Continuum Physics, Volume IV: Polar and Nonlocal Field Theories discusses the exposition of field theories for bodies which possess inner structure that can interact with mechanical and electromagnetic fields. This book provides precise presentations of exact continuum theories on materially non-uniform or non-simple bodies that can respond to short- and long-range inter-particle loads and fields. This volume consists of three parts. Part I is devoted to the study of continuum field theories for bodies having inner structure. All materials, to some extent, are composed of particles that behave like small rigid bodies or deformable particles, unlike the geometrical points of the classical continuum theory. The developments of nonlocal theories of nonpolar and polar continua are covered in Parts II and III. This publication is valuable to students and researchers interested in polar and nonlocal field theories.

This book offers a broad overview of the potential of continuum mechanics to describe a wide range of macroscopic phenomena in real-world problems. Building on the fundamentals presented in the authors’ previous book, Continuum Mechanics using Mathematica®, this new work explores interesting models of continuum mechanics, with an emphasis on exploring the flexibility of their applications in a wide variety of fields.

This book presents a Lagrangian approach model to formulate various fields of continuum physics, ranging from gradient continuum elasticity to relativistic gravito-electromagnetism. It extends the classical theories based on Riemann geometry to Riemann-Cartan geometry, and then describes non-homogeneous continuum and spacetime with torsion in Einstein-Cartan relativistic gravitation. It investigates two aspects of invariance of the Lagrangian: covariance of formulation following the method of Lovelock and Rund, and gauge invariance where the active diffeomorphism invariance is considered by using local Poincaré gauge theory according to the Utiyama method. Further, it develops various extensions of strain gradient continuum elasticity, relativistic gravitation and electromagnetism when the torsion field of the Riemann-Cartan continuum is not equal to zero. Lastly, it derives heterogeneous wave propagation equations within twisted and curved manifolds and proposes a relation between electromagnetic potential and torsion tensor.

A concise introductory course text on continuum mechanics Fundamentals of Continuum Mechanics focuses on the fundamentals of the subject and provides the background for formulation of numerical methods for large deformations and a wide range of material behaviours. It aims to provide the foundations for further study, not just of these subjects, but also the formulations for much more complex material behaviour and their implementation computationally. This book is divided into 5 parts, covering mathematical preliminaries, stress, motion and deformation, balance of mass, momentum and energy, and ideal constitutive relations and is a suitable textbook for introductory graduate courses for students in mechanical and civil engineering, as well as those studying material science, geology and geophysics and biomechanics. A concise introductory course text on continuum mechanics Covers the fundamentals of continuum mechanics Uses modern tensor notation Contains problems and accompanied by a companion website hosting solutions Suitable as a textbook for introductory graduate courses for students in mechanical and civil engineering

This book offers an interdisciplinary theoretical approach based on non-equilibrium statistical thermodynamics and control theory for mathematically modeling shock-induced out-of-equilibrium processes in condensed matter. The book comprises two parts. The first half of the book establishes the theoretical approach, reviewing fundamentals of non-equilibrium statistical thermodynamics and control theory of adaptive systems. The latter half applies the presented approach to a problem on shock-induced plane wave propagation in condensed matter. The result successfully reproduces the observed feature of waveform propagation in experiments, which conventional continuous mechanics cannot access. Further, the consequent stress–strain relationships derived with relaxation and inertia effect in elastic–plastic transition determines material properties in transient regimes.

The book opens with a derivation of kinematically nonlinear 3-D continuum mechanics for solids. Then the principle of virtual work is utilized to derive the simpler, kinematically linear 3-D theory and to provide the foundation for developing consistent theories of kinematic nonlinearity and linearity for specialized continua, such as beams and plates, and finite element methods for these structures. A formulation in terms of the versatile Budiansky-Hutchinson notation is used as basis for the theories for these structures and structural elements, as well as for an in-depth treatment of structural instability.

Today many important directions of research are being pursued more or less independently of each other. These are, for instance, strings and mem branes, induced gravity, embedding of spacetime into a higher dimensional space, the brane world scenario, the quantum theory in curved spaces, Fock Schwinger proper time formalism, parametrized relativistic quantum the ory, quantum gravity, wormholes and the problem of “time machines”, spin and supersymmetry, geometric calculus based on Clifford algebra, various interpretations of quantum mechanics including the Everett interpretation, and the recent important approach known as “decoherence”. A big problem, as I see it, is that various people thoroughly investigate their narrow field without being aware of certain very close relations to other fields of research. What we need now is not only to see the trees but also the forest. In the present book I intend to do just that: to carry out a first approximation to a synthesis of the related fundamental theories of physics. I sincerely hope that such a book will be useful to physicists. From a certain viewpoint the book could be considered as a course in the oretical physics in which the foundations of all those relevant fundamental theories and concepts are attempted to be thoroughly reviewed. Unsolved problems and paradoxes are pointed out. I show that most of those ap proaches have a common basis in the theory of unconstrained membranes. The very interesting and important concept of membrane space, the tensor calculus in and functional transformations in are discussed.