'This is definitely a book from which the student will be eager to learn … It is definitely a well-written textbook, whose fresh alternative approach will appeal to many students, as well as to their teachers, especially to those who would like to experiment new ways of teaching. Those familiar with the topics, will find the lively presentation engaging. The students will find learning from the book quite effective and motivating. Considering the style and the amount of topics treated in about 300 pages, this could well be a main text for students of science and engineering. Also physicists will find the book quite interesting and may consider it as a supporting material to more standard textbooks. In conclusion, this is a highly recommended textbook, which fully achieves its goal of transmitting knowledge in an original and thought-provoking way.'Contemporary PhysicsBridging the gap between traditional books on quantum and statistical physics, this series is an ideal introductory course for students who are looking for an alternative approach to the traditional academic treatment.This pedagogical approach relies heavily on scientific or technological applications from a wide range of fields. For every new concept introduced, an application is given to connect the theoretical results to a real-life situation. Each volume features in-text exercises and detailed solutions, with easy-to-understand applications.Building on the principles introduced in Volume 1, this second volume explains the structure of atoms, the vibration and rotation of molecules. It describes how this is related to thermodynamics through statistical physics. It is shown that these fundamental achievements help to understand how explosives and CO₂ can be detected, what makes a gecko stick to the ceiling, why old stars do not necessarily collapse, where nuclear energy comes from, and more.

Bridging the gap between traditional books on quantum and statistical physics, this series is an ideal introductory course for students who are looking for an alternative approach to the traditional academic treatment.This pedagogical approach relies heavily on scientific or technological applications from a wide range of fields. For every new concept introduced, an application is given to connect the theoretical results to a real-life situation. Each volume features in-text exercises and detailed solutions, with easy-to-understand applications.This third volume covers several basic and more advanced subjects about transitions in quantum and statistical physics. Part I describes how the quantum statistics of fermions and bosons differ and under what condition they can merge into the classical-particle-statistics framework seen in Volume 2. This section also describes the fundamentals of conductors, semiconductors, superconductors, superfluids and Bose-Einstein condensates. Part II introduces time-dependent transitions between quantum states. The time evolution of a simple two-level model gives the minimum background necessary to understand the principles behind lasers and their numerous applications. Time-dependent perturbation theory is also covered, as well as standard approaches to the scattering of massive particles. A semi-classical treatment of electromagnetic field-matter interaction is described with illustrations taken from a variety of processes such as phonon scattering, charge distribution or spin densities. The third and last part of the book gives a brief overview of quantum electrodynamics with applications to photon absorption or emission spectroscopies and a range of scattering regimes. There follows a short introduction to the role of multiphoton processes in quantum entanglement based experiments.

'Several features make this book unusual. The first is the historical content … Second, the practical importance of quantum physics is demonstrated by the inclusion of numerous summary discussions of technological applications … A third unusual feature of this book is a detailed solution immediately following each in-text exercise. Each such problem is used to advance the discussion, and the question-and-answer format encourages the student to wrestle with the ideas personally rather than simply reading passively … This short book would easily make a helpful secondary text allowing an instructor to touch on some non-traditional topics such as least action principles and path integrals.'Contemporary PhysicsBridging the gap between traditional books on quantum and statistical physics, this series is an ideal introductory course for students who are looking for an alternative approach to the traditional academic treatment.This pedagogical approach relies heavily on scientific or technological applications from a wide range of fields. For every new concept introduced, an application is given to connect the theoretical results to a real-life situation. Each volume features in-text exercises and detailed solutions, with easy-to-understand applications.This first volume sets the scene of a new physics. It explains where quantum mechanics come from, its connection to classical physics and why it was needed at the beginning of the twentieth century. It examines how very simple models can explain a variety of applications such as quantum wells, thermoluminescence dating, scanning tunnel microscopes, quantum cryptography, masers, and how fluorescence can unveil the past of art pieces.

Will artificial intelligence make scientific formulae redundant by eventually solving all current and future physical problems? The authors of this book would argue that there is still a vital role for humans to play in making sense of the laws of nature. To derive a formula one follows a series of steps, only the last of which is to check that the result is correct. The book is about unravelling this machinery.Mathematics is the 'queen of all sciences', but students encounter many obstacles in learning the subject: familiarization with the proofs of hundreds of theorems, mysterious symbols, and technical routines for which the usefulness is not obvious upfront. Learners could lose motivation, not seeing the wood for the trees.This two-volume book How to Derive a Formula is an attempt to engage learners by presenting mathematical methods in as simple terms as possible, with more of an emphasis on skills as opposed to technical knowledge. Based on intuition and common sense rather than mathematical rigour, it teaches students from scratch using pertinent examples, many taken from across the physical sciences to demonstrate the application of the methods taught.This book draws on humour and historical facts to provide an interesting new perspective on what a mathematics textbook could be. The two volumes are presented as an ascent to Everest. Volume 1 covered the necessary basics, taking readers from Base Camp to Camps 1 and 2. This volume moves readers from Camp 2 up to Camps 3 and 4, tackling more advanced methods for deriving formulae. Inevitably, Volume 2 requires readers to tackle more challenging terrain than was experienced in Volume 1 and so is targeted at more advanced students.

