Physics

Based on class-tested notes, this text offers an introduction to Conformal Field Theory with a special emphasis on computational techniques of relevance for String Theory. It introduces Conformal Field Theory at a basic level, Kac-Moody algebras, one-loop partition functions, Superconformal Field Theories, Gepner Models and Boundary Conformal Field Theory. Eventually, the concept of orientifold...

Many-body theory stands at the foundation of modern quantum statistical mechanics. It is introduced here to graduate students in physics, chemistry, engineering and biology. The book provides a contemporary understanding of irreversibility, particularly in quantum systems. It explains entropy production in quantum kinetic theory and in the master equation formulation of non-equilibrium statistical mechanics....

The book provides a systematic introduction into the fundamental ideas of thermodynamics at a somewhat advanced level. And it exhibits many applications of the theory in the fields of engineering, physics, chemistry, physical chemistry, and materials science. The universal equations of balance are strictly separated from the constitutive equations which characterize the behavior of...

Teaching Einstein’s general relativity at introductory level poses problem because students cannot begin to appreciate the basics of the theory unless they learn a sufficient amount of Riemannian geometry. Most elementary books take the easy course of telling the students a few working rules stripping the mathematical details to a minimum while the advanced...

Our current understanding of elementary particles and their interactions emerged from break-through experiments. This book presents these experiments, beginning with the discoveries of the neutron and positron, and following them through mesons, strange particles, antiparticles, and quarks and gluons. This second edition contains new chapters on the W and Z bosons, the top quark,...

The first in-depth book on stellar physics written specifically for amateur astronomers. Shows the reader how to explore and understand physical concepts using nothing more than a pocket calculator. Will enable readers to better understand professional research publications, opening up a whole world of fascinating literature to them. A perfect companion to Robinson’s earlier...

A text presenting a view of the process of supersymmetry, combining anecdotal descriptions and personal reminiscences with technical accounts of the pioneers in the field. Offers a historical look at supersymmetry for researchers and scholars in high energy physics and historians of science. Softcover, hardcover also available.

Amateur astronomers have to start somewhere. Most begin by buying a modest astronomical telescope and getting to know the night sky. After a while, many want to move on to the next stage, but this can be problematic. The magazines advertise a mass of commercially-made equipment – some of it very expensive – which...

A student-friendly style, over 100 illustrations, and numerous exercises are brought together in this textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in physics and mathematics. Lewis Ryder develops the theory of general relativity in detail. Covering the core topics of black holes, gravitational radiation, and cosmology, he provides an overview of general relativity...

Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists in history, wrote the modern classic A Brief History of Time to help non-scientists understand fundamental questions of physics and our existence: where did the universe come from? How and why did it begin? Will it come to an end, and if so, how? Hawking attempts...