Lost Causes in and beyond Physics
Lost Causes in and Beyond Physics deals with a selection of research topics mostly from theoretical physics that have been shown to be a dead-end or continue at least to be highly controversial. This book is written as both an entertainment and serious study and should be accessible to anyone with a background in theoretical physics and mathematics.
Linear Models for Optimal Test Design
Begins with a reflection on the history of test design--the core activity of all educational and psychological testing. It then presents a standard language for modeling test design problems as instances of multi-objective constrained optimization. The main portion of the book discusses test design models for a large variety of problems from the daily practice of testing, and illustrates their use with the help of numerous empirical examples. The presentation includes models for the assembly of tests to an absolute or relative target for their information functions, classical test assembly, test equating problems, item matching, test splitting, simultaneous assembly of multiple tests, tests with item sets, multidimensional tests, and adaptive test assembly. Two separate chapters are devoted to the questions of how to design item banks for optimal support of programs with fixed and adaptive tests. Linear Models for Optimal Test Design, which does not require any specific mathematical background, has been written to be a helpful resource on the desk of any test specialist.
Linear Functional Analysis
This introduction to the ideas and methods of linear functional analysis shows how familiar and useful concepts from finite-dimensional linear algebra can be extended or generalized to infinite-dimensional spaces. Aimed at advanced undergraduates in mathematics and physics, the book assumes a standard background of linear algebra, real analysis (including the theory of metric spaces), and Lebesgue integration, although an introductory chapter summarizes the requisite material. The initial chapters develop the theory of infinite-dimensional normed spaces, in particular Hilbert spaces, after which the emphasis shifts to studying operators between such spaces. Functional analysis has applications to a vast range of areas of mathematics; the final chapters discuss the particularly important areas of integral and differential equations.
Lie Theory Vol.229 : Unitary Representations and Compactifications of Symmetric Spaces
It focuses on two fundamental questions in the theory of semisimple Lie groups: the geometry of Riemannian symmetric spaces and their compactifications; and branching laws for unitary representations, i.e., restricting unitary representations to (typically, but not exclusively, symmetric) subgroups and decomposing the ensuing representations into irreducibles.Ji's introductory chapter motivates the subject of symmetric spaces and their compactifications with carefully selected examples. A discussion of Satake and Furstenberg boundaries and a survey of the geometry of Riemannian symmetric spaces in general provide a good background for the second chapter, namely, the Borel–Ji authoritative treatment of various types of compactifications useful for studying symmetric and locally symmetric spaces. Borel–Ji further examine constructions of Oshima, De Concini, Procesi, and Melrose, which demonstrate the wide applicability of compactification techniques. Kobayashi examines the important subject of branching laws. Important concepts from modern representation theory, such as Harish–Chandra modules, associated varieties, microlocal analysis, derived functor modules, and geometric quantization are introduced. Concrete examples and relevant exercises engage the reader.
Lattice Hadron Physics
This series of lectures draws upon the developments made in recent years in implementing chirality on the lattice via the overlap formalism. These developments exploit chiral effective field theory in order to extrapolate lattice results to physical quark masses, new forms of improving operators to remove lattice artefacts, analytical studies of finite volume effects in hadronic observables, and state-of-the-art lattice calculations of excited resonances. This volume is designed to assist those outside the field who want quickly to becoming literate in these topics. So it is intended for graduate students and experienced researchers in other areas of hadronic physics to provide the background through which they can appreciate, if not become active in, contemporary lattice gauge theory and its applications to hadronic phenomena.
La musica del Big Bang : Come la radiazione cosmica di fondo ci ha svelato i segreti dell’Universo = The music of the Big Bang : How the cosmic background radiation revealed the secrets of the Universe to us
Cosmic microwave background radiation is the residue of the great heat following the Big Bang. A tenuous sign, over 13 billion years old, in which the answers to many of the questions about the nature of our Universe are hidden. Discovered by chance in 1964, in the last forty years this fossil trace of the origins of the Cosmos has been explored with every available means. Two Nobel Prizes in physics have already been awarded for research involving it, the last in 2006 for the results of the COBE satellite. Much of the information encoded in the cosmic background radiation was impressed by the superimposition of acoustic waves present in the early Universe: a "music" of the Big Bang, which cosmologists have tried for years to reconstruct, using techniques similar to those that allow to distinguish the sound of different musical instruments. Only recently have the first notes of this extraordinary cosmic symphony finally been revealed, but the investigation is not over yet. This book illustrates, with a language suitable even for non-specialists, the theories, observations and discoveries that have brought cosmology into a new era.