Electromagnetism is one of the four fundamental forces in nature, and underlies almost everything we experience in our daily lives, whether we realise it or not. The complete theory was first written down in the late 19th century, and remains an essential part of a scientific education. The mathematics behind the theory, however, can be intimidatingly complex. Furthermore, it is not always clear to beginners why the theory is either useful or interesting, nor how it relates to modern research in theoretical physics.The aim of this book is to guide students towards a detailed understanding of the full theory of electromagnetism, including its practical applications. Later chapters introduce more modern formulations of the theory than are found in traditional undergraduate courses, thus bridging the gap between a first course in electromagnetism, and the advanced concepts needed for further study in physics. The final chapter reviews exciting current research stating that possible theories of (quantum) gravity may be much more closely related to electromagnetism than previously thought.Throughout the book, an informal conversational style is used to demystify intimidating concepts. Relevant mathematical ideas are introduced in a self-contained manner, and exercises are provided with full solutions to aid understanding. This book is essential reading for anyone undertaking a physics degree, but will also be of interest to engineers and chemists.

Will artificial intelligence solve all problems, making scientific formulae redundant? The authors of this book would argue that there is still a vital role in formulating them to make sense of the laws of nature. To derive a formula one needs to follow a series of steps; last of all, check that the result is correct, primarily through the analysis of limiting cases. The book is about unravelling this machinery.Mathematics is the 'queen of all sciences', but students encounter many obstacles in learning the subject — familiarization with the proofs of hundreds of theorems, mysterious symbols, and technical routines for which the usefulness is not obvious upfront. Those interested in the physical sciences could lose motivation, not seeing the wood for the trees.How to Derive a Formula is an attempt to engage these learners, presenting mathematical methods in simple terms, with more of an emphasis on skills as opposed to technical knowledge. Based on intuition and common sense rather than mathematical rigor, it teaches students from scratch using pertinent examples, many taken across the physical sciences.This book provides an interesting new perspective of what a mathematics textbook could be, including historical facts and humour to complement the material.

Bridging the gap between traditional books on quantum and statistical physics, this series is an ideal introductory course for students who are looking for an alternative approach to the traditional academic treatment.This pedagogical approach relies heavily on scientific or technological applications from a wide range of fields. For every new concept introduced, an application is given to connect the theoretical results to a real-life situation. Each volume features in-text exercises and detailed solutions, with easy-to-understand applications.This third volume covers several basic and more advanced subjects about transitions in quantum and statistical physics. The first part describes how the quantum statistics of fermions and bosons differ but also under what condition they both can merge into the classical-particle-statistics framework seen in Volume 2. It is also the opportunity to describe the fundamentals of conductors, semi-conductors, superconductors, superfluids and Bose-Einstein condensates. The second part introduces time-dependent transitions between quantum states. The time evolution of a simple two-level model gives the minimum background in order to provide more details on the laser's principle and its numerous uses. The time-dependent perturbation theory is then presented. Typical applications such as standard approaches to the scattering of massive particles (mostly neutrons, which are an archetype) are discussed. A semi-classical treatment of the electromagnetic field-matter interaction is also described. Illustrations are taken from a variety of processes such as scattering from phonons, charge distribution or spin densities. The third and last part of the book gives a brief overview of quantum electrodynamics basics with applications to photon absorption or emission spectroscopies and a range of scattering regimes. There follows a short introduction to the role of multi-photon processes in quantum-entanglement based experiments.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is the premier public resource on scientific and technological developments that impact global security. Founded by Manhattan Project Scientists, the Bulletin's iconic "Doomsday Clock" stimulates solutions for a safer world.

In this revised and enlarged second edition, Tony Guénault provides a clear and refreshingly readable introduction to statistical physics. The treatment itself is self-contained and concentrates on an understanding of the physical ideas, without requiring a high level of mathematical sophistication. The book adopts a straightforward quantum approach to statistical averaging from the outset. The initial part of the book is geared towards explaining the equilibrium properties of a simple isolated assembly of particles. The treatment of gases gives full coverage to Maxwell-Boltzmann, Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics.