This book provides an in-depth and accessible description of special relativity and quantum mechanics which together form the foundation of 21st century physics. A novel aspect is that symmetry is given its rightful prominence as an integral part of this foundation. The book offers not only a conceptual understanding of symmetry, but also the mathematical tools necessary for quantitative analysis. As such, it provides a valuable precursor to more focused, advanced books on special relativity or quantum mechanics. Students are introduced to several topics not typically covered until much later in their education.These include space-time diagrams, the action principle, a proof of Noether's theorem, Lorentz vectors and tensors, symmetry breaking and general relativity. The book also provides extensive descriptions on topics of current general interest such as gravitational waves, cosmology, Bell's theorem, entanglement and quantum computing. Throughout the text, every opportunity is taken to emphasize the intimate connection between physics, symmetry and mathematics.The style remains light despite the rigorous and intensive content. The book is intended as a stand-alone or supplementary physics text for a one or two semester course for students who have completed an introductory calculus course and a first-year physics course that includes Newtonian mechanics and some electrostatics. Basic knowledge of linear algebra is useful but not essential, as all requisite mathematical background is provided either in the body of the text or in the Appendices. Interspersed through the text are well over a hundred worked examples and unsolved exercises for the student.

This book provides an in-depth and accessible description of special relativity and quantum mechanics which together form the foundation of 21st century physics. A novel aspect is that symmetry is given its rightful prominence as an integral part of this foundation. The book offers not only a conceptual understanding of symmetry, but also the mathematical tools necessary for quantitative analysis. As such, it provides a valuable precursor to more focused, advanced books on special relativity or quantum mechanics. Students are introduced to several topics not typically covered until much later in their education.These include space-time diagrams, the action principle, a proof of Noether's theorem, Lorentz vectors and tensors, symmetry breaking and general relativity. The book also provides extensive descriptions on topics of current general interest such as gravitational waves, cosmology, Bell's theorem, entanglement and quantum computing. Throughout the text, every opportunity is taken to emphasize the intimate connection between physics, symmetry and mathematics.The style remains light despite the rigorous and intensive content. The book is intended as a stand-alone or supplementary physics text for a one or two semester course for students who have completed an introductory calculus course and a first-year physics course that includes Newtonian mechanics and some electrostatics. Basic knowledge of linear algebra is useful but not essential, as all requisite mathematical background is provided either in the body of the text or in the Appendices. Interspersed through the text are well over a hundred worked examples and unsolved exercises for the student.

This is a textbook that derives the fundamental theories of physics from symmetry. It starts by introducing, in a completely self-contained way, all mathematical tools needed to use symmetry ideas in physics. Thereafter, these tools are put into action and by using symmetry constraints, the fundamental equations of Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory, Electromagnetism, and Classical Mechanics are derived. As a result, the reader is able to understand the basic assumptions behind, and the connections between the modern theories of physics. The book concludes with first applications of the previously derived equations. Thanks to the input of readers from around the world, this second edition has been purged of typographical errors and also contains several revised sections with improved explanations.

String theory made understandable. Barton Zwiebach is once again faithful to his goal of making string theory accessible to undergraduates. He presents the main concepts of string theory in a concrete and physical way to develop intuition before formalism, often through simplified and illustrative examples. Complete and thorough in its coverage, this new edition now includes AdS/CFT correspondence and introduces superstrings. It is perfectly suited to introductory courses in string theory for students with a background in mathematics and physics. New sections cover strings on orbifolds, cosmic strings, moduli stabilization, and the string theory landscape. Now with almost 300 problems and exercises, with password-protected solutions for instructors at www.cambridge.org/zwiebach.

Structured as a dialogue between a mathematician and a physicist, Symmetry and Quantum Mechanics unites the mathematical topics of this field into a compelling and physically-motivated narrative that focuses on the central role of symmetry. Aimed at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in mathematics with only a minimal background in physics, this title is also useful to physicists seeking a mathematical introduction to the subject. Part I focuses on spin, and covers such topics as Lie groups and algebras, while part II offers an account of position and momentum in the context of the representation theory of the Heisