This book is the second edition of an excellent undergraduate-level overview of classical and modern physics, intended for students of physics and related subjects, and also perfectly suited for the education of physics teachers. The twelve-chapter book begins with Newton’s laws of motion and subsequently covers topics such as thermodynamics and statistical physics, electrodynamics, special and general relativity, quantum mechanics and cosmology , the standard model and quantum chromodynamics. The writing is lucid, and the theoretical discussions are easy to follow for anyone comfortable with standard mathematics. An important addition in this second edition is a set of exercises and problems, distributed throughout the book. Some of the problems aim to complement the text, others to provide readers with additional useful tools for tackling new or more advanced topics. Furthermore, new topics have been added in several chapters; for example, the discovery of extra-solar planets from the wobble of their mother stars, a discussion of the Landauer principle relating information erasure to an increase of entropy, quantum logic, first order quantum corrections to the ideal gas equation of state due to the Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics. Both gravitational lensing and the time-correction in geo-positioning satellites are explained as theoretical applications of special and general relativity. The discovery of gravitational waves, one of the most important achievements of physical sciences, is presented as well. Professional scientists, teachers, and researchers will also want to have this book on their bookshelves, as it provides an excellent refresher on a wide range of topics and serves as an ideal starting point for expanding one’s knowledge of new or unfamiliar fields. Readers of this book will not only learn much about physics, they will also learn to love it.

Fundamental Concepts of Physics introduces students with little scientific background to college physics. Dr. Michael J. Cardamone presents the science of physics in a nonthreatening, non-mathematical conceptual format, with emphasis on its historical and cultural foundations. While directed at non-science undergraduate college students, the text is accessible to anyone with a curiosity concerning how we arrived at our current understanding of our physical world and its place in the universe. The goal is to allow the reader to come to an understanding of what we now know and how we came to know it. The emphasis is on the large concepts rather than the mathematical details involved with attaining this understanding. After completing the study of this text, the reader should have a greater appreciation of physics in describing the observed world. Electronic ebook edition available at Powells.com. Click on Powells logo to the left.

This new edition is a concise introduction to the basic methods of computational physics. Readers will discover the benefits of numerical methods for solving complex mathematical problems and for the direct simulation of physical processes. The book is divided into two main parts: Deterministic methods and stochastic methods in computational physics. Based on concrete problems, the first part discusses numerical differentiation and integration, as well as the treatment of ordinary differential equations. This is extended by a brief introduction to the numerics of partial differential equations. The second part deals with the generation of random numbers, summarizes the basics of stochastics, and subsequently introduces Monte-Carlo (MC) methods. Specific emphasis is on MARKOV chain MC algorithms. The final two chapters discuss data analysis and stochastic optimization. All this is again motivated and augmented by applications from physics. In addition, the book offers a number of appendices to provide the reader with information on topics not discussed in the main text. Numerous problems with worked-out solutions, chapter introductions and summaries, together with a clear and application-oriented style support the reader. Ready to use C++ codes are provided online.

Basic Optics: Principles and Concepts addresses in great detail the basic principles of the science of optics, and their related concepts. The book provides a lucid and coherent presentation of an extensive range of concepts from the field of optics, which is of central relevance to several broad areas of science, including physics, chemistry, and biology. With its extensive range of discourse, the book’s content arms scientists and students with knowledge of the essential concepts of classical and modern optics. It can be used as a reference book and also as a supplementary text by students at college and university levels and will, at the same time, be of considerable use to researchers and teachers. The book is composed of nine chapters and includes a great deal of material not covered in many of the more well-known textbooks on the subject. The science of optics has undergone major changes in the last fifty years because of developments in the areas of the optics of metamaterials, Fourier optics, statistical optics, quantum optics, and nonlinear optics, all of which find their place in this book, with a clear presentation of their basic principles. Even the more traditional areas of ray optics and wave optics are elaborated within the framework of electromagnetic theory, at a level more fundamental than what one finds in many of the currently available textbooks. Thus, the eikonal approximation leading to ray optics, the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulations of ray optics, the quantum theoretic interpretation of interference, the vector and dyadic diffraction theories, the geometrical theory of diffraction, and similar other topics of basic relevance are presented in clear terms. The presentation is lucid and elegant, capturing the essential magic and charm of physics. All this taken together makes the book a unique text, of major contemporary relevance, in the field of optics. Avijit Lahiri is a well-known researcher, teacher, and author, with publications in several areas of physics, and with a broad range of current interests, including physics and the philosophy of science. Provides extensive and thoroughly exhaustive coverage of classical and modern optics Offers a lucid presentation in understandable language, rendering the abstract and difficult concepts of physics in an easy, accessible way Develops all concepts from elementary levels to advanced stages Includes a sequential description of all needed mathematical tools Relates fundamental concepts to areas of current research interest

These notes are designed as a text book for a course on the Modern Physics Theory for undergraduate students. The purpose is providing a rigorous and self-contained presentation of the simplest theoretical framework using elementary mathematical tools. A number of examples of relevant applications and an appropriate list of exercises and answered questions are also given.

The book presents seven fundamental concepts in spacetime physics mostly by following Hermann Minkowski’s revolutionary ideas summarized in his 1908 lecture "Space and Time." These concepts are: spacetime, inertial and accelerated motion in spacetime physics, the origin and nature of inertia in spacetime physics, relativistic mass, gravitation, gravitational waves, and black holes. They have been selected because they appear to be causing most misconceptions and confusion in spacetime physics. This second edition has been revised to include additional clarifications, more detailed elaboration of the arguments and also new material published in the interim.

This reissued version of the classic text Basic Physics will help teachers at both the high-school and college levels gain new insights into, and deeper understanding of, many topics in both classical and modern physics that are commonly taught in introductory physics courses. All of the original book is included with new content added. Short sections of the previous book (174 in number) are labeled 'Features.' These Features are highlighted in the book, set forth in a separate Table of Contents, and separately indexed.Many teachers will value this book as a personal reference during a teaching year as various topics are addressed. Ford's discussions of the history and meaning of topics from Newton's mechanics to Feynman's diagrams, although written first in 1968, have beautifully withstood the test of time and are fully relevant to 21st-century physics teaching.