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Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Relativity physics
Dynamic Fields and Waves concentrates on electric and magnetic
fields that vary with time, including light and electromagnetic
waves. Written for an undergraduate introductory course but equally
suitable for self-study, this practical, illustrated book discusses
waves in general and light waves in particular, together with
optical instruments, such as telescopes and microscopes, and
electrical devices, such as generators and transformers. It also
explores Einstein's special theory of relativity, which gives the
most basic insight into space and time.
Clarity, readability, and rigor combine in the third edition of
this widely used textbook to provide the first step into general
relativity for advanced undergraduates with a minimal background in
mathematics. Topics within relativity that fascinate astrophysics
researchers and students alike are covered with Schutz's
characteristic ease and authority, from black holes to relativistic
objects, from pulsars to the study of the Universe as a whole. This
third edition contains discoveries by astronomers that require
general relativity for their explanation; two chapters on
gravitational waves, including direct detections of gravitational
waves and their observations' impact on cosmological measurements;
new information on black holes and neutron stars; and greater
insight into the expansion of the Universe. Over 300 exercises,
many new to this edition, give students the confidence to work with
general relativity and the necessary mathematics, while the
informal writing style and worked examples make the subject matter
easily accessible.
This thorough introduction to Einstein's special theory of
relativity is suitable for anyone with a minimum of one year of
undergraduate physics with calculus. The authors cover every aspect
of special relativity, including the impact of special relativity
in quantum theory, with an introduction to relativistic quantum
mechanics and quantum field theory. They also discuss the group
theory of the Lorentz group, supersymmetry, and such cutting-edge
topics as general relativity, the standard model of elementary
particles and its extensions, and superstring theory, giving a
survey of important unsolved problems. The book is accompanied by
an interactive CD-ROM illustrating classic problems in relativity
involving motion.
Yet over the past few decades, physicists have discovered a
phenomenon that operates outside the confines of space and time:
nonlocality - the ability of two particles to act in harmony no
matter how far apart they may be. If space isn't what we thought it
was, then what is it? In Spooky Action at a Distance, the
award-winning journalist George Musser sets out to answer that
question. He guides us on an epic journey into the lives of
experimental physicists observing particles acting in tandem,
astronomers finding galaxies that look statistically identical, and
cosmologists hoping to unravel the paradoxes surrounding the big
bang. He traces the contentious debates over nonlocality through
major discoveries and disruptions of the twentieth century and
shows how scientists faced with the same undisputed experimental
evidence develop wildly different explanations for that evidence.
Their conclusions challenge our understanding of the origins of the
universe - and they suggest a new grand unified theory of physics.
Providing a comprehensive exposition of the transactional
interpretation (TI) of quantum mechanics, this book sheds new light
on long-standing problems in quantum theory such as the physical
meaning of the 'Born Rule' for the probabilities of measurement
results, and demonstrates the ability of TI to solve the
measurement problem of quantum mechanics. It provides robust
refutations of various objections and challenges to TI, such as
Maudlin's inconsistency challenge, and explicitly extends TI into
the relativistic domain, providing new insight into the basic
compatibility of TI with relativity and the meaning of 'virtual
particles.' It breaks new ground in approaches to interpreting
quantum theory and presents a compelling new ontological picture of
quantum reality. This substantially revised and updated second
edition is ideal for researchers and graduate students interested
in the philosophy of physics and the interpretation of quantum
mechanics.
Applications of quantum field theoretical methods to gravitational
physics, both in the semiclassical and the full quantum frameworks,
require a careful formulation of the fundamental basis of quantum
theory, with special attention to such important issues as
renormalization, quantum theory of gauge theories, and especially
effective action formalism. The first part of this graduate
textbook provides both a conceptual and technical introduction to
the theory of quantum fields. The presentation is consistent,
starting from elements of group theory, classical fields, and
moving on to the effective action formalism in general gauge
theories. Compared to other existing books, the general formalism
of renormalization in described in more detail, and special
attention paid to gauge theories. This part can serve as a textbook
for a one-semester introductory course in quantum field theory. In
the second part, we discuss basic aspects of quantum field theory
in curved space, and perturbative quantum gravity. More than half
of Part II is written with a full exposition of details, and
includes elaborated examples of simplest calculations. All chapters
include exercises ranging from very simple ones to those requiring
small original investigations. The selection of material of the
second part is done using the "must-know" principle. This means we
included detailed expositions of relatively simple techniques and
calculations, expecting that the interested reader will be able to
learn more advanced issues independently after working through the
basic material, and completing the exercises.
