A Complete Course on Theoretical Physics: From Classical Mechanics to Advanced Quantum Statistics PDF
Preview A Complete Course on Theoretical Physics: From Classical Mechanics to Advanced Quantum Statistics
Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics Albrecht Lindner Dieter Strauch A Complete Course on Theoretical Physics From Classical Mechanics to Advanced Quantum Statistics Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics Series editors Neil Ashby, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA WilliamBrantley,DepartmentofPhysics,FurmanUniversity,Greenville,SC,USA MatthewDeady,PhysicsProgram,BardCollege,Annandale-on-Hudson,NY,USA Michael Fowler, Department of Physics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA Morten Hjorth-Jensen, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics (ULNP) publishes authoritative texts covering topicsthroughoutpureandappliedphysics.Eachtitleintheseriesissuitableasabasisfor undergraduateinstruction,typicallycontainingpracticeproblems,workedexamples,chapter summaries, andsuggestions for further reading. ULNP titles mustprovide at least oneof thefollowing: (cid:129) Anexceptionally clear andconcise treatment ofastandard undergraduate subject. (cid:129) Asolidundergraduate-levelintroductiontoagraduate,advanced,ornon-standardsubject. (cid:129) Anovel perspective oranunusual approach toteaching asubject. ULNPespeciallyencouragesnew,original,andidiosyncraticapproachestophysicsteaching at theundergraduate level. ThepurposeofULNPistoprovideintriguing,absorbingbooksthatwillcontinuetobethe reader’spreferred reference throughout theiracademic career. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8917 Albrecht Lindner Dieter Strauch (cid:129) A Complete Course on Theoretical Physics From Classical Mechanics to Advanced Quantum Statistics 123 Albrecht Lindner DieterStrauch Pinneberg, Germany Theoretical Physics University of Regensburg Regensburg,Germany ISSN 2192-4791 ISSN 2192-4805 (electronic) Undergraduate Lecture Notesin Physics ISBN978-3-030-04359-9 ISBN978-3-030-04360-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04360-5 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2018961698 Theoriginal,Germaneditionwaspublishedin2011underthetitle“GrundkursTheoretischePhysik”. ©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2018 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpart of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission orinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped. 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ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland In memory of Albrecht Lindner (1935–2005), scientist, teacher, friend Preface This textbook is a translation of the third German edition of Grundkurs TheoretischePhysik(ABasicCourseonTheoretical Physics),originally published byTeubner, Stuttgart,Germany. Actually, thiseditionismuchmorethan atypical textbook since it offers a mixture of basic and advanced material of all of the fundamental disciplines of theoretical physics in one volume, whence it may well servealsoasareferencebook.Thelargenumberofcross-referenceswillguidethe reader from the basic experimental observations to the construction of a “unified” theory,andthepresentcompactnessshouldensurethatthereaderdoesnotgetlost along the way. A wide range of problems invite the reader to tackle further applications at various stages of sophistication, and a list of textbooks offers the way forward to possible open questions. ThematerialitselfandthewayitispresentedisduetothelateAlbrechtLindner. MycontributionisrestrictedmerelytothetranslationintotheEnglishlanguage;in fact,mysincerestgratitudegoestoDr.StevenLylewhocorrectedthetranslationin manlyplaces;whateverremainsofinsufficientvocabularyorgrammarisduetomy limitedmasteryofthelanguage.TheonlychangesIhavemadearetoadjusttothe publisher’s requirements, made some changes in the numerical tables as to be expectedfromMay2019on,andadaptthelistoftextbookstoanEnglish-speaking readership. I am proud, nevertheless, to present this book to the English-speaking community. Regensburg, Germany Dieter Strauch vii Preface to the First German Edition Like the standard course in theoretical physics, the present book introduces the physics of particles under the heading Classical Mechanics, the physics of fields under Electromagnetism, quantum physics under Quantum Mechanics I, and sta- tistical physics under Thermodynamics and Statistics. Besides these branches, which would form a curriculum for all students of physics, there is a complement entitled Quantum Mechanics II, for those who wish to obtain a deeper under- standing of the theory, which discusses scattering problems, quantization offields, and Dirac theory (as an example of relativistic quantum mechanics). Thegoalhereistostresstheinterrelationsbetweentheindividualsubjects.Inan introductory chapter, there is a summary of the most important parts mathematical tools repeatedly needed in the different branches of physics. These constitute the mathematical foundation for rationalizing our practical experience, since we wish to describe our observations as precisely as possible. The selection of material was mainly inspired by our local physics diploma curriculum. Only in a few places did I go beyond those limits, e.g., in Sect. 4.6 (quantum theory and dissipation), Sect. 5.2 (three-body scattering), and Sect. 5.4 (quasi-particles,quantumoptics),sinceIhavetheimpressionthattheessentialscan also be worked out rather easily in these areas. Section 5.5 on the Dirac equation also differs from the standard presentation, because I prefer the Weyl representation over the standard representation—despite myintentiontoavoidanyspecialrepresentationasfaraspossible.Inthisrespect,I am grateful to my colleagues Till Anders (Munich), Dietmar Kolb (Kassel), und Gernot Münster (Münster) for their valuable comments on my drafts. Thanks go also to numerous students in Hamburg and especially to Dr. Heino Freese and Dr. Adolf Kitz for many questions and suggestions, and various forms ofsupport.Thegeneralinterestinmynotesencouragesmetopresentthesenowto a larger community. (Notes on figure production are left out here—D.S.) Hamburg, Germany Albrecht Lindner Fall 1993 ix Preface to the Second German Edition Thetexthasbeenimprovedatmanyplaces,inparticularinSects.3.5and5.4,and all figures have been inserted with pstricks. In addition, three-dimensional objects now appear in central instead of of parallel perspetive. Hamburg, Germany Albrecht Lindner Summer 1996 xi Preface to the Third German Edition The Basic Course (Grundkurs) was discovered in a third, extensively revised edition,afterAlbrechtLindner,apassionateteacher,unexpectedlypassedaway.As one of those rare textbooks which presents a complete curriculum of theoretical physics in a single volume—compact and simultaneously profound—it should be offered to the teacher and student community. In the present third edition the material has been revised in many places, and the number of figures has been approximately doubled. Also in this edition is an additional chapter containing numerous problems. My contribution here is restricted to adjusting the material to the changed appearance required by the Teubner publishing company. Regensburg, Germany Dieter Strauch Spring 2011 xiii
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