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Special Relativity: For Inquiring Minds (Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics)
by Yury DeshkoThis textbook introduces the special theory of relativity at a level which is accessible to undergraduate students and even high school students with a strong foundation in algebra. The presentation emphasizes clean algebraic and geometrical methods, visualized with plenty of illustrations, resulting in a textbook that is modern and serious yet accessible. Replete with many solved exercises and copious spacetime diagrams, this book will help students develop relativistic intuition when encountering the subject for the first time. The emphasis on geometric methods, combined with the pedagogically appealing k-calculus approach, makes this book ideal for a self-contained course on special relativity or as supplementary reading for modern physics courses. It will also appeal to high schoolers with a strong math background who want to get ahead.
Special Relativity
by Valerio FaraoniThis book offers an essential bridge between college-level introductions and advanced graduate-level books on special relativity. It begins at an elementary level, presenting and discussing the basic concepts normally covered in college-level works, including the Lorentz transformation. Subsequent chapters introduce the four-dimensional worldview implied by the Lorentz transformations, mixing time and space coordinates, before continuing on to the formalism of tensors, a topic usually avoided in lower-level courses. The book's second half addresses a number of essential points, including the concept of causality; the equivalence between mass and energy, including applications; relativistic optics; and measurements and matter in Minkowski spacetime. The closing chapters focus on the energy-momentum tensor of a continuous distribution of mass-energy and its covariant conservation; angular momentum; a discussion of the scalar field of perfect fluids and the Maxwell field; and general coordinates. Every chapter is supplemented by a section with numerous exercises, allowing readers to practice the theory. These exercises constitute an essential part of the textbook, and the solutions to approximately half of them are provided in the appendix.
Special Relativity: An Introduction with 200 Problems and Solutions (Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics)
by Michael TsamparlisThis textbook develops Special Relativity in a systematic way and offers the unique feature of having more than 200 problems with detailed solutions to empower students to gain a real understanding of this core subject in physics. This new edition has been thoroughly updated and has new sections on relativistic fluids, relativistic kinematics and on four-acceleration. The problems and solution section has been significantly expanded and short history sections have been included throughout the book.The approach is structural in the sense that it develops Special Relativity in Minkowski space following the parallel steps as the development of Newtonian Physics in Euclidian space. A second characteristic of the book is that it discusses the mathematics of the theory independently of the physical principles, so that the reader will appreciate their role in the development of the physical theory.The book is intended to be used both as a textbook for an advanced undergraduate teaching course in Special Relativity but also as a reference book for the future. In that respect it is linked to an online repository with more than 200 problems, carefully classified according to subject area and solved in detail, providing an independent problem book on Special Relativity.
Special Relativity for the Enthusiast
by Thomas StrohmThis textbook introduces special relativity with a focus on a profound understanding of the physics behind the theory. The main part of the book is targeted to undergraduates, for physics education, for undergraduate students in natural sciences in general, and even to interested laypersons. To serve these target groups, the book uses only basic mathematics and, in contrast to many other introductions to special relativity, the book is based on a pedagogical approach that relies on geometry and space-time diagrams to make the surprising predictions of the theory particularly clear. Special relativity is a geometric theory, and space-time diagrams are an efficient and easily understandable way to comprehend its implications. The textbook, however, is also suitable for advanced students and enthusiasts that already learned the basics of the special theory of relativity and want to know more. Special digression sections provide plenty of interesting material. Carefully selected problems with solutions and in-depth explanations for all key experiments help deepen the knowledge.
Special Relativity in General Frames: From Particles to Astrophysics
by Éric GourgoulhonSpecial relativity is the basis of many fields in modern physics: particle physics, quantum field theory, high-energy astrophysics, etc. This theory is presented here by adopting a four-dimensional point of view from the start. An outstanding feature of the book is that it doesn't restrict itself to inertial frames and to considering accelerated and rotating observers. It is thus possible to treat physical effects such as the Thomas precession or the Sagnac effect in a simple yet precise manner. In the final chapters, more advanced topics like tensorial fields in spacetime, exterior calculus and relativistic hydrodynamics are addressed. In the last, brief chapter the author gives a preview of gravity and shows where it becomes incompatible with Minkowsky spacetime. Well illustrated and enriched by many historical notes, this book also presents many applications of special relativity, ranging from particle physics (accelerators, particle collisions, quark-gluon plasma) to astrophysics (relativistic jets, active galactic nuclei), and including practical applications (Sagnac gyrometers, synchrotron radiation, GPS). In addition, the book provides some mathematical developments, such as the detailed analysis of the Lorentz group and its Lie algebra. The book is suitable for students in the third year of a physics degree or on a masters course, as well as researchers and any reader interested in relativity. Thanks to the geometric approach adopted, this book should also be beneficial for the study of general relativity. "A modern presentation of special relativity must put forward its essential structures, before illustrating them using concrete applications to specific dynamical problems. Such is the challenge (so successfully met!) of the beautiful book by Éric Gourgoulhon." (excerpt from the Foreword by Thibault Damour)
Special Sciences and the Unity of Science
by Olga Pombo John Symons Shahid Rahman Juan Manuel TorresScience is a dynamic process in which the assimilation of new phenomena, perspectives, and hypotheses into the scientific corpus takes place slowly. The apparent disunity of the sciences is the unavoidable consequence of this gradual integration process. Some thinkers label this dynamical circumstance a 'crisis'. However, a retrospective view of the practical results of the scientific enterprise and of science itself, grants us a clear view of the unity of the human knowledge seeking enterprise. This book provides many arguments, case studies and examples in favor of the unity of science. These contributions touch upon various scientific perspectives and disciplines such as: Physics, Computer Science, Biology, Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, and Economics.
The Special Theory of Relativity: Einstein’s World in New Axiomatics
by Helmut Günther Volker MüllerThis book discusses in detail the special theory of relativity without including all the instruments of theoretical physics, enabling readers who are not budding theoretical physicists to develop competence in the field. An arbitrary but fixed inertial system is chosen, where the known velocity of light is measured. With respect to this system a moving clock loses time and a moving length contracts. The book then presents a definition of simultaneity for the other inertial frames without using the velocity of light. To do so it employs the known reciprocity principle, which in this context serves to provide a definition of simultaneity in the other inertial frames. As a consequence, the Lorentz transformation is deduced and the universal constancy of light is established. With the help of a lattice model of the special theory of relativity the book provides a deeper understanding of the relativistic effects. Further, it discusses the key STR experiments and formulates and solves 54 problems in detail.
The Special Theory of Relativity
by Farook RahamanThe book expounds the major topics in the special theory of relativity. It provides a detailed examination of the mathematical foundation of the special theory of relativity, relativistic mass, relativistic mechanics and relativistic electrodynamics. As well as covariant formulation of relativistic mechanics and electrodynamics, the book discusses the relativistic effect on photons. Using a mathematical approach, the text offers graduate students a clear, concise view of the special theory of relativity. Organized into 14 chapters and two appendices, the content is presented in a logical order, and every topic has been dealt with in a simple and lucid manner. To aid understanding of the subject, the book provides numerous relevant worked examples in every chapter. The book's mathematical approach helps students in their independent study and motivates them to research the topic further.
The Special Theory of Relativity: A Mathematical Approach (UNITEXT #136)
by Farook RahamanThis textbook expounds the major topics in the special theory of relativity. It provides a detailed examination of the mathematical foundation of the special theory of relativity, relativistic mass, relativistic mechanics, and relativistic electrodynamics. As well as covariant formulation of relativistic mechanics and electrodynamics, the text discusses the relativistic effect on photons. A new chapter on electromagnetic waves as well as several new problems and examples have been included in the second edition of the book. Using the mathematical approach, the text offers graduate students a clear, concise view of the special theory of relativity. Organized into 15 chapters and two appendices, the content is presented in a logical order, and every topic has been dealt with in a simple and lucid manner. To aid understanding of the subject, the text provides numerous relevant worked-out examples in every chapter. The mathematical approach of the text helps students in their independent study and motivates them to research the topic further.
Special Topics in Structural Dynamics & Experimental Techniques, Volume 5: Proceedings of the 40th IMAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics 2022 (Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series)
by Matt Allen Sheyda Davaria R. Benjamin DavisSpecial Topics in Structural Dynamics & Experimental Techniques, Volume 5: Proceedings of the 40th MAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 2022, the fifth volume of nine from the Conference brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Structural Dynamics, including papers on:Analytical MethodsEmerging Technologies for Structural DynamicsEngineering ExtremesExperimental TechniquesFinite Element Techniques
Special Topics in Structural Dynamics & Experimental Techniques, Volume 5: Proceedings of the 38th IMAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics 2020 (Conference Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Mechanics Series)
by David S. EppSpecial Topics in Structural Dynamics & Experimental Techniques, Volume 5: Proceedings of the 38th MAC, A Conference and Exposition on Structural Dynamics, 2020, the fifth volume of eight from the Conference brings together contributions to this important area of research and engineering. The collection presents early findings and case studies on fundamental and applied aspects of Structural Dynamics, including papers on:Analytical MethodsEmerging Technologies for Structural DynamicsEngineering ExtremesExperimental TechniquesFinite Element TechniquesGeneral Topics
Specialization of Quadratic and Symmetric Bilinear Forms
by Thomas Unger Manfred KnebuschThe specialization theory of quadratic and symmetric bilinear forms over fields and the subsequent generic splitting theory of quadratic forms were invented by the author in the mid-1970's. They came to fruition in the ensuing decades and have become an integral part of the geometric methods in quadratic form theory. This book comprehensively covers the specialization and generic splitting theories. These theories, originally developed for fields of characteristic different from 2, are explored here without this restriction. In addition to chapters on specialization theory, generic splitting theory and their applications, the book contains a final chapter containing research never before published on specialization with respect to quadratic places and will provide the reader with a glimpse towards the future.
Spectra and Normal Forms (SpringerBriefs in Mathematics)
by Luís Barreira Claudia VallsThis book presents the reader with a streamlined exposition of the notions and results leading to the construction of normal forms and, ultimately, to the construction of smooth conjugacies for the perturbations of tempered exponential dichotomies. These are exponential dichotomies for which the exponential growth rates of the underlying linear dynamics never vanish. In other words, its Lyapunov exponents are all nonzero. The authors consider mostly difference equations, although they also briefly consider the case of differential equations. The content is self-contained and all proofs have been simplified or even rewritten on purpose for the book so that all is as streamlined as possible. Moreover, all chapters are supplemented by detailed notes discussing the origins of the notions and results as well as their proofs, together with the discussion of the proper context, also with references to precursor results and further developments. A useful chapter dependence chart is included in the Preface. The book is aimed at researchers and graduate students who wish to have a sufficiently broad view of the area, without the discussion of accessory material. It can also be used as a basis for graduate courses on spectra, normal forms, and smooth conjugacies.The main components of the exposition are tempered spectra, normal forms, and smooth conjugacies. The first two lie at the core of the theory and have an importance that undoubtedly surpasses the construction of conjugacies. Indeed, the theory is very rich and developed in various directions that are also of interest by themselves. This includes the study of dynamics with discrete and continuous time, of dynamics in finite and infinite-dimensional spaces, as well as of dynamics depending on a parameter. This led the authors to make an exposition not only of tempered spectra and subsequently of normal forms, but also briefly of some important developments in those other directions. Afterwards the discussion continues with the construction of stable and unstable invariant manifolds and, consequently, of smooth conjugacies, while using most of the former material.The notion of tempered spectrum is naturally adapted to the study of nonautonomous dynamics. The reason for this is that any autonomous linear dynamics with a tempered exponential dichotomy has automatically a uniform exponential dichotomy. Most notably, the spectra defined in terms of tempered exponential dichotomies and uniform exponential dichotomies are distinct in general. More precisely, the tempered spectrum may be smaller, which causes that it may lead to less resonances and thus to simpler normal forms. Another important aspect is the need for Lyapunov norms in the study of exponentially decaying perturbations and in the study of parameter-dependent dynamics. Other characteristics are the need for a spectral gap to obtain the regularity of the normal forms on a parameter and the need for a careful control of the small exponential terms in the construction of invariant manifolds and of smooth conjugacies.
Spectral Action in Noncommutative Geometry (SpringerBriefs in Mathematical Physics #27)
by Michał Eckstein Bruno IochumWhat is spectral action, how to compute it and what are the known examples? This book offers a guided tour through the mathematical habitat of noncommutative geometry à la Connes, deliberately unveiling the answers to these questions.After a brief preface flashing the panorama of the spectral approach, a concise primer on spectral triples is given. Chapter 2 is designed to serve as a toolkit for computations. The third chapter offers an in-depth view into the subtle links between the asymptotic expansions of traces of heat operators and meromorphic extensions of the associated spectral zeta functions. Chapter 4 studies the behaviour of the spectral action under fluctuations by gauge potentials. A subjective list of open problems in the field is spelled out in the fifth Chapter. The book concludes with an appendix including some auxiliary tools from geometry and analysis, along with examples of spectral geometries.The book serves both as a compendium for researchers in the domain of noncommutative geometry and an invitation to mathematical physicists looking for new concepts.
Spectral Analysis of N-Body Schrödinger Operators at Two-Cluster Thresholds (Mathematical Physics Studies)
by Erik Skibsted Xue Ping WangThis book provides a systematic study of spectral and scattering theory for many-body Schrödinger operators at two-cluster thresholds. While the two-body problem (reduced after separation of the centre of mass motion to a one-body problem at zero energy) is a well-studied subject, the literature on many-body threshold problems is sparse. However, the authors’ analysis covers for example the system of three particles interacting by Coulomb potentials and restricted to a small energy region to the right of a fixed nonzero two-body eigenvalue. In general, the authors address the question: How do scattering quantities for the many-body atomic and molecular models behave within the limit when the total energy approaches a fixed two-cluster threshold? This includes mapping properties and singularities of the limiting scattering matrix, asymptotics of the total scattering cross section, and absence of transmission from one channel to another in the small inter-cluster kinetic energy region. The authors’ principal tools are the Feshbach–Grushin dimension reduction method and spectral analysis based on a certain Mourre estimate. Additional topics of independent interest are the limiting absorption principle, micro-local resolvent estimates, Rellich- and Sommerfeld-type theorems and asymptotics of the limiting resolvents at thresholds. The mathematical physics field under study is very rich, and there are many open problems, several of them stated explicitly in the book for the interested reader.
Spectral Analysis of Nonlinear Elastic Shapes
by James F. DoyleThis book concerns the elastic stability of thin-walled structures — one of the most challenging problems facing structural engineers because of its high degree of nonlinearity — and introduces the innovative approach of using spectral analysis of the shapes and the stiffness to gain insights into the nonlinear deformations. The methodology greatly facilitates correlating the shape changes with the stiffness changes. Professor Doyle also develops specific computer procedures that complement finite element methods so that the ideas and methods are applicable to general structural problems. Basic validity of the procedures is established using key archetypal problems from buckling/post-buckling of columns, arches, curved plates, and cylindrical shells, all worked out in significant detail. The book is ideal for a wide variety of structural engineers, particularly those in aerospace and civil fields. Researchers in computational mechanics also find a rich source of new ideas for post-processing data from nonlinear analyses.
Spectral and Dynamical Stability of Nonlinear Waves
by Keith Promislow Todd KapitulaThis book unifies the dynamical systems and functional analysis approaches to the linear and nonlinear stability of waves. It synthesizes fundamental ideas of the past 20+ years of research, carefully balancing theory and application. The book isolates and methodically develops key ideas by working through illustrative examples that are subsequently synthesized into general principles. Many of the seminal examples of stability theory, including orbital stability of the KdV solitary wave, and asymptotic stability of viscous shocks for scalar conservation laws, are treated in a textbook fashion for the first time. It presents spectral theory from a dynamical systems and functional analytic point of view, including essential and absolute spectra, and develops general nonlinear stability results for dissipative and Hamiltonian systems. The structure of the linear eigenvalue problem for Hamiltonian systems is carefully developed, including the Krein signature and related stability indices. The Evans function for the detection of point spectra is carefully developed through a series of frameworks of increasing complexity. Applications of the Evans function to the Orientation index, edge bifurcations, and large domain limits are developed through illustrative examples. The book is intended for first or second year graduate students in mathematics, or those with equivalent mathematical maturity. It is highly illustrated and there are many exercises scattered throughout the text that highlight and emphasize the key concepts. Upon completion of the book, the reader will be in an excellent position to understand and contribute to current research in nonlinear stability.
Spectral and High Order Methods for Partial Differential Equations - ICOSAHOM 2012
by Mejdi Azaïez Henda El Fekih Jan S. HesthavenThe book contains a selection of high quality papers, chosen among the best presentations during the International Conference on Spectral and High-Order Methods (2012), and provides an overview of the depth and breath of the activities within this important research area. The carefully reviewed selection of the papers will provide the reader with a snapshot of state-of-the-art and help initiate new research directions through the extensive bibliography.
Spectral and High Order Methods for Partial Differential Equations ICOSAHOM 2014
by Robert M. Kirby Martin Berzins Jan S. HesthavenThe book contains a selection of high quality papers, chosen among the best presentations during the International Conference on Spectral and High-Order Methods (2014), and provides an overview of the depth and breadth of the activities within this important research area. The carefully reviewed selection of papers will provide the reader with a snapshot of the state-of-the-art and help initiate new research directions through the extensive biography.
Spectral and High Order Methods for Partial Differential Equations ICOSAHOM 2016
by Jan S. Hesthaven Marco L. Bittencourt Ney A. DumontThis book features a selection of high-quality papers chosen from the best presentations at the International Conference on Spectral and High-Order Methods (2016), offering an overview of the depth and breadth of the activities within this important research area. The carefully reviewed papers provide a snapshot of the state of the art, while the extensive bibliography helps initiate new research directions.
Spectral and High Order Methods for Partial Differential Equations ICOSAHOM 2018: Selected Papers from the ICOSAHOM Conference, London, UK, July 9-13, 2018 (Lecture Notes in Computational Science and Engineering #134)
by Christoph Schwab Spencer J. Sherwin David Moxey Joaquim Peiró Peter E. VincentThis open access book features a selection of high-quality papers from the presentations at the International Conference on Spectral and High-Order Methods 2018, offering an overview of the depth and breadth of the activities within this important research area. The carefully reviewed papers provide a snapshot of the state of the art, while the extensive bibliography helps initiate new research directions.
Spectral and Scattering Theory: Proceedings Of The Taniguchi International Workshop
by Mitsuru Ikawa"This useful volume, based on the Taniguchi International Workshop held recently in Sanda, Hyogo, Japan, discusses current problems and offers the mostup-to-date methods for research in spectral and scattering theory."
Spectral and Scattering Theory for Second Order Partial Differential Operators (Chapman & Hall/CRC Monographs and Research Notes in Mathematics)
by Kiyoshi MochizukiThe book is intended for students of graduate and postgraduate level, researchers in mathematical sciences as well as those who want to apply the spectral theory of second order differential operators in exterior domains to their own field. In the first half of this book, the classical results of spectral and scattering theory: the selfadjointness, essential spectrum, absolute continuity of the continuous spectrum, spectral representations, short-range and long-range scattering are summarized. In the second half, recent results: scattering of Schrodinger operators on a star graph, uniform resolvent estimates, smoothing properties and Strichartz estimates, and some applications are discussed.
Spectral Approach to Transport Problems in Two-Dimensional Disordered Lattices: Physical Interpretation And Applications (Springer Theses)
by Evdokiya Georgieva KostadinovaThis book introduces the spectral approach to transport problems in infinite disordered systems characterized by Anderson-type Hamiltonians. The spectral approach determines (with probability one) the existence of extended states for nonzero disorder in infinite lattices of any dimension and geometry. Here, the author focuses on the critical 2D case, where previous numerical and experimental results have shown disagreement with theory. Not being based on scaling theory, the proposed method avoids issues related to boundary conditions and provides an alternative approach to transport problems where interaction with various types of disorder is considered.Beginning with a general overview of Anderson-type transport problems and their relevance to physical systems, it goes on to discuss in more detail the most relevant theoretical, numerical, and experimental developments in this field of research. The mathematical formulation of the innovative spectral approach is introduced together with a physical interpretation and discussion of its applicability to physical systems, followed by a numerical study of delocalization in the 2D disordered honeycomb, triangular, and square lattices. Transport in the 2D honeycomb lattice with substitutional disorder is investigated employing a spectral analysis of the quantum percolation problem. Next, the applicability of the method is extended to the classical regime, with an examination of diffusion of lattice waves in 2D disordered complex plasma crystals, along with discussion of proposed future developments in the study of complex transport problems using spectral theory.
Spectral Clustering and Biclustering: Learning Large Graphs and Contingency Tables
by Marianna BollaExplores regular structures in graphs and contingency tables by spectral theory and statistical methods This book bridges the gap between graph theory and statistics by giving answers to the demanding questions which arise when statisticians are confronted with large weighted graphs or rectangular arrays. Classical and modern statistical methods applicable to biological, social, communication networks, or microarrays are presented together with the theoretical background and proofs. This book is suitable for a one-semester course for graduate students in data mining, multivariate statistics, or applied graph theory; but by skipping the proofs, the algorithms can also be used by specialists who just want to retrieve information from their data when analysing communication, social, or biological networks. Spectral Clustering and Biclustering: Provides a unified treatment for edge-weighted graphs and contingency tables via methods of multivariate statistical analysis (factoring, clustering, and biclustering). Uses spectral embedding and relaxation to estimate multiway cuts of edge-weighted graphs and bicuts of contingency tables. Goes beyond the expanders by describing the structure of dense graphs with a small spectral gap via the structural eigenvalues and eigen-subspaces of the normalized modularity matrix. Treats graphs like statistical data by combining methods of graph theory and statistics. Establishes a common outline structure for the contents of each algorithm, applicable to networks and microarrays, with unified notions and principles.