QED--the edited version of four lectures on quantum electrodynamics that Feynman gave to the general public at UCLA as part of the Alix G. Mautner Memorial Lecture series--is perhaps the best example of his ability to communicate both the substance and the spirit of science to the layperson.The focus, as the title suggests, is quantum electrodynamics (QED), the part of the quantum theory of fields that describes the interactions of the quanta of the electromagnetic field-light, X rays, gamma rays--with matter and those of charged particles with one another. By extending the formalism developed by Dirac in 1933, which related quantum and classical descriptions of the motion of particles, Feynman revolutionized the quantum mechanical understanding of the nature of particles and waves. And, by incorporating his own readily visualizable formulation of quantum mechanics, Feynman created a diagrammatic version of QED that made calculations much simpler and also provided visual insights into the mechanisms of quantum electrodynamic processes.In this book, using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned "Feynman diagrams" instead of advanced mathematics, Feynman successfully provides a definitive introduction to QED for a lay readership without any distortion of the basic science. Characterized by Feynman's famously original clarity and humor, this popular book on QED has not been equaled since its publication.

    DLC: Quantum theory.

    This textbook, based on the author's own undergraduate teaching, develops general relativity and its associated mathematics from a minimum of prerequisites, leading to a physical understanding of the theory in some depth. It reinforces this understanding by making a detailed study of the theory's most important applications - neutron stars, black holes, gravitational waves, and cosmology - using the most up-to-date astronomical developments. The book is suitable for a one-year course for beginning graduate students or for undergraduates in physics who have studied special relativity, vector calculus, and electrostatics. Graduate students should be able to use the book selectively for half-year courses.

    Bridging the gap from geometry to the latest work in observational cosmology, the book illustrates the connection between geometry and the behavior of the physical universe and explains how radiation remaining from the big bang may reveal the actual shape of the universe.

    Presentation integrates health science applications throughout. Excellent illustrations support the exposition.

    Presents essential ideas on critical phenomena developed over the last decade in simple, qualitative terms. This new edition maintains the simple structure of the first and puts new emphasis on pedagogical considerations. Thermostatistics is incorporated into the text without eclipsing macroscopic thermodynamics, and is integrated into the conceptual framework of physical theory.

    Numerous tables and figures.

    Robert Crease and Charles Mann take the reader on a fascinating journey in search of "unification" (a description of how matter behaves that can apply equally to everything) with brilliant scientists such as Niels Bohr, Max Planck, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger, Richard Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, Sheldon Glashow, Steven Weinberg, and many others. They provide the definitive and highly entertaining story of the development of modern physics, and the human story of the physicists who set out to find the "theory of everything." The Second Creation tells the story of some of the most talented and idiosyncratic people in the world--many times in their own words. Crease and Mann conducted hundreds of interviews to capture the thinking and the personalities as well as the science. The authors make this complex subject matter clear and absorbing.

    This clearly explained layman's introduction to quantum physics is an accessible excursion into metaphysics and the meaning of reality.Herbert exposes the quantum world and the scientific and philosophical controversy about its interpretation."

    Delivered over the past two decades at the International School of Subnuclear Physics in Erice, Sicily, the lectures help to organize and explain material that a the time existed in a confused state, scattered in the literature. At the time they were given they spread new ideas throughout the physics community and proved very popular as introductions to topics at the frontiers of research.

    The book provides a thorough grounding in theories and concepts of intermolecular forces, allowing students and researchers to recognize which forces are important in any particular system and how to control these forces.Key Features• Surface-force measurements• Solvation and structural forces• Hydration and hydophobic forces• Ion-correlation forces• Thermal fluctuation (steric and undulation) forces• Particle and surface interactions in polymer melts and polymer solutions• Contains worked examples, discussion topics, and more than 100 problems

    Suitable for advanced undergraduates, it is intended for materials and electrical engineers who want to gain a fundamental understanding of alloys, semiconductor devices, lasers, magnetic materials, and so forth. The book is organized to be used in a one-semester course; to that end each section of applications, after the introduction to the fundamentals of electron theory, can be read independently of the others. Many examples from engineering practice serve to provide an understanding of common devices and methods. Among the modern applications covered are: high-temperature superconductors, optoelectronic materials, semiconductor device fabrication, xerography, magneto-optic memories, and amorphous ferromagnetics. This third edition has been revised and updated throughout and includes new sections on thermoelectric phenomena; piezoelectric, ferroelectric, and electrostrictive materials; and liquid-crystal and other flat-panel displays.

    The account begins with a short introduction to the relevant aspects of general relativity, written at a level accessible to a beginning graduate student in theoretical physics. There follows a detailed derivation of the Wehl-Lewis-Papapetrou form of the stationary axially symmetric metric. The Kerr and Tomimatsu-Sato forms of the rotating interior and exterior solutions of the Einstein equations are then discussed. The last three chapters of the book illustrate the applications of the theory to rotating neutral dust, rotating Einstein-Maxwell fields, and rotating charged dust. The author has drawn on his own research work to produce a timely discussion of this important area of research.

    "Quantum Mechanics: A Modern Introduction" differs from ordinary textbooks on the subject in two important ways: first, it introduces quantized systems and emphasizes quantum principles from the start rather than beginning with an analogy to classical laws or a historical approach; second, it contains a large number of practical examples that illustrate the concepts introduced and allow students to apply what they have learned.

    The fundamentals and the topical organization, however, remain the same. The analytic rather than merely descriptive treatment of actual engine cycles, the exhaustive studies of air capacity, heat flow, friction, and the effects of cylinder size, and the emphasis on application have been preserved. These are the basic qualities that have made Taylor's work indispensable to more than one generation of engineers and designers of internal-combustion engines, as well as to teachers and graduate students in the fields of power, internal-combustion engineering, and general machine design.

    The reader is given a valuable opportunity to witness Planck's thought processes both on the level of philosophical principles as well as their application to physical processes on the microscopic and macroscopic scales. In the second and fourth lectures Planck shows how the new ideas of statistical mechanics transformed the understanding of chemical physics. The seventh lecture discusses the principle of least action, while the final one gives an account of the theory of special relativity, of which Planck had been an early champion.These lectures are especially important since they reflect Planck's reconsiderations and rethinking of his original discovery of quantum theory. A new Introduction by Peter Pesic places this book in historical perspective among Planck's works and those of his contemporaries. Now available in this inexpensive edition, it will be of particular interest to students of modern physics and of the philosophy and history of science.

    Defines the general properties of linear and non-linear wave phenomena and illustrates the physical context in which the wave phenomena arise. Reviews advanced mathematical techniques where necessary for application.

    Most of the illustrations are computer-generated solutions of the Schrodinger equation for one- and three-dimensional systems. The situations discussed range from the simple particle in a box through resonant scattering in one dimension to the hydrogen atom and Regge classification of resonant scattering. This edition has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include a discussion of spin and magnetic resonance.

    This was done with the aim of illustrating the possibilities of the methods contained in the book, as well as with the desire to make good on what I have attempted to do over the course of many years for my students-to awaken their creativity, providing topics for independent work. The source of my own initial research was the famous two-volume book Methods of Mathematical Physics by D. Hilbert and R. Courant, and a series of original articles and surveys on partial differential equations and their applications to problems in theoretical mechanics and physics. The works of K. o. Friedrichs, which were in keeping with my own perception of the subject, had an especially strong influence on me. I was guided by the desire to prove, as simply as possible, that, like systems of n linear algebraic equations in n unknowns, the solvability of basic boundary value (and initial-boundary value) problems for partial differential equations is a consequence of the uniqueness theorems in a "sufficiently large" function space. This desire was successfully realized thanks to the introduction of various classes of general solutions and to an elaboration of the methods of proof for the corresponding uniqueness theorems. This was accomplished on the basis of comparatively simple integral inequalities for arbitrary functions and of a priori estimates of the solutions of the problems without enlisting any special representations of those solutions.

    

    The theory developed in this book by two specialists in the field can be applied to the study of such diverse astrophysical phenomena as stellar winds, supernova explosions, and the initial phases of cosmic expansion, as well as the physics of laser fusion and reentry vehicles. As such, it provides students with the basic tools for research on radiating flows.Largely self-contained, the volume is divided into three parts: Chapters 1 to 5 focus on the dynamics of nonradiating fluids and then consider applications of a few astrophysically interesting problems concerning waves, shocks, and stellar winds. The second part of the book — Chapters 5 to 8 — deals with the physics of radiation, radiation transport, and the dynamics of radiating fluids, emphasizing the close relationship of radiation hydrodynamics to ordinary fluid dynamics. Part 3 comprises a short appendix on tensor calculus, explaining the use of tensor concepts in writing equations that allow a simple transition from ordinary fluids to relativistic fluids to radiation.Combining relevant material scattered widely among a large number of books, journal papers, and technical reports, this volume will be of immense value to students and researchers in many fields. 1984 edition.

    Radar cross section (RCS) is a comparison of two radar signal strengths. One is the strength of the radar beam sweeping over a target, the other is the strength of the reflected echo sensed by the receiver. This book shows how the RCS "gauge" can be predicted for theoretical objects and how it can be measured for real targets. Predicting RCS is not easy, even for simple objects like spheres or cylinders, but this book explains the two "exact" forms of theory so well that even a novice will understand enough to make close predictions. Weapons systems developers are keenly interested in reducing the RCS of their platforms. The two most practical ways to reduce RCS are shaping and absorption. This book explains both in great detail, especially in the design, evaluation and selection of radar absorbers. There is also great detail on the design and employment of indoor and outdoor test ranges for scale models or for full-scale targets (such as aircraft).In essence, this book covers everything you need to know about RCS, from what it is, how to predict and measure, how to test targets (indoors and out) and how to beat it.

    

    The historical development of the ideas that have shaped our thinking about the ultimate constituents of matter is traced out. The author has been associated with some of the originators of elementary particle theory and has made significant contributions to the field. Here, he gives a first-person description of some of the main developments leading to our present view of the universe.

    Topics include fundamentals, Bessel functions, waveguides, elasticity theory, hydrodynamic waves, and special phenomenon of wave diffraction. With problems.

    The book emphasizes the applications of theory, and contains new material on particle physics, electron-positron annihilation in solids and the Mossbauer effect. It includes new appendices on such topics as crystallography, Fourier Integral Description of a Wave Group, and Time-Independent Perturbation Theory. Table Of Contents: ?Thermal Radiation and Planck's Postulate ?Photons-Particle like Properties of Radiation ?De Broglie's Postulate--Wavelike Properties of Particles ?Bohr's Model of the Atom ?Schroedinger's Theory of Quantum Mechanics ?Solutions of Time-Independent Schroedinger Equations ?One-Electron Atoms ?Magnetic Dipole Moments, Spin, and Transition Rates ?Multielectron Atoms--Ground States and X-Ray Excitations ?Multielectron Atoms--Optical Excitations ?Quantum Statistics ?Molecules ?Solids--Conductors and Semiconductors ?Solids--Superconductors and Magnetic Properties ?Nuclear Models ?Nuclear Decay and Nuclear Reactions ?Introduction to Elementary Particles ?More Elementary Particles Appendixes

    Professor Hughes has updated the whole text in line with current particle nomenclature and has added material to cover important new developments. There is also a completely new major chapter on particle physics and cosmology, an exciting subject that has become an area of increasing importance in recent years. In this field much can be learned from the way the subject has developed, and so, where this helps its understanding, a historical treatment is used. Unlike other texts on this subject, at all stages the author closely links theoretical developments to the relevant experimental measurements, providing a sound foundation to what might otherwise be a rather abstract subject. He also provides historical background where it will aid comprehension of the material.

    Its aim is to guide students and general readers to an understanding of how the physical world works; physics is presented as a human endeavour, with historical development forming a thread throughout the text. The prerequisites are minimal, only basic algebra and trigonometry since the necessary calculus is developed in the text, with physics providing the motivation. New concepts are introduced at the natural, logical point with many historical references to place physics in a social perspective. Many topics from twentieth-century physics are included, for example energy, low temperature physics, relativity and black holes. The book is attractively and profusely illustrated and will be welcomed by students and also by general readers for whom this will be a stimulating alternative to other, less-thorough treatments.

    Updated to reflect recent work in the field, this book emphasizes crystalline solids, going from the crystal lattice to the ideas of reciprocal space and Brillouin zones, and develops these ideas for lattice vibrations, for the theory of metals, and for semiconductors. The theme of lattice periodicity and its varied consequences runs through eighty percent of the book. Other sections deal with major aspects of solid state physics controlled by other phenomena: super-conductivity, dielectric and magnetic properties, and magnetic resonance. The book does not require a formal knowledge of quantum mechanics, and includes over 100 problems of varied length and difficulty. It will also be useful to chemists, material scientists, and electrical engineers who need an introduction to the subject for self study.