Although textbooks on the physics of condensed matter consider non-covalent interactions in detail, their application for analysis of protein properties is often poorly presented or omitted. On the other hand, books on biochemistry, molecular modeling or molecular simulation introduce these interactions in the context of the corresponding topic, which sometimes results in superficial explanations of their nature. This book succeeds in uniting comprehensive considerations of non-covalent interactions with the specificity of their application in protein sciences.This second edition includes new chapters on intrinsically disordered proteins, microcalorimetry of proteins, cold denaturation, thermodynamic stability and thermal adaptability of proteins. The ideal aid for students of physics or chemistry, with interests in biology and biophysics, the book can also be useful for students of biology, biochemistry, or biomedicine who want to extend their knowledge of how protein properties are described at the molecular level.

This short textbook covers roughly 13 weeks of lectures on advanced statistical mechanics at the graduate level. It starts with an elementary introduction to the theory of ensembles from classical mechanics, and then goes on to quantum statistical mechanics with density matrix. These topics are covered concisely and briefly. The advanced topics cover the mean-field theory for phase transitions, the Ising models and their exact solutions, and critical phenomena and their scaling theory. The mean-field theories are discussed thoroughly with several different perspectives - focusing on a single degree, or using Feynman-Jensen-Bogoliubov inequality, cavity method, or Landau theory. The renormalization group theory is mentioned only briefly. As examples of computational and numerical approach, there is a chapter on Monte Carlo method including the cluster algorithms. The second half of the book studies nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, which includes the Brownian motion, the Langevin and Fokker-Planck equations, Boltzmann equation, linear response theory, and the Jarzynski equality. The book ends with a brief discussion of irreversibility. The topics are supplemented by problem sets (with partial answers) and supplementary readings up to the current research, such as heat transport with a Fokker-Planck approach.

In addition to expanding and clarifying a number of sections of the first edition, it generalizes the analysis that eliminates the noncausal pre-acceleration so that it applies to removing any pre-deceleration as well. It also introduces a robust power series solution to the equation of motion that produces an extremely accurate solution to problems such as the motion of electrons in uniform magnetic fields.

Biophotonic diagnostics/biomedical spectroscopy can revolutionise the medical environment by providing a responsive and objective diagnostic environment. This book aims to explain the fundamentals of the physical techniques used combined with the particular requirements of analysing medical/clinical samples as a resource for any interested party. In addition, it will show the potential of this field for the future of medical science and act as a driver for translation across many different biological problems/questions.

This introduction to quantum field theory (QFT) is written by a physical chemist for physical chemists, chemical physicists, and other non-physicists with knowledge of quantum theory but who want to explore ways in which they might use the power of QFT in their investigations. This book starts where many graduate courses in quantum theory that are offered to chemistry students leave off and first develops some of the necessary tools, such as Fock algebra, which is applied to solving the quantum oscillator problem. Then it is used to develop the theory of coherent states, time-dependent perturbation theory, and the treatment of bosons and fermions. With this background, the QFT of a perfect gas is derived and a connection to thermodynamics is demonstrated. Application to imperfect gases provides a new approach to modelling gas-liquid phase transitions. The book concludes with photons and their interaction with molecular ensembles, and brings us to full circle by deriving the blackbody radiation law, which started it all. The power of the QFT methodology and the breadth of its applications should fascinate the reader as it has the author.

As technology advances, education has expanded from the classroom into other formats including online delivery, flipped classrooms and hybrid delivery. Congruent with these is the need for alternative formats for laboratory experiences. This explosion in technology has also placed in the hands of a majority of students a sensor suite tucked neatly into their smartphones or smart tablets. The popularity of these devices provides a new avenue for the non-traditional kinematic lab experience. This book addresses this issue by providing 13 labs spanning the common topics in the first semester of university-level physics. Each lab is designed to use only the student's smartphone, laptop and items easily found in big-box stores or a hobby shop. Each lab contains theory, set-up instructions and basic analysis techniques. All of these labs can be performed outside of the traditional university lab setting and initial costs averaging less than $8 per student, per lab, excluding the smartphone and laptop.

Electromagnetic homogenization is the process of estimating the effective electromagnetic properties of composite materials in the long-wavelength regime, wherein the length scales of nonhomogeneities are much smaller than the wavelengths involved. This is a bird's-eye view of currently available homogenization formalisms for particulate composite materials. It presents analytical methods only, with focus on the general settings of anisotropy and bianisotropy. The authors largely concentrate on 'effective' materials as opposed to 'equivalent' materials, and emphasize the fundamental (but sometimes overlooked) differences between these two categories of homogenized composite materials. The properties of an 'effective' material represents those of its composite material, regardless of the geometry and dimensions of the bulk materials and regardless of the orientations and polarization states of the illuminating electromagnetic fields. In contrast, the properties of 'equivalent' materials only represent those of their corresponding composite materials under certain restrictive circumstances.

Problems with the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics date back to attempts by Max Born, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, as well as many others in the 1920s to continue to employ the classical concept of a particle in the context of the quantum world. The experimental observations at the time and the assumption that the classical concept of a particle was to be preserved have led to an enormous literature on the foundations of quantum mechanics and a great deal of confusion then and now among non-physicists and students in any field that involves quantum theory. It is the historical approach to the teaching of quantum mechanics that is at the root of the problem.Spacetime is the arena within which quantum mechanical phenomena take place. For this reason, several Appendices are devoted to the nature of spacetime as well as to topics that can help us understand it such as vacuum fluctuations, the Unruh effect and Hawking radiation.Because of the success of quantum mechanical calculations, those who wish to understand the foundations of the theory are often given the apocryphal advice, 'just ignore the issue and calculate'. It is hoped that this book will help dispel some of the dismay, frustration, and confusion among those who refuse to take to heart this admonition.