This compact yet informative Guide presents an accessible route
through Special Relativity, taking a modern axiomatic and
geometrical approach. It begins by explaining key concepts and
introducing Einstein's postulates. The consequences of the
postulates - length contraction and time dilation - are unravelled
qualitatively and then quantitatively. These strands are then tied
together using the mathematical framework of the Lorentz
transformation, before applying these ideas to kinematics and
dynamics. This volume demonstrates the essential simplicity of the
core ideas of Special Relativity, while acknowledging the
challenges of developing new intuitions and dealing with the
apparent paradoxes that arise. A valuable supplementary resource
for intermediate undergraduates, as well as independent learners
with some technical background, the Guide includes numerous
exercises with hints and notes provided online. It lays the
foundations for further study in General Relativity, which is
introduced briefly in an appendix.
"General Relativity Without Calculus" offers a compact but
mathematically correct introduction to the general theory of
relativity, assuming only a basic knowledge of high school
mathematics and physics. Targeted at first year undergraduates (and
advanced high school students) who wish to learn Einstein's theory
beyond popular science accounts, it covers the basics of special
relativity, Minkowski space-time, non-Euclidean geometry, Newtonian
gravity, the Schwarzschild solution, black holes and cosmology. The
quick-paced style is balanced by over 75 exercises (including full
solutions), allowing readers to test and consolidate their
understanding.
Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity
form a core part of today's undergraduate (or Masters-level)
physics curriculum. This is a supplementary problem book or
student's manual, consisting of 150 problems in each of special and
general relativity. The problems, which have been developed, tested
and refined by the authors over the past two decades, are a mixture
of short-form and multi-part extended problems, with hints provided
where appropriate. Complete solutions are elaborated for every
problem, in a different section of the book; some solutions include
brief discussions on their physical or historical significance.
Designed as a companion text to complement a main relativity
textbook, it does not assume access to any specific textbook. This
is a helpful resource for advanced students, for self-study, a
source of problems for university teaching assistants, or as
inspiration for instructors and examiners constructing problems for
their lectures, homework or exams.
Einstein's theories of special relativity and general relativity
form a core part of today's undergraduate (or Masters-level)
physics curriculum. This is a supplementary problem book or
student's manual, consisting of 150 problems in each of special and
general relativity. The problems, which have been developed, tested
and refined by the authors over the past two decades, are a mixture
of short-form and multi-part extended problems, with hints provided
where appropriate. Complete solutions are elaborated for every
problem, in a different section of the book; some solutions include
brief discussions on their physical or historical significance.
Designed as a companion text to complement a main relativity
textbook, it does not assume access to any specific textbook. This
is a helpful resource for advanced students, for self-study, a
source of problems for university teaching assistants, or as
inspiration for instructors and examiners constructing problems for
their lectures, homework or exams.
Features: Authored by experienced lecturers in Particle Physics,
Quantum Field Theory, Nuclear Physics, and General Relativity
Provides an accessible introduction to Particle Physics and
Cosmology
"Relativity In our Time" is a book concerning the relevance of
Einstein's theory to human relations in contemporary times. lt is
physics and it is philosophy. lt is a discussion about one of the
greatest of all pillars of 20th century thought and science. Based
on a seminar course for a mixture of science and humanities
students, the approach and narrative style leads the reader towards
the frontier of thinking in this farreaching subject. Sachs deals
with the whole spread of relativity, starting from the early
history of Galileo and Faraday, he arrives at the foundation of the
special theory. There is a logical transition to the general theory
while the last part of the book covers the mind-testing realms of
unified field theory, Mach's principle and cosmology. The book
begins with atomistic, deterministic, classical physics and goes on
towards a view of continuous fields of matter and a clearer view of
spacetime. The reader is led into Einstein's extension of this
theory towards a unified force field; consequently the authors
address the issue of the validity of linear mathematics compared
with the realism of a non- linear universe.; Such arguments today
are leading towards a new paradigm in science - a study and
description of nonlinear natural systems especially far from
equilibrium systems; their energetics and dynamics. This book
should be of value to postgraduates, undergraduates, secondary
students and professionals in physics and philosophy and anyone
with an interest in science subjects.
