Topics in Contemporary Mathematical Physics


Book Description

This textbook, pitched at the advanced-undergraduate to beginning-graduate level, focuses on mathematical topics of relevance in contemporary physics that are not usually covered in texts at the same level. Its main purpose is to help students appreciate and take advantage of the modern trend of very productive symbiosis between physics and mathematics. Three major areas are covered: (1) linear operators; (2) group representations and Lie algebra representations; and (3) topology and differential geometry. The features of this work include: an exposition style which is a fusion of those common in the standard physics and mathematics literatures; a level of exposition that varies from quite elementary to moderately advanced, so that the text should be of interest to a wide audience; a strong degree of thematic unity, despite the diversity of the topics covered; and cross references, so that, from any part of the book, the reader can trace easily where specific concepts or techniques are introduced.




Mathematical Physics


Book Description

For physics students interested in the mathematics they use, and for math students interested in seeing how some of the ideas of their discipline find realization in an applied setting. The presentation strikes a balance between formalism and application, between abstract and concrete. The interconnections among the various topics are clarified both by the use of vector spaces as a central unifying theme, recurring throughout the book, and by putting ideas into their historical context. Enough of the essential formalism is included to make the presentation self-contained.




Topics In Contemporary Mathematical Physics (Second Edition)


Book Description

This new (second) edition contains a general treatment of quantum field theory (QFT) in a simple scalar field setting in addition to the modern material on the applications of differential geometry and topology, group theory, and the theory of linear operators to physics found in the first edition. All these are introduced without assuming more background on the part of the reader than a good foundation in undergraduate (junior) level mathematical physics. The new material entirely focuses on an introduction to quantum field theory, emphasizing the Feynman path (functional integral) approach to QFT and the renormalization group. With respect to the latter, the focus is on an introduction of its application to critical phenomena in statistical physics, following the outgrowth of the Callan-Symanzik equation originally developed in the context of high energy physics, and the seminal contributions of Kenneth Wilson. One of the overriding aims of the new material is also to draw students' attention to the deep connections between high energy physics and statistical mechanics. The unavoidable technical aspects are explained with a minimum of prerequisite material and jargon, and conceptual understanding is always given prominence before mastery of technical details, but the importance of the latter is never underestimated. Derivational details and motivational discussions are provided in abundance in order to ensure continuity of reading, and to avoid trying the readers' patience.




A Course in Modern Mathematical Physics


Book Description

This textbook, first published in 2004, provides an introduction to the major mathematical structures used in physics today.




Introduction to Mathematical Physics


Book Description

Mathematical physics provides physical theories with their logical basis and the tools for drawing conclusions from hypotheses. Introduction to Mathematical Physics explains to the reader why and how mathematics is needed in the description of physical events in space. For undergraduates in physics, it is a classroom-tested textbook on vector analysis, linear operators, Fourier series and integrals, differential equations, special functions and functions of a complex variable. Strongly correlated with core undergraduate courses on classical and quantum mechanics and electromagnetism, it helps the student master these necessary mathematical skills. It contains advanced topics of interest to graduate students on relativistic square-root spaces and nonlinear systems. It contains many tables of mathematical formulas and references to useful materials on the Internet. It includes short tutorials on basic mathematical topics to help readers refresh their mathematical knowledge. An appendix on Mathematica encourages the reader to use computer-aided algebra to solve problems in mathematical physics. A free Instructor's Solutions Manual is available to instructors who order the book for course adoption.




Mathematical Methods


Book Description

Intended to follow the usual introductory physics courses, this book contains many original, lucid and relevant examples from the physical sciences, problems at the ends of chapters, and boxes to emphasize important concepts to help guide students through the material.




Diverse Topics in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics


Book Description

In this volume, topics are drawn from field theory, especially gauge field theory, as applied to particle, condensed matter and gravitational physics, and concern a variety of interesting subjects. These include geometricalDtopological effects in quantum theory, fractional charge, time travel, relativistic quantized fields in and out of thermal equilibrium and quantum modifications of symmetry in physical systems.Many readers will find this a useful volume, especially theoretical physicists and mathematicians. The material will be of interest to both the expert who will find well-presented novel and stimulating viewpoints of various subjects and the novice who will find complete, detailed and precise descriptions of important topics of current interest, in theoretical and mathematical physics.




Mathematical Physics


Book Description

Useful treatment of classical mechanics, electromagnetic theory, and relativity includes explanations of function theory, vectors, matrices, dyadics, tensors, partial differential equations, other advanced mathematical techniques. Nearly 200 problems with answers.




Physics for Mathematicians


Book Description




Stochastic Numerics for Mathematical Physics


Book Description

This book is a substantially revised and expanded edition reflecting major developments in stochastic numerics since the first edition was published in 2004. The new topics, in particular, include mean-square and weak approximations in the case of nonglobally Lipschitz coefficients of Stochastic Differential Equations (SDEs) including the concept of rejecting trajectories; conditional probabilistic representations and their application to practical variance reduction using regression methods; multi-level Monte Carlo method; computing ergodic limits and additional classes of geometric integrators used in molecular dynamics; numerical methods for FBSDEs; approximation of parabolic SPDEs and nonlinear filtering problem based on the method of characteristics. SDEs have many applications in the natural sciences and in finance. Besides, the employment of probabilistic representations together with the Monte Carlo technique allows us to reduce the solution of multi-dimensional problems for partial differential equations to the integration of stochastic equations. This approach leads to powerful computational mathematics that is presented in the treatise. Many special schemes for SDEs are presented. In the second part of the book numerical methods for solving complicated problems for partial differential equations occurring in practical applications, both linear and nonlinear, are constructed. All the methods are presented with proofs and hence founded on rigorous reasoning, thus giving the book textbook potential. An overwhelming majority of the methods are accompanied by the corresponding numerical algorithms which are ready for implementation in practice. The book addresses researchers and graduate students in numerical analysis, applied probability, physics, chemistry, and engineering as well as mathematical biology and financial mathematics.