Operator Methods in Mathematical Physics

This detailed yet accessible text provides an essential introduction to the advanced mathematical methods at the core of theoretical physics. The book steadily develops the key concepts required for an understanding of symmetry principles and topological structures, such as group theory, differentiable manifolds, Riemannian geometry, and Lie algebras. Based on a course for senior undergraduate students of physics, it is written in a clear, pedagogical style and would also be valuable to students in other areas of science and engineering. The material has been subject to more than twenty years of feedback from students, ensuring that explanations and examples are lucid and considered, and numerous worked examples and exercises reinforce key concepts and further strengthen readers' understanding. This text unites a wide variety of important topics that are often scattered across different books, and provides a solid platform for more specialized study or research.

In a textbook for an advanced undergraduate course for physics students, Petrini, Pradisi, and Zaffaroni introduce the mathematics behind concrete physical problems in both classical and quantum p

Through just a handful of papers, Ettore Majorana left an indelible mark in the fields of physics, mathematics, computer science and even economics before his mysterious disappearance in 1938. It is only now that the importance of Majorana's work is being realised: Majorana fermions are intensely studied today, and his work on neutrino physics has provided possible explanations for the existence of dark matter. In this unique volume, Salvatore Esposito explores not only Majorana's known papers but, even more interestingly, unveils his unpublished works as well. These include powerful methods and results, ranging from the atomic two-centre problem, the Thomas–Fermi model and ferromagnetism to quasi-stationary states, n-component relativistic wave equations and quantum scalar electrodynamics. Featuring biographical notes and contributions from leading experts Evgeny Akhmedov and Nobel Laureate Frank Wilczek, this fascinating book will captivate graduate students and researchers intereste

Following the style of The Physics Companion and The Electronics Companion, The Mathematics Companion is a revision aid and study guide for undergraduate students in physics and engineering. It consis

The second edition of Elementary Molecular Quantum Mechanics shows the methods of molecular quantum mechanics for graduate University students of Chemistry and Physics. This readable book teaches in d

Classical string theory is concerned with the propagation of classical 1-dimensional curves 'strings', and the theory has connections to the calculus of variations, minimal surfaces and harmonic maps. The quantization of string theory gives rise to problems in different areas, according to the method used. The representation theory of Lie, Kac-Moody and Virasoro algebras have been used for such quantization. In this lecture note the authors give an introduction to certain global analytic and probabilistic aspects of string theory. It is their intention to bring together, and make explicit the necessary mathematical tools. Researchers with an interest in string theory, in either mathematics or theoretical physics, will find this a stimulating volume.

These volumes contain a collection of essays by many of the closest co-workers of Raphael Høegh-Krohn, 1938–88, one of the outstanding mathematical physicists of our age. The contributions vary in style, purpose, and content - some are surveys where leading experts sum up and clarify a subject area, others are new and adventurous expeditions into unknown territory. The topics cover most aspects of modern mathematical physics with special emphasis on methods from operator theory and stochastic analysis. Many of the papers are based on talks given at a symposium in honor of Høegh-Krohn at the University of Oslo: however the final volumes are far more than proceedings and great care has been taken to attract contributions from the leading researchers.

This book provides a solid foundation to a number of important topics in mathematics of interest to science and engineering students. The authors' approach is simple and direct, the emphasis being on the analytical structure and applications of the material. The text is virtually self-contained, assuming only that the student has received a good basic course in ancillary mathematics. Each chapter contains a large number of worked examples, and concludes with problems for solution, with answers given in the back of the book. There is no comparable text that covers this material in such a concise form. This book will be of great value to undergraduates in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, and in all engineering disciplines, as a source book of advanced mathematical methods, and also to postgraduate students as a revision text.

This book provides a solid foundation to a number of important topics in mathematics of interest to science and engineering students. The authors' approach is simple and direct, the emphasis being on the analytical structure and applications of the material. The text is virtually self-contained, assuming only that the student has received a good basic course in ancillary mathematics. Each chapter contains a large number of worked examples, and concludes with problems for solution, with answers given in the back of the book. There is no comparable text that covers this material in such a concise form. This book will be of great value to undergraduates in physics, chemistry, theoretical biology, and in all engineering disciplines, as a source book of advanced mathematical methods, and also to postgraduate students as a revision text.

Origami, the art of paper folding, has a rich mathematical theory. Early investigations go back to at least the 1930s, but the twenty-first century has seen a remarkable blossoming of the mathematics of folding. Besides its use in describing origami and designing new models, it is also finding real-world applications from building nano-scale robots to deploying large solar arrays in space. Written by a world expert on the subject, Origametry is the first complete reference on the mathematics of origami. It brings together historical results, modern developments, and future directions into a cohesive whole. Over 180 figures illustrate the constructions described while numerous 'diversions' provide jumping-off points for readers to deepen their understanding. This book is an essential reference for researchers of origami mathematics and its applications in physics, engineering, and design. Educators, students, and enthusiasts will also find much to enjoy in this fascinating account of th

Origami, the art of paper folding, has a rich mathematical theory. Early investigations go back to at least the 1930s, but the twenty-first century has seen a remarkable blossoming of the mathematics of folding. Besides its use in describing origami and designing new models, it is also finding real-world applications from building nano-scale robots to deploying large solar arrays in space. Written by a world expert on the subject, Origametry is the first complete reference on the mathematics of origami. It brings together historical results, modern developments, and future directions into a cohesive whole. Over 180 figures illustrate the constructions described while numerous 'diversions' provide jumping-off points for readers to deepen their understanding. This book is an essential reference for researchers of origami mathematics and its applications in physics, engineering, and design. Educators, students, and enthusiasts will also find much to enjoy in this fascinating account of th

This book illustrates several aspects of the current research activity in operator theory, operator algebras and applications in various areas of mathematics and mathematical physics. It is addressed

This new edition is a concise introduction to the basic methods of computational physics. Readers will discover the benefits of numerical methods for solving complex mathematical problems and for

A concise introduction to Feynman diagram techniques, this book shows how they can be applied to the analysis of complex many-particle systems, and offers a review of the essential elements of quantum mechanics, solid state physics and statistical mechanics. Alongside a detailed account of the method of second quantization, the book covers topics such as Green's and correlation functions, diagrammatic techniques and superconductivity, and contains several case studies. Some background knowledge in quantum mechanics, solid state physics and mathematical methods of physics is assumed. Detailed derivations of formulas and in-depth examples and chapter exercises from various areas of condensed matter physics make this a valuable resource for both researchers and advanced undergraduate students in condensed matter theory, many-body physics and electrical engineering. Solutions to exercises are available online.

Isaac Newton's Principia is considered one of the masterpieces in the history of science. The mathematical methods employed by Newton in the Principia stimulated much debate among his contemporaries, especially Leibniz, Huygens, Bernoulli and Euler, who debated their merits and drawbacks. Among the questions they asked were: How should natural philosophy be mathematized?; Is it legitimate to use uninterpreted symbols?; Is it possible to depart from the established Archimedean or Galilean/Huygenian tradition of geometrizing nature?; What is the value of elegance and conciseness?; What is the relation between Newton's geometrical methods and the calculus? This book explains how Newton addressed these issues, taking into consideration the values that directed the research of Newton and his contemporaries. This book will be of interest to researchers and advanced students in departments of history of science, philosophy of science, physics, mathematics and astronomy.

Rock physics encompasses practically all aspects of solid and fluid state physics. This book provides a unified presentation of the underlying physical principles of rock physics, covering elements of mineral physics, petrology and rock mechanics. After a short introduction on rocks and minerals, the subsequent chapters cover rock density, porosity, stress and strain relationships, permeability, poroelasticity, acoustics, conductivity, polarizability, magnetism, thermal properties and natural radioactivity. Each chapter includes problem sets and focus boxes with in-depth explanations of the physical and mathematical aspects of underlying processes. The book is also supplemented by online MATLAB exercises to help students apply their knowledge to numerically solve rock physics problems. Covering laboratory and field-based measurement methods, as well as theoretical models, this textbook is ideal for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in rock physics. It will also make a usef

A unique text and reference for pure and applied mathematicians, engineers, physicists, and chemists, this book was a landmark in the literature of computational methods in mathematical physics in the

This is the first book to promote the use of stochastic, or random, processes to understand, model and predict our climate system. One of the most important applications of this technique is in the representation of comprehensive climate models of processes which, although crucial, are too small or fast to be explicitly modelled. The book shows how stochastic methods can lead to improvements in climate simulation and prediction, compared with more conventional bulk-formula parameterization procedures. Beginning with expositions of the relevant mathematical theory, the book moves on to describe numerous practical applications. It covers the complete range of time scales of climate variability, from seasonal to decadal, centennial, and millennial. With contributions from leading experts in climate physics, this book is invaluable to anyone working on climate models, including graduate students and researchers in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences, numerical weather forecasting, climate

Like its predecessor, 200 Puzzling Physics Problems, this book is aimed at strengthening students' grasp of the laws of physics by applying them to situations that are practical, and to problems that yield more easily to intuitive insight than to brute-force methods and complex mathematics. The problems are chosen almost exclusively from classical, non-quantum physics, but are no easier for that. They are intriguingly posed in accessible non-technical language, and require readers to select an appropriate analysis framework and decide which branches of physics are involved. The general level of sophistication needed is that of the exceptional school student, the good undergraduate, or the competent graduate student; some physics professors may find some of the more difficult questions challenging. By contrast, the mathematical demands are relatively minimal, and seldom go beyond elementary calculus. This further book of physics problems is not only instructive and challenging, but also

The textbook introduces students to the main ideas of quantum physics and the basic mathematical methods and techniques used in the fields of advanced quantum physics, atomic physics, laser physics, n

There is a resurgence of applications in which the calculus of variations has direct relevance. In addition to application to solid mechanics and dynamics, it is now being applied in a variety of numerical methods, numerical grid generation, modern physics, various optimization settings and fluid dynamics. Many applications, such as nonlinear optimal control theory applied to continuous systems, have only recently become tractable computationally, with the advent of advanced algorithms and large computer systems. This book reflects the strong connection between calculus of variations and the applications for which variational methods form the fundamental foundation. The mathematical fundamentals of calculus of variations (at least those necessary to pursue applications) is rather compact and is contained in a single chapter of the book. The majority of the text consists of applications of variational calculus for a variety of fields.

Although contact geometry and topology is briefly discussed in V I Arnol'd's book “Mathematical Methods of Classical Mechanics ”(Springer-Verlag, 1989, 2nd edition), it still remains a domain of resea

In this comprehensive monograph, the authors apply modern mathematical methods to the study of mechanical and physical phenomena or techniques in acoustics, optics, and electrostatics, where classical

This book is devoted to some mathematical methods that arise in two domains of artificial intelligence: neural networks and qualitative physics. Professor Aubin makes use of control and viability theory in neural networks and cognitive systems, regarded as dynamical systems controlled by synaptic matrices, and set-valued analysis that plays a natural and crucial role in qualitative analysis and simulation. This allows many examples of neural networks to be presented in a unified way. In addition, several results on the control of linear and nonlinear systems are used to obtain a 'learning algorithm' of pattern classification problems, such as the back-propagation formula, as well as learning algorithms of feedback regulation laws of solutions to control systems subject to state constraints. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in neural networks and cognitive systems.

Reprinted as it originally appeared in the 1990s, this work is as an affordable text that will be of interest to a range of researchers in geometric analysis and mathematical physics. The book covers

This is the first book to promote the use of stochastic, or random, processes to understand, model and predict our climate system. One of the most important applications of this technique is in the representation of comprehensive climate models of processes which, although crucial, are too small or fast to be explicitly modelled. The book shows how stochastic methods can lead to improvements in climate simulation and prediction, compared with more conventional bulk-formula parameterization procedures. Beginning with expositions of the relevant mathematical theory, the book moves on to describe numerous practical applications. It covers the complete range of time scales of climate variability, from seasonal to decadal, centennial, and millennial. With contributions from leading experts in climate physics, this book is invaluable to anyone working on climate models, including graduate students and researchers in the atmospheric and oceanic sciences, numerical weather forecasting, climate

Written by two leading experts in the field, this book explores the 'many-body' methods that have become the dominant approach in determining molecular structure, properties and interactions. With a tight focus on the highly popular Many-Body Perturbation Theory (MBPT) and Coupled-Cluster theories (CC), the authors present a simple, clear, unified approach to describe the mathematical tools and diagrammatic techniques employed. Using this book the reader will be able to understand, derive and confidently implement relevant algebraic equations for current and even new multi-reference CC methods. Hundreds of diagrams throughout the book enhance reader understanding through visualization of computational procedures and extensive referencing allows further exploration of this evolving area. With an extensive bibliography and detailed index, this book will be suitable for graduates and researchers within quantum chemistry, chemical physics and atomic, molecular and solid-state physics.

This systematic algebraic approach covers statistical mechanics, quantum field theory, and mathematical physics. In addition to a careful formulation of the problems' physical motivations, it features

The study of vibration in physical systems is central to almost all fields in physics and engineering. This work, originally published in two volumes, examines the classical aspects in Part I and the quantum oscillator in Part II. The classical linear vibrator is treated first and the underlying unity of all linear oscillations in electrical, mechanical and acoustic systems is emphasized. The treatment of nonlinear vibrations, a field with which engineers and physicists are generally less familiar, is then examined. Part II then concentrates on quantum systems, looking at the vibrations in atoms and molecules and their interaction with electromagnetic radiation. The similarities of classical and quantum methods are stressed and the limits of the classical treatment are examined. Throughout the book, each phenomenon discussed is well illustrated with many examples; and theory and experiment are compared. This is a useful introduction to the more advanced mathematical treatment of vibrat

This book is about the methods used for unifying different scientific theories under one all-embracing theory. The process has characterized much of the history of science and is prominent in contemporary physics; the search for a 'theory of everything' involves the same attempt at unification. Margaret Morrison argues that, contrary to popular philosophical views, unification and explanation often have little to do with each other. The mechanisms that facilitate unification are not those that enable us to explain how or why phenomena behave as they do. A feature of this book is an account of many case studies of theory unification in nineteenth- and twentieth-century physics and of how evolution by natural selection and Mendelian genetics were unified into what we now term evolutionary genetics.

Stimulating, thought-provoking analysis of a number of the most interesting intellectual inconsistencies in mathematics, physics, and language. Delightful elucidations of methods for misunderstanding

This user-friendly 1995 text shows how to use mathematics to formulate, solve and analyse physical problems. Rather than follow the traditional approach of stating mathematical principles and then citing some physical examples for illustration, the book puts applications at centre stage; that is, it starts with the problem, finds the mathematics that suits it and ends with a mathematical analysis of the physics. Physical examples are selected primarily from applied mechanics. Among topics included are Fourier series, separation of variables, Bessel functions, Fourier and Laplace transforms, Green's functions and complex function theories. Also covered are advanced topics such as Riemann–Hilbert techniques, perturbation methods, and practical topics such as symbolic computation. Engineering students, who often feel more awe than confidence and enthusiasm toward applied mathematics, will find this approach to mathematics goes a long way toward a sharper understanding of the physical worl

This is a concise graduate level introduction to analytical functional methods in quantum field theory. Functional integral methods provide relatively simple solutions to a wide range of problems in quantum field theory. After introducing the basic mathematical background, this book goes on to study applications and consequences of the formalism to the study of series expansions, measure, phase transitions, physics on spaces with nontrivial topologies, stochastic quantisation, fermions, QED, non-abelian gauge theories, symmetry breaking, the effective potential, finite temperature field theory, instantons and compositeness. Serious attention is paid to the shortcomings of the conventional formalism (e.g. problems of measure) as well as detailed appraisal of the ambiguities of series summation. This book will be of great use to graduate students in theoretical physics wishing to learn the use of functional integrals in quantum field theory. It will also be a useful reference for researc

This book provides the mathematical foundations of statistics. Its aim is to explain the principles, to prove the formulae to give validity to the methods employed in the interpretation of statistical data. Many examples are included but, since the primary emphasis is on the underlying theory, it is of interest to students of a wide variety of subjects: biology, psychology, agriculture, economics, physics, chemistry, and (of course) mathematics.

Data assimilation is a hugely important mathematical technique, relevant in fields as diverse as geophysics, data science, and neuroscience. This modern book provides an authoritative treatment of the field as it relates to several scientific disciplines, with a particular emphasis on recent developments from machine learning and its role in the optimisation of data assimilation. Underlying theory from statistical physics, such as path integrals and Monte Carlo methods, are developed in the text as a basis for data assimilation, and the author then explores examples from current multidisciplinary research such as the modelling of shallow water systems, ocean dynamics, and neuronal dynamics in the avian brain. The theory of data assimilation and machine learning is introduced in an accessible and unified manner, and the book is suitable for undergraduate and graduate students from science and engineering without specialized experience of statistical physics.