Divided into four parts, this book covers recent developments in
topics pertaining to gravity theories, including discussions on the
presence of scalar fields. Part One is devoted to exact solutions
in general relativity, and is mainly concerned with the results of
rotating null dust beams and fluids. Also included is a panoramic
vision of new research directions in this area, which would require
revising certain theorems and their possible extensions within
gravity theories, new aspects concerning the Ernst potentials,
double Kerr spacetimes, and rotating configurations. In particular,
there is a detailed discussion of totally symmetric and totally
geodesic spaces, in which a method for generating (2+1)-dimensional
solutions from (3+1)-dimensional solutions is given. Part Two deals
with alternative theories of gravity, all of which include scalar
fields and gauge fields. Here, quantum and cosmological effects,
which arise from both gravity theories in four and higher
dimensions and from metric-affine theories, are investigated. Part
Three is devoted to cosmological and inflationary scenarios. Local
effects, such as the influence of scalar fields in protogalactic
interactions, numerical studies of the collapse of molecular cores,
as well as the inverse inflationary problem and the blue eigenvalue
spectrum of it, are considered. Moreover, the role of scalar fields
as dark matter and quantum cosmology in the Bergman-Wagoner and
Gowdy theories, together with the relation of the conformal
symmetry and deflationary gas universe, are likewise presented. The
last part of the book includes some mixed topics which are still in
the experimental stage. Among them are the foundation of the
Maxwell theory, a discussion on electromagnetic Thirring problems,
a note on the staticity of black holes with non-minimally coupled
scalar fields, and a study of the Lorentz force free charged fluids
in general relativity. Thus, this book is the most up-to-date,
comprehensive collection of papers on the subject of exact
solutions and scalar fields in gravity and is a valuable tool for
researchers in the area.
An exploration of the idea of time travel from the first account in English literature to the latest theories of such physicists as Kip Thorne and Igor Novikov. This very readable work covers a variety of topics including the history of time travel in fiction; the fundamental scientific concepts of time, spacetime, and the fourth dimension; the speculations of Einstein, Richard Feynman, Kurt Goedel, and others; time travel paradoxes, and much more.
In this short book, renowned theoretical physicist and author Carlo
Rovelli gives a straightforward introduction to Einstein's General
Relativity, our current theory of gravitation. Focusing on
conceptual clarity, he derives all the basic results in the
simplest way, taking care to explain the physical, philosophical
and mathematical ideas at the heart of "the most beautiful of all
scientific theories". Some of the main applications of General
Relativity are also explored, for example, black holes,
gravitational waves and cosmology, and the book concludes with a
brief introduction to quantum gravity. Written by an author well
known for the clarity of his presentation of scientific ideas, this
concise book will appeal to university students looking to improve
their understanding of the principal concepts, as well as
science-literate readers who are curious about the real theory of
General Relativity, at a level beyond a popular science treatment.
This volume gathers the content of the courses held at the Third
IDPASC School, which took place in San Martino Pinario, Hospederia
and Seminario Maior, in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galiza,
Spain, from January 21st to February 2nd, 2013. This school is the
annual joint program of the International Doctorate Network in
Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology (IDPASC). The purpose
of the school series is to present doctoral students from different
universities and laboratories in Europe and beyond with a broad
range of the latest results and current state of the art in the
fields of Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology, and to
further introduce them to both the questions now posed by the
potentials of physics and to challenges connected with current and
future experiments - in particular, with the newly available energy
ranges. Following these guidelines, the content of this third
edition of the IDPASC School was jointly planned by the Academic
Council and by the network's International Committee, whose members
ensure every year its timely formulation, keeping up with the
constant evolution of these fields. The program covers a balanced
range of the latest developments in these fields worldwide, with
courses offered by internationally acknowledged physicists on the
Basic Features of Hadronic Processes, Quantum Chromodynamics,
Physics and Technology of ALICE, LHCb Physics-Parity Violation, the
Higgs System in and beyond the Standard Model, Higgs Searches at
the LHC, Theory and Experiments with Cosmic Rays, Numerical Methods
and Data Analysis in Particle Physics, Theoretical Cosmology, and
AdS/CFT Correspondence. Most of these courses were complemented by
practical and discussion sessions.