La correspondance entre Henri Poincaré et les physiciens, chimistes et ingénieurs = The correspondence between Henri Poincaré and physicists, chemists and engineers
Cosmic microwave background radiation is the residue of the great heat following the Big Bang. A tenuous sign, over 13 billion years old, in which the answers to many of the questions about the nature of our Universe are hidden. Discovered by chance in 1964, in the last forty years this fossil trace of the origins of the Cosmos has been explored with every available means. Two Nobel Prizes in physics have already been awarded for research involving it, the last in 2006 for the results of the COBE satellite. Much of the information encoded in the cosmic background radiation was impressed by the superimposition of acoustic waves present in the early Universe: a "music" of the Big Bang, which cosmologists have tried for years to reconstruct, using techniques similar to those that allow to distinguish the sound of different musical instruments. Only recently have the first notes of this extraordinary cosmic symphony finally been revealed, but the investigation is not over yet. This book illustrates, with a language suitable even for non-specialists, the theories, observations and discoveries that have brought cosmology into a new era.
Kramers-Kronig Relations in Optical Materials Research
This is the first one-volume work to provide a thorough and comprehensive description of the physical background, rigorous theory and applications of Kramers-Kronig relations in the fields of linear and nonlinear optical spectroscopy. Currently, Kramers-Kronig relations have become basic tools in the investigation of the optical properties of materials. A brief presentation of the related data-retrieval technique, the maximum entropy method, is also given. The contents and style potentially make this a standard text for physicists, chemists and engineers interested in optical-materials research and development.
Kinetics of Water-Rock Interaction
Systems at the surface of the Earth are continually responding to energy inputs derived from solar radiation or from the radiogenic heat in the interior. These energy inputs drive plate movements and erosion, exposing metastable mineral phases at the Earth’s surface. In addition, these energy fluxes are harvested and transformed by living organisms. As long as these processes persist, chemical disequilibrium at the Earth’s surface will be perpetuated. Chemical disequilibrium is also driven by human activities related to production of food, extraction of water and energy resources, and burial of wastes. To understand how the surface of the Earth will change over time, we must understand the rates at which reactions occur and the chemical feedbacks that relate these reactions across extreme temporal and spatial scales. This book addresses fundamental and applied questions concerning the rates of water-rock interactions driven by tectonic, climatic, and anthropogenic forcings.
Karl Schuhmann, Selected papers on phenomenology
Selected papers on phenomenology offers the best work in this field by the acclaimed historian of philosophy, Karl Schuhmann (1941-2003),Topics covered include the development of Husserl's concept of intentionality, Husserl and Indian philosophy, the origins of speech act theory in Munich phenomenology, the historical background of the notion of "phenomenology", and Johannes Daubert's critique of Martin Heidegger,This book brings together, in chronological arrangement, fourteen papers. Though thirteen of these were published before in some form, several were not easily accessible so far. In addition, a substantial piece of research, Schuhmann's chronicle of Johannes Daubert.
Jets from Young Stars II : Clues from High Angular Resolution Observations
This volume contains the edited lecture notes of the Second JETSET School on Jets from Young Stars: Clues from High Angular Resolution Observations organised by the Marie Curie Research Training Network JETSET: Jet Simulations, Experiments and Theory. After the opening two chapters on jet emission, readers can learn the fundamental background of modern high-spatial-resolution techniques, and how such methods have impacted on our understanding of young stars.
Compositionality and Concepts in Linguistics and Psychology
By highlighting relations between experimental and theoretical work, this volume explores new ways of addressing one of the central challenges in the study of language and cognition. The articles bring together work by leading scholars and younger researchers in psychology, linguistics and philosophy. An introductory chapter lays out the background on concept composition, a problem that is stimulating much new research in cognitive science. Researchers in this interdisciplinary domain aim to explain how meanings of complex expressions are derived from simple lexical concepts and to show how these meanings connect to concept representations.
Complex decision making : Theory and practice
The increasingly complex environment of today's world, characterized by technological innovation and global communication, generates myriads of possible and actual interactions while limited physical and intellectual resources severely impinge on decision makers, be it in the public or private domains. At the core of the decision-making process is the need for quality information that allows the decision maker to better assess the impact of decisions in terms of outcomes, nonlinear feedback processes and time delays on the performance of the complex system invoked.
Compact Riemann Surfaces : An Introduction to Contemporary Mathematics
Although Riemann surfaces are a time-honoured field, this book is novel in its broad perspective that systematically explores the connection with other fields of mathematics. It can serve as an introduction to contemporary mathematics as a whole as it develops background material from algebraic topology, differential geometry, the calculus of variations, elliptic PDE, and algebraic geometry. It is unique among textbooks on Riemann surfaces in including an introduction to Teichmüller theory.
Classification Algorithms for Codes and Designs
Almost a century earlier, in 1782, Euler [180] published some results on classifying small Latin squares, but for the ?rst few steps in this direction one should actually go at least as far back as ancient Greece and the proof that there are exactly ?ve Platonic solids. One of the most remarkable achievements in the early, pre-computer era is the classi?cation of the Steiner triple systems of order 15, quoted above. An onerous task that, today, no sensible person would attempt by hand calcu- tion. Because, with the exception of occasional parameters for which com- natorial arguments are e?ective (often to prove nonexistence or uniqueness), classi?cation in general is about algorithms and computation.
Classical Methods of Statistics : With Applications in Fusion-Oriented Plasma Physics
Classical Methods of Statistics is a blend of theory and practical statistical methods written for graduate students and researchers interested in applications to plasma physics and its experimental aspects. It can also fruitfully be used by students majoring in probability theory and statistics. In the first part, the mathematical framework and some of the history of the subject are described. Many exercises help readers to understand the underlying concepts. In the second part, two case studies are presented exemplifying discriminant analysis and multivariate profile analysis. The introductions of these case studies outline contextual magnetic plasma fusion research. In the third part, an overview of statistical software is given and, in particular, SAS and S-PLUS are discussed. In the last chapter, several datasets with guided exercises, predominantly from the ASDEX Upgrade tokamak, are included and their physical background is concisely described. The book concludes with a list of essential keyword translations.
Chemistry for the Protection of the Environment 4
This volume is the proceedings of the first CPE conference in the new millennium and the thirteenth in a well-established series of conferences on Chemistry for the Protection of the Environment, first established in 1976. With support of the U.S. EPA, the series of conferences provides an opportunity for interdisciplinary exchange of ideas among international specialists, from diverse fields and backgrounds, on the chemical aspects of environmental protection. Over the years, the CPE conferences have gathered participants from more and more countries, and the scope of interests have been broadened. Held in Hilo, Hawaii, this was the first of these international conferences to take place in the United States. The Organizing Committee attracted to the conference a wide range of talented scientists and engineers who have useful ideas to contribute on how to clean our environment.
Chasing the Chinese dream : Four decades of following China’s war on poverty
This book explores the historical, cultural and philosophical contexts that have made anti-poverty the core of Chinese society since Liberation in 1949, and why poverty alleviation measures evolved from the simplistic aid of the 1950s to Xi Jinping’s precision poverty alleviation and its goal of eliminating absolute poverty by 2020. The book also addresses the implications of China’s experience for other developing nations tackling not only poverty but such issues as pandemics, rampant urbanization and desertification exacerbated by global warming. The first of three parts draws upon interviews of rural and urban Chinese from diverse backgrounds and local and national leaders. These interviews, conducted in even the remotest areas of the country, offer candid insights into the challenges that have forced China to continually evolve its programs to resolve even the most intractable cases of poverty.
Chaos : A Program Collection for the PC
This new edition strives yet again to provide readers with a working knowledge of chaos theory and dynamical systems through parallel introductory explanations in the book and interaction with carefully-selected programs supplied on the accompanying diskette. The programs enable readers, especially advanced-undergraduate students in physics, engineering, and math, to tackle relevant physical systems quickly on their PCs, without distraction from algorithmic details. For the third edition of Chaos: A Program Collection for the PC, each of the previous twelve programs is polished and rewritten in C++ (both Windows and Linux versions are included). A new program treats kicked systems, an important class of two-dimensional problems, which is introduced in Chapter 13. Each chapter follows the structure: theoretical background; numerical techniques; interaction with the program; computer experiments; real experiments and empirical evidence; reference.
Careers of University Graduates : Views and Experiences in Comparative Perspectives
In this volume, scholars from twelve countries show how transition to employment, job assignments, employment assessments of the quality of employment and work vary by the graduates’ socio-biographic and educational background. It also focuses on experiences during the course of study and competences acquired, international experience, regional background and regions of employment. It demonstrates more substantial differences of the relationships between study and subsequent employment between various countries than previous debates and analyses have suggested.



