The interface between Physics and Mathematics has been increasingly spotlighted by the discovery of algebraic, geometric, and topological properties in physical phenomena. A profound example is the relation of noncommutative geometry, arising from algebras in mathematics, to the so-called quantum groups in the physical viewpoint. Two apparently unrelated puzzles - the solubility of some lattice models in statistical mechanics and the integrability of differential equations for special problems - are encoded in a common algebraic condition, the Yang-Baxter equation. This backdrop motivates the subject of this book, which reveals Knot Theory as a highly intuitive formalism that is intimately connected to Quantum Field Theory and serves as a basis to String Theory.This book presents a didactic approach to knots, braids, links, and polynomial invariants which are powerful and developing techniques that rise up to the challenges in String Theory, Quantum Field Theory, and Statistical Physics. It introduces readers to Knot Theory and its applications through formal and practical (computational) methods, with clarity, completeness, and minimal demand of requisite knowledge on the subject. As a result, advanced undergraduates in Physics, Mathematics, or Engineering, will find this book an excellent and self-contained guide to the algebraic, geometric, and topological tools for advanced studies in theoretical physics and mathematics.

The interface between Physics and Mathematics has been increasingly spotlighted by the discovery of algebraic, geometric, and topological properties in physical phenomena. A profound example is the relation of noncommutative geometry, arising from algebras in mathematics, to the so-called quantum groups in the physical viewpoint. Two apparently unrelated puzzles - the solubility of some lattice models in statistical mechanics and the integrability of differential equations for special problems - are encoded in a common algebraic condition, the Yang-Baxter equation. This backdrop motivates the subject of this book, which reveals Knot Theory as a highly intuitive formalism that is intimately connected to Quantum Field Theory and serves as a basis to String Theory.This book presents a didactic approach to knots, braids, links, and polynomial invariants which are powerful and developing techniques that rise up to the challenges in String Theory, Quantum Field Theory, and Statistical Physics. It introduces readers to Knot Theory and its applications through formal and practical (computational) methods, with clarity, completeness, and minimal demand of requisite knowledge on the subject. As a result, advanced undergraduates in Physics, Mathematics, or Engineering, will find this book an excellent and self-contained guide to the algebraic, geometric, and topological tools for advanced studies in theoretical physics and mathematics.

This book provides an itinerary to quantum mechanics taking into account the basic mathematics to formulate it. Specifically, it features the main experiments and postulates of quantum mechanics pointing out their mathematical prominent aspects showing how physical concepts and mathematical tools are deeply intertwined. The material covers topics such as analytic mechanics in Newtonian, Lagrangian, and Hamiltonian formulations, theory of light as formulated in special relativity, and then why quantum mechanics is necessary to explain experiments like the double-split, atomic spectra, and photoelectric effect. The Schroedinger equation and its solutions are developed in detail. It is pointed out that, starting from the concept of the harmonic oscillator, it is possible to develop advanced quantum mechanics. Furthermore, the mathematics behind the Heisenberg uncertainty principle is constructed towards advanced quantum mechanical principles. Relativistic quantum mechanics is finally considered.The book is devoted to undergraduate students from University courses of Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, and Engineering. It consists of 50 self-contained lectures, and any statement and theorem are demonstrated in detail. It is the companion book of "A Mathematical Journey to Relativity", by the same Authors, published by Springer in 2020.

The need for sustainable sources of energy has become more prevalent in an effort to conserve natural resources, as well as optimize the performance of wireless networks in daily life. Renewable sources of energy also help to cut costs while still providing a reliable power sources. Biologically-Inspired Energy Harvesting through Wireless Sensor Technologies highlights emerging research in the areas of sustainable energy management and transmission technologies. Featuring technological advancements in green technology, energy harvesting, sustainability, networking, and autonomic computing, as well as bio-inspired algorithms and solutions utilized in energy management, this publication is an essential reference source for researchers, academicians, and students interested in renewable or sustained energy in wireless networks.

This book is based on a commitment to teaching science to everybody. What may work for training professional scientists does not work for general science education. Students bring to the classrooms preconceived attitudes, as well as the emotional baggage called ""science anxiety."" Students may regard science as cold, unfriendly, and even inherently hostile and biased against women. This book has been designed to deal with each of these issues and results from research in both Denmark and the United States. The first chapter discusses student attitudes towards science and the second discusses science anxiety. The connection between the two is discussed before the introduction of constructivism as a pedagogy that can aid science learning if it also addresses attitudes and anxieties. Much of the book elucidates what the authors have learned as science teachers and science education researchers. They studied various groups including university students majoring in the sciences, mathematics, humanities, social sciences, business, nursing, and education; high school students; teachers' seminary students; science teachers at all levels from middle school through college; and science administrators. The insights of these groups constitute the most important feature of the book, and by sharing them, the authors hope to help their fellow science teachers to understand student attitudes about science, to recognize the connections between these and science anxiety, and to see how a pedagogy that takes these into account can improve science learning.

Synchrotron radiation is the name given to the radiation which occurs when charged particles are accelerated in a curved path or orbit. Classically, any charged particle which moves in a curved path or is accelerated in a straight-line path will emit electromagnetic radiation. Various names are given to this radiation in different contexts. Thus circular particle accelerators are called synchrotrons, this is where charged particles are accelerated to very high speeds and the radiation is referred to as synchrotron radiation.Suitable for a summer short course or one term lecture series this text introduces the subject, starting with some historical background then covering basic concepts such as flux, intensity, brilliance, emittance and Liouville's theorem. The book then covers the properties of synchrotron radiation, insertion devices, beamlines and monochromators before finishing with an introduction to free electron lasers and an overview of the most common techniques and applications of this technology.