be able to muse your collaborators by deriving all those nonlinear PDEs and at the same time to stand for or against recent experimental data by handwaving arguments (well, that depends a little bit on your brainware, too...). This book together with the Fluid Mechanics and the Electrodynamics of Continuous Media titles of the same series are almost everything you need to get a solid ground in the study of, e.g., plasma physics.

A UNIQUE BOOK ABOUT SYSTEMS NOT IN EQUILIBRIUM
This book is the volume 10 and the last volume of the great Course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz. It explains in great detail and rigour the theory of the processes ocurring in several systems not instatistical equilibrium. The book opens with a complete account of the transport processes in gases not in equilibrium, certainly the mostrepresentative physical system not in equilibrium. The Boltzmann transportequation is derived in a general and elegant way in this chapter.After asecond chapter which developes a mathematical technique called thediffusion approximation, the book discusses various processes occurring inseveral systems not in equilibrium, notably the processes occurring inplasmas. Other systems, such as insulators, quantum liquids, metals etc arediscussed.In a final chapter, it developes the kinetics of phasetransitions, in a magnific and concise form. Really this is a superb book,where the reader will learn with detail all these subjects.

A UNIQUE BOOK ABOUT SYSTEMS NOT IN EQUILIBRIUM
This book is the volume 10 and the last volume of the great Course of Theoretical Physics by Landau and Lifshitz. It explains in great detail and rigour the theory of the processes ocurring in several systems not instatistical equilibrium. The book opens with a complete account of the transport processes in gases not in equilibrium, certainly the mostrepresentative physical system not in equilibrium. The Boltzmann transportequation is derived in a general and elegant way in this chapter.After asecond chapter which developes a mathematical technique called thediffusion approximation, the book discusses various processes occurring inseveral systems not in equilibrium, notably the processes occurring inplasmas. Other systems, such as insulators, quantum liquids, metals etc arediscussed.In a final chapter, it developes the kinetics of phasetransitions, in a magnific and concise form. Really this is a superb book,where the reader will learn with detail all these subjects. ... Read more

Product Description
The Adomian decomposition method enables the accurate andefficient analytic solution of nonlinear ordinary or partialdifferential equations without the need to resort to linearization orperturbation approaches. It unifies the treatment of linear andnonlinear, ordinary or partial differential equations, or systems ofsuch equations, into a single basic method, which is applicable toboth initial and boundary-value problems.
This volume deals with the application of this method to many problemsof physics, including some frontier problems which have previouslyrequired much more computationally-intensive approaches.
The opening chapters deal with various fundamental aspects of thedecomposition method. Subsequent chapters deal with the application ofthe method to nonlinear oscillatory systems in physics, the Duffingequation, boundary-value problems with closed irregular contours orsurfaces, and other frontier areas. The potential application of thismethod to a wide range of problems in diverse disciplines such asbiology, hydrology, semiconductor physics, wave propagation, etc., ishighlighted.
For researchers and graduate students of physics, applied mathematicsand engineering, whose work involves mathematical modelling and thequantitative solution of systems of equations.
... Read more

Product Description
One of the most enduring elements in theoretical physics has been group theory. GROUP 24: Physical and Mathematical Aspects of Symmetries provides an important selection of informative articles describing recent advances in the field. The applications of group theory presented in this book deal not only with the traditional fields of physics, but also include such disciplines as chemistry and biology.

Awarded the Wigner Medal and the Weyl Prize, respectively, H.J. Lipkin and E. Frenkel begin the volume with their contributions. Plenary session contributions are represented by 18 longer articles, followed by nearly 200 shorter articles. The book also presents coherent states, wavelets, and applications and quantum group theory and integrable systems in two separate sections.

As a record of an international meeting devoted to the physical and mathematical aspects of group theory, GROUP 24: Physical and Mathematical Aspects of Symmetries constitutes an essential reference for all researchers interested in various current developments related to the important concept of symmetry. ... Read more

Product Description
This two volume work is a superb overview of the classical applied mathematics used in solving problems in physics. The viewpoint of the physicist rather than that of the mathematician is taken. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Should be in the library of every engineer and physicist
The classic "Methods of Theoretical Physics" by Morse and Feshbach should be featured in the library of every engineer, physicist, and applied mathematician. It is a very worthwhile investment.

Great books. Both content AND binding
A great deal has already been said elsewhere about the content in these books.The first book is a deliberate (but not introductory) coverage of the math behind physics; the second book is mostly applications and worked out problems using the material from the first book.Some of the material on dyadics is a bit dated (very little on tensors in the book), but the amazingly clear and comprehensive exposition on generalized vector spaces, Greens functions and eigenfunction expansions makes them a wonderful resource. These books go into great detail on what are now considered esoteric coordinate systems (elliptical, parabolic, etc); this may be the best place to find material on this topic. Overall, the material in these books is very dense.

The republished versions of these books are not just "photocopies" of the original books, as are some of the other reprints of classic books which are similarly expensive, but contain much less material (namely Carslaw & Jaeger and Bender & Orszag).

The print is as clean and crisp as it is in the original library copies of this book I have seen, which is especially important with all the detailed mathematical notation.The nifty 3D stereo figures are crystal clear, too.The paper is excellent quality and the books are bound very soundly (not just glued).Definitely a good addition to the library.

... Read more

Product Description
This volume contains nine refereed research papers in various areas from combinatorics to dynamical systems, with computer algebra as an underlying and unifying theme.