Cosmology has been transformed by dramatic progress in
high-precision observations and theoretical modelling. This book
surveys key developments and open issues for graduate students and
researchers. Using a relativistic geometric approach, it focuses on
the general concepts and relations that underpin the standard model
of the Universe. Part I covers foundations of relativistic
cosmology whilst Part II develops the dynamical and observational
relations for all models of the Universe based on general
relativity. Part III focuses on the standard model of cosmology,
including inflation, dark matter, dark energy, perturbation theory,
the cosmic microwave background, structure formation and
gravitational lensing. It also examines modified gravity and
inhomogeneity as possible alternatives to dark energy. Anisotropic
and inhomogeneous models are described in Part IV, and Part V
reviews deeper issues, such as quantum cosmology, the start of the
universe and the multiverse proposal. Colour versions of some
figures are available at www.cambridge.org/9780521381154.
Numerical relativity has emerged as the key tool to model
gravitational waves - recently detected for the first time - that
are emitted when black holes or neutron stars collide. This book
provides a pedagogical, accessible, and concise introduction to the
subject. Relying heavily on analogies with Newtonian gravity,
scalar fields and electromagnetic fields, it introduces key
concepts of numerical relativity in a context familiar to readers
without prior expertise in general relativity. Readers can explore
these concepts by working through numerous exercises, and can see
them 'in action' by experimenting with the accompanying Python
sample codes, and so develop familiarity with many techniques
commonly employed by publicly available numerical relativity codes.
This is an attractive, student-friendly resource for short courses
on numerical relativity, as well as providing supplementary reading
for courses on general relativity and computational physics.
The scalar-tensor theory of gravitation moved into the limelight in recent years due to developments in string theory, M-theory and "brane world" constructions. This book introduces the subject at a level suitable for both graduate students and researchers. It explores scalar fields, placing them in context with a discussion of Brans-Dicke theory, covering the cosmological constant problem, higher dimensional space-time, branes and conformal transformations.
E = mc2 and the Periodic Table . . .
RELATIVISTIC EFFECTS IN CHEMISTRY
This century's most famous equation, Einstein's special theory of
relativity, transformed our comprehension of the nature of time and
matter. Today, making use of the theory in a relativistic analysis
of heavy molecules, that is, computing the properties and nature of
electrons, is the work of chemists intent on exploring the
mysteries of minute particles.
The first work of its kind, Relativistic Effects in Chemistry
details the computational and analytical methods used in studying
the relativistic effects in chemical bonding as well as the
spectroscopic properties of molecules containing very heavy atoms.
The first of two independent volumes, Part A: Theory and Techniques
describes the basic techniques of relativistic quantum chemistry.
Its systematic five-part format begins with a detailed exposition
of Einstein's special theory of relativity, the significance of
relativity in chemistry, and the nature of relativistic effects,
especially with molecules containing both main group atoms and
transition metal atoms.
Chapter 3 discusses the fundamentals of relativistic quantum
mechanics starting from the Klein-Gordon equation through such
advanced constructs as the Breit-Pauli and Dirac multielectron
Hamiltonian. Modern computational techniques, of importance with
problems involving very heavy molecules, are outlined in Chapter 4.
These include the relativistic effective core potentials, ab initio
CASSCF, CI, and RCI techniques. Chapter 5 describes relativistic
symmetry using the double group symmetry of molecules and the
classification of relativistic electronic states and is of special
importanceto chemists or spectroscopists interested in computing or
analyzing electronic states of molecules containing very heavy
atoms.
An exceptional introduction to one of chemistry's foremost
analytical techniques, Relativistic Effects in Chemistry is also
evidence of the still unending reverberations of Einstein's
revolutionary theory.
Tau functions are a central tool in the modern theory of integrable
systems. This volume provides a thorough introduction, starting
from the basics and extending to recent research results. It covers
a wide range of applications, including generating functions for
solutions of integrable hierarchies, correlation functions in the
spectral theory of random matrices and combinatorial generating
functions for enumerative geometrical and topological invariants. A
self-contained summary of more advanced topics needed to understand
the material is provided, as are solutions and hints for the
various exercises and problems that are included throughout the
text to enrich the subject matter and engage the reader. Building
on knowledge of standard topics in undergraduate mathematics and
basic concepts and methods of classical and quantum mechanics, this
monograph is ideal for graduate students and researchers who wish
to become acquainted with the full range of applications of the
theory of tau functions.
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