Fluid Mechanics : An Introduction to the Theory of Fluid Flows
Advancements of fluid flow measuring techniques and of computational methods have led to new ways to treat laminar and turbulent flows. These methods are extensively used these days in research and engineering practise. This also requires new ways to teach the subject to students at higher educational institutions in an introductory manner. The book provides the knowledge to students in engineering and natural science needed to enter fluid mechanics applications in various fields. Analytical treatments are provided, based on the Navier-Stokes equations. Introductions are also given into numerical and experimental methods applied to flows. The main benefit the reader will derive from the book is a sound introduction into all aspects of fluid mechanics covering all relevant subfields.
Fluctuations, Information, Gravity and the Quantum Potential
A main theme of the book outlines the role of the quantum potential in quantum mechanics and general relativity and one of its origins via fluctuations formulated in terms of Fisher information. Another theme is the description of various approaches to Bohmian mechanics and their role in quantum mechanics and general relativity. Along the way various approaches to, for instance, the Dirac equation, the Einstein equations, the Klein-Gordon equation, the Maxwell equations and the Schr?dinger equations are described. Statistics and geometry are intertwined in various ways and, among other matters, the aether, cosmology, entropy, fractals, quantum Kaehler geometry, the vacuum and the zero point field are discussed. There is also some speculative material and some original work along with material extracted from over 1000 references and the work is current up to April 2005.
Flowing Matter
This book presents an introduction to selected research topics in the broad field of flowing matter, including the dynamics of fluids with a complex internal structure -from nematic fluids to soft glasses- as well as active matter and turbulent phenomena. Flowing matter is a subject at the crossroads between physics, mathematics, chemistry, engineering, biology and earth sciences, and relies on a multidisciplinary approach to describe the emergence of the macroscopic behaviours in a system from the coordinated dynamics of its microscopic constituents. Depending on the microscopic interactions, an assembly of molecules or of mesoscopic particles can flow like a simple Newtonian fluid, deform elastically like a solid or behave in a complex manner. When the internal constituents are active, as for biological entities, one generally observes complex large-scale collective motions. Phenomenology is further complicated by the invariable tendency of fluids to display chaos at the large scales or when stirred strongly enough. This volume presents several research topics that address these phenomena encompassing the traditional micro-, meso-, and macro-scales descriptions, and contributes to our understanding of the fundamentals of flowing matter.
Fisica solare = Solar physics
An introduction to Solar Physics, intended to illustrate to those who intend to approach this discipline (students, PhDs, researchers) the physical mechanisms underlying the complex phenomena observed on our closest star. It does not claim to be exhaustive (suffice it to say that solar physics spans a wide range of disciplines, such as nuclear physics, thermodynamics, electrodynamics, atomic and molecular physics, spectroscopy across all bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, magnetohydrodynamics, plasma physics, the development of new instrumentation, optics, etc.). Rather, a number of topics of fundamental relevance to the current study of the Sun have been selected (especially with regard to ground-based observations with large telescopes), and an attempt has been made to provide a general overview of these topics, including their historical evolution, without going into excessive detail. Since Solar Physics can rightfully be considered the "Rosetta Stone" of all Astrophysics, the volume can also be considered a valid introduction to this subject.
First Light in the Universe : Saas-Fee Advanced Course 36. Swiss Society for Astrophysics and Astronomy
The exploration of the first billion years of the history of the Universe, from the so-called Dark Ages to cosmic reionisation, represents one of the great challenges of contemporary astrophysics and one of the main drivers for future observational facilities. The book contains the elaborated notes of lectures given at the 36th Saas-Fee Advanced Course "First Light in the Universe" by three eminent scientists in the field: Abraham Loeb, Andrea Ferrara, and Richard Ellis. The formation of the first stars and black holes, the initial mass function, feedback effects, early dust formation, the history of cosmic star formation, distant galaxies, cosmic reionisation and the cosmic infrared background are the main topics treated. This book provides an accessible and up-to-date review of the field and will be useful to graduate students of astronomy, cosmologists, physicists and researchers.
Finite element methods and their applications
This book serves as a text for one- or two-semester courses for upper-level undergraduates and beginning graduate students and as a professional reference for people who want to solve partial differential equations (PDEs) using finite element methods. The author has attempted to introduce every concept in the simplest possible setting and maintain a level of treatment that is as rigorous as possible without being unnecessarily abstract. Quite a lot of attention is given to discontinuous finite elements, characteristic finite elements, and to the applications in fluid and solid mechanics including applications to porous media flow, and applications to semiconductor modeling. An extensive set of exercises and references in each chapter are provided.
Field Models in Electricity and Magnetism
Covering the development of field computation in the past forty years, Field Models in Electricity and Magnetism intends to be a concise, comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to field models in electricity and magnetism, ranging from basic theory to numerical applications. The approach assumed throughout the whole book is to solve field problems directly from partial differential equations in terms of vector quantities. Theoretical issues are illustrated by practical examples. In particular, a single example is solved by different methods so that, by comparison of results, limitations and advantages of the various methods are made clear.
Field Guide to Meteors and Meteorites
Imagine the unique experience of being the very first person to hold a newly-found meteorite in your hand – a rock from space, older than Earth! "Weekend meteorite hunting" with magnets and metal detectors is becoming ever more popular as a pastime, but of course you can’t just walk around and pick up meteorites in the same way that you can pick up seashells on the beach. Those fragments that survived the intense heat of re-entry tend to disguise themselves as natural rocks over time, and it takes a trained eye – along with the information in this book – to recognize them.
Field Emission in Vacuum Microelectronics
Field emission is a phenomenon described by quantum mechanics. Its emission capability is millions times higher than that of any other known types of electron emission. Nowadays this phenomenon is experiencing a new life due to wonderful applications in the atomic resolution microscopy, in electronic holography, and in the vacuum micro- and nanoelectronics in general. The main field emission properties, and some most remarkable experimental facts and applications, are described in this book.
Fiber-based Dispersion Compensation
Dispersion management is a critical design criterion that characterizes the performance of an optical network, and has impacted almost every aspect of the physical layer of an optical transmission line. The past 10 years have seen an explosion in the variety of device effects exploited to obtain optimal performance from dispersion compensators, and this is the first book that deals exclusively with this technology.
Feynman Integral Calculus
The problem of evaluating Feynman integrals over loop momenta has existed from the early days of perturbative quantum field theory. The goal of the book is to summarize those methods for evaluating Feynman integrals that have been developed over a span of more than fifty years. `Feynman Integral Calculus' characterizes the most powerful methods in a systematic way. It concentrates on the methods that have been employed recently for most sophisticated calculations and illustrates them with numerous examples, starting from very simple ones and progressing to nontrivial examples. It also shows how to choose adequate methods and combine them in a non-trivial way.
Ferroelectric Thin Films : Basic Properties and Device Physics for Memory Applications
Ferroelectric thin films continue to attract much attention due to their developing, diverse applications in memory devices, FeRAM, infrared sensors, piezoelectric sensors and actuators. This book, aimed at students, researchers and developers, gives detailed information about the basic properties of these materials and the associated device physics. All authors are acknowledged experts in the field.
Fenomeni Radioattivi : Dai nuclei alle stelle = Radioactive phenomena : From nuclei to stars
The topics covered constitute an introduction to radioactive phenomena in the strict sense with excursions, having as a starting point and guiding thread the decay b, in the field of elementary particle physics, in particular neutrinos, and astrophysics. Some topics are traditional (alpha decay, beta gamma), others concern frontier physics (so that the reader is offered particular itineraries from established physics to evolving physics).
Femtosecond optical frequency comb : Principle, operation and applications
This book provides an introductory description of mode-locked lasers, the connection between time and frequency descriptions of their output and the physical origins of the electric field dynamics, together with an overview of applications of femtosecond comb technology. Individual chapters go into more detail on mode-locked laser development, spectral broadening in microstructure fiber, optical parametric amplification, optical frequency metrology, optical atomic clocks, ultrasensitive sensors, carrier-envelope phase dynamics, high field ionization of atoms and generation of attosecond high-harmonic radiation. To provide readers with the most recent, direct, and comprehensive information, the chapters are written by the international researchers who have led the development of this field. This book provides an introduction to those new to the field and is at the same time a resource for experts.