Topics covered include irregular connections, rank reduction and summability of solutions of differential systems, asymptotic behaviour of divergent series, integrability of Hamiltonian systems, multiple zeta values, quasi-polynomial formalism, Padé approximants related to analytic integrability, hybrid systems.

The interactions between computer algebra, dynamical systems and combinatorics discussed in this volume should be useful for both mathematicians and theoretical physicists who are interested in effective computation. ... Read more

Product Description
The book contains seven refereed research papers on locally compact quantum groups and groupoids by leading experts in the respective fields. These contributions are based on talks presented on the occasion of the meeting between mathematicians and theoretical physicists held in Strasbourg from February 21 to February 23, 2002.

Topics covered are: various constructions of locally compact quantum groups and their multiplicative unitaries; duality theory for locally compact quantum groups; combinatorial quantization of flat connections associated with SL(2,c); quantum groupoids, especially coming from Depth 2 Extensions of von Neumann algebras, C*-algebras and Rings. Many mathematical results are motivated by problems in theoretical physics. Historical remarks set the results presented in perspective.

Directed at research mathematicians and theoretical physicists as well as graduate students, the volume will give an overview of a field of research in which great progress has been achieved in the last few years, with new ties to many other areas of mathematics and physics. ... Read more

Product Description
In this book, H. S. Green, a former student of Max Born and well known as an author in physics and in philosophy of science, presents an individual and modern approach to theoretical physics and related fundamental problems. Starting from first principles, the links between physics and information science are unveiled step by step: modern information theory and the classical theory of the Turing machine are combined to create a new interpretation of quantum computability, which is then applied to field theory, gravitation and submicroscopic measurement theory and culminates in a detailed examination of the role of the conscious observer in physical measurements. The result is a highly readable book that unifies a wide range of scientific knowledge and is essential reading for all scientists and philosophers of science interested in the interpretation and the implications of the interaction between information science and basic physical theories. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A deeper understanding!
It started with Alan Turing and John von Neumann: Classical computation follows the model of A. Turing,-- strings of bits, i.e., 0s and 1s; a mathematical model, now called the Turing mashine. Why not two-level quantum systems? The thought was long in coming: From Bohr and Heisenberg to Feynman! The bright idea finally arrived, and with vengeance. An model for computation based on two-level quantum systems was suggested in the 1980ties by R.P. Feynman and D. Deutsch. Then another wait: It wasn't until Peter Shor's qubit-factoring algorithm in the mid 1990ties that the subject really took off, and really caught the attention of the math community. The 'unbreakable' codes might be breakable afterall! The fact that Shor found
a polynomial factoring algorithm naturally shook up the encryption community as well; and for obvious reasons. New elements of thinking in the quantum realm, and not part
of the classical frame of mind, include the basics of quantum theory: superposition of (quantum) states, uncertainty, and
(quantum) coherence. Although these concepts are at the foundation of quantum theory, they make a drastic change in the whole theoretical framework for computation: Now when one passes from the classical notion of bit-registers to
that of qubit-registers, the laws of quantum mechanics take over; and exclude the traditional cloning principle of error correction. Something different must take its place: A new theory! Mathematical physicist and computer scientists must revisit Bohr, Einstein, Heisenberg, Pauli, and Dirac. In passing from logic gates to quantum gates(unitary matrices), the
concept of switching-networks from computer science changes drastically. It introduces new challenges, and new truely exciting opportunities. It is not easy for authors who break with tradition to make everyone happy;-- this is especially so in a new field,--one which has grabbed headlines, and one which
is at the same time interdisiplinary. -- This intriguing book covers several of the appropriate areas of physics (quantum theory, (some) experiment...), of artificial intelligence, of philosophy, of computer science (the mathematical physics side of the subject), and of math (operators in Hilbert space, and the theory of algorithms). In my opinion, the author did a great job. The level of the book is suitable for grad students in math, in CS, and in physics: Itcould perhaps have used some more worked examples and exercises. (Fortunately they can be found in other books on quantum computation, such as the Nielsen-Chuang book.)This book is timeless,-- and I expect it will also be popular ten years from now. ... Read more

Product Description

Are you looking for a concise summary of the theory of Schrödinger operators? Here it is. Emphasizing the progress made in the last decade by Lieb, Enss, Witten and others, the three authors don’t just cover general properties, but also detail multiparticle quantum mechanics – including bound states of Coulomb systems and scattering theory. This corrected and extended reprint contains updated references as well as notes on the development in the field over the past twenty years.

Product Description
Based on lectures given by the highly original and distinguished physicist V.N. Gribov, this book provides an accessible introduction to quantum electrodynamics. It presents the theory of quantum electrodynamics in the shortest and clearest way for applied use. A distinctive feature of Gribov's approach is the systematic use of the Green function method, which allows a straightforward generalization to the cases of strong and weak interactions. The book starts with an introduction that uses the basics of quantum mechanics to gently introduce the reader into the world of propagation functions and particle interactions. The following chapter then focuses on spin 1/2 particles. The text goes on to discuss symmetries, the CPT theorem, causality, and unitarity followed by a detailed presentation of renormalization theory. A final chapter looks at difficulties with the theory and possible routes to their resolution.This book should become an indispensable part of any physical library, graduate students will value it as a helpful companion and experts will find in it many original ideas and deep insights. ... Read more