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Magnetic Monopoles
This monograph addresses the field theoretical aspects of magnetic monopoles. Written for graduate students as well as researchers, the author demonstrates the interplay between mathematics and physics. He delves into details as necessary and develops many techniques that find applications in modern theoretical physics. This introduction to the basic ideas used for the description and construction of monopoles is also the first coherent presentation of the concept of magnetic monopoles. It arises in many different contexts in modern theoretical physics, from classical mechanics and electrodynamics to multidimensional branes. The book summarizes the present status of the theory and gives an extensive but carefully selected bibliography on the subject. The first part deals with the Dirac monopole, followed in part two by the monopole in non-abelian gauge theories. The third part is devoted to monopoles in supersymmetric Yang-Mills theories.
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 Algebra Thoroughly Explained
Linear Algebra Thoroughly Explained provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject suitable for adoption as a self-contained text for courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. The clear and comprehensive presentation of the basic theory is illustrated throughout with an abundance of worked examples. The book is written for teachers and students of linear algebra at all levels and across mathematics and the applied sciences, particularly physics and engineering.
Lectures on Quantum Mechanics
Presents theoretical physics with a breathtaking array of examples and anecdotes. Basdevant's style is clear and stimulating, in the manner of a brisk classroom lecture that students can follow with ease and enjoyment.
Complex Geometry : An Introduction
Complex geometry studies (compact) complex manifolds. It discusses algebraic as well as metric aspects. The subject is on the crossroad of algebraic and differential geometry. Recent developments in string theory have made it an highly attractive area, both for mathematicians and theoretical physicists. The book contains detailed accounts of the basic concepts and the many exercises illustrate the theory. Appendices to various chapters allow an outlook to recent research directions.
Compendium of Theoretical Physics
Mechanics, Electrodynamics, Quantum Mechanics, and Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics comprise the canonical undergraduate curriculum of theoretical physics. In Compendium of Theoretical Physics, Armin Wachter and Henning Hoeber offer a concise, rigorous and structured overview that will be invaluable for students preparing for their qualifying examinations, readers needing a supplement to standard textbooks, and research or industrial physicists seeking a bridge between extensive textbooks and formula books. The authors take an axiomatic-deductive approach to each topic, starting the discussion of each theory with its fundamental equations. By subsequently deriving the various physical relationships and laws in logical rather than chronological order, and by using a consistent presentation and notation throughout, they emphasize the connections between the individual theories. The reader’s understanding is then reinforced with exercises, solutions and topic summaries.
Braid Groups
Braids and braid groups have been at the heart of mathematical development over the last two decades. Braids play an important role in diverse areas of mathematics and theoretical physics. The special beauty of the theory of braids stems from their attractive geometric nature and their close relations to other fundamental geometric objects, such as knots, links, mapping class groups of surfaces, and configuration spaces. In this presentation the authors thoroughly examine various aspects of the theory of braids, starting from basic definitions and then moving to more recent results. The advanced topics cover the Burau and the Lawrence--Krammer--Bigelow representations of the braid groups, the Alexander--Conway and Jones link polynomials, connections with the representation theory of the Iwahori--Hecke algebras, and the Garside structure and orderability of the braid groups.
Basic theoretical physics : A concise overview
This concise treatment embraces, in four parts, all the main aspects of theoretical physics (I . Mechanics and Basic Relativity, II. Electrodynamics and Aspects of Optics, III. Non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics, IV. Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics). It summarizes the material that every graduate student, physicist working in industry, or physics teacher should master during his or her degree course. It thus serves both as an excellent revision and preparation tool, and as a convenient reference source, covering the whole of theoretical physics. It may also be successfully employed to deepen its readers' insight and add new dimensions to their understanding of these fundamental concepts. Recent topics such as holography and quantum cryptography are included, thus making this a unique contribution to the learning material for theoretical physics.
Approaches to Fundamental Physics : An Assessment of Current Theoretical Ideas
This book presents contributions on particle theory, quantum field theory, general relativity, quantum gravity, string theory and cosmology. These represent the outcome of numerous discussions, taking place among the authors over a period of several years, about the research landscape of present-day fundamental theoretical physics. Indeed, the resultant book documents their attempt, out of their respective and highly specialized scientific positions, to find a way of communicating about methods, achievements and promises of the different approaches which shape the development of this field. It is therefore also an attempt to elucidate the connections between these approaches, and present them not as disjoint ventures but rather as facets of a common quest for understanding. Readers interested in fundamental approaches of theoretical physics will find this book highly stimulating and enlightening.
Applications of random matrices in physics
Random matrices are widely and successfully used in physics for almost 60-70 years, beginning with the works of Dyson and Wigner. Although it is an old subject, it is constantly developing into new areas of physics and mathematics. It constitutes now a part of the general culture of a theoretical physicist. Mathematical methods inspired by random matrix theory become more powerful, sophisticated and enjoy rapidly growing applications in physics. Recent examples include the calculation of universal correlations in the mesoscopic system, new applications in disordered and quantum chaotic systems, in combinatorial and growth models, as well as the recent breakthrough, due to the matrix models, in two dimensional gravity and string theory and the non-abelian gauge theories. The book consists of the lectures of the leading specialists and covers rather systematically many of these topics.
An Introduction to the Relativistic Theory of Gravitation
The geometric interpretation of gravitation is one of the major foundations of modern theoretical physics. This primer introduces classical general relativity with emphasis on the clarity of conceptual structure and on the basic mathematical methods to build up systematically application skills. The wealth of physical phenomena entailed by the Einstein‘s equations is revealed with the help of specific models describing gravitomagnetism, gravitational waves, cosmology, gravitational collapse and black holes. End-of-chapter exercises complete the main text.
An Introduction to Riemann Surfaces, Algebraic Curves and Moduli Spaces
This book gives an introduction to modern geometry. Starting from an elementary level the author develops deep geometrical concepts, playing an important role nowadays in contemporary theoretical physics. He presents various techniques and viewpoints, thereby showing the relations between the alternative approaches.
A Short Course in Quantum Information Theory : An Approach From Theoretical Physics
This short and concise primer takes the vantage point of theoretical physics and the unity of physics. It sets out to strip the burgeoning field of quantum information science to its basics by linking it to universal concepts in physics.