Femtosecond laser spectroscopy
As concepts and methodologies have evolved over the past two decades, the realm of ultrafast science has become vast and exciting and has impacted many areas of chemistry, biology and physics, and other fields such as materials science, electrical engineering, and optical communication. The field has recently exploded with the announcement of a series of remarkable new developments and advances. This volume surveys this recent growth in eleven chapters written by leading international researchers in the field. It includes sections on femtosecond optical frequency combs, soft x-ray femtosecond laser sources, and attosecond laser sources. In addition, the contributors address real-time spectroscopy of molecular vibrations with sub-5-fs pulses and multidimensional femtosecond coherent spectroscopies for studying molecular and electron dynamics. Novel methods for measuring and characterizing ultrashort laser pulses and ultrashort pulses of light are also described. The topics covered are revolutionizing the fields of biomedical imaging, electron dynamics, ultrahigh precision spectroscopy, and optical frequency metrology. Surveying the latest advances in ultrafast lasers, Femtosecond Laser Spectroscopy will be of interest to both researchers and graduate students.
Femtosecond laser pulses : Principles and experiments
This is the second edition of this advanced textbook written for scientists who require further training in femtosecond science. Four years after pub- cation of the ?rst edition, femtosecond science has overcome new challenges and new application ?elds have become mature. It is necessary to take into account these new developments. Two main topics merged during this period that support important scienti?c activities: attosecond pulses are now gen- ated in the X-UV spectral domain, and coherent control of chemical events is now possible by tailoring the shape of femtosecond pulses. To update this advanced textbook, it was necessary to introduce these ?elds; two new ch- ters are in this second edition: “Coherent Control in Atoms, Molecules, and Solids”(Chap.11)and“AttosecondPulses”(Chap.12)withwell-documented references. Some changes, addenda, and new references are introduced in the ?rst edition’s ten original chapters to take into account new developments and updatethisadvancedtextbookwhichistheresultofascienti?cadventurethat started in 1991. At that time, the French Ministry of Education decided that, in view of the growing importance of ultrashort laser pulses for the national scienti?c community, a Femtosecond Centre should be created in France and devoted to the further education of scientists who use femtosecond pulses as a research tool and who are not specialists in lasers or even in optics.
Fare astronomia con piccoli telescopi = Are astronomy with small telescopes
Giant tools are not necessarily required to produce scientifically valid results in the field of astronomy. Even the amateur with a small telescope, with a diameter of only 8-9 cm, can contribute to the science of the sky by making useful observations of the Sun, the Moon, planets, comets, asteroids, double or variable stars, nebulae and star clusters. The manual of M.K. Gainer explains what the minimum equipment is (a small telescope, a computer, a simple digital camera), how to use it, and what are the appropriate techniques to be adopted in the observations. It also offers schemes for interpreting and reducing the collected data, as well as forms to be filled in and sent to international collection centers.
Factorization Method in Quantum Mechanics
Introduces the factorization method in quantum mechanics at an advanced level with an aim to put mathematical and physical concepts and techniques like the factorization method, Lie algebras, matrix elements and quantum control at the Reader’s disposal.
Extreme Nonlinear Optics : An Introduction
Following the birth of the laser in 1960, the field of "nonlinear optics" rapidly emerged. Today, laser intensities and pulse durations are readily available, for which the concepts and approximations of traditional nonlinear optics no longer apply. In this regime of "extreme nonlinear optics," a large variety of novel and unusual effects arise, for example frequency doubling in inversion symmetric materials or high-harmonic generation in gases, which can lead to attosecond electromagnetic pulses or pulse trains. Other examples of "extreme nonlinear optics" cover diverse areas such as solid-state physics, atomic physics, relativistic free electrons in a vacuum and even the vacuum itself. This book starts with an introduction to the field based primarily on extensions of two famous textbook examples, namely the Lorentz oscillator model and the Drude model. Here the level of sophistication should be accessible to any undergraduate physics student. Many graphical illustrations and examples are given. The following chapters gradually guide the student towards the current "state of the art" and provide a comprehensive overview of the field. Every chapter is accompanied by exercises to deepen the reader's understanding of important topics, with detailed solutions at the end of the book.
Extreme Man-Made and Natural Hazards in Dynamics of Structures
The present threat of the terrorist attacks or accidental explosions, the climate change which brings strong stormy winds or yet the destructive earthquake motion that occurs in previously inactive regions or brings about tsunamis, are a few examples of the kind of applications we seek to address in this work.



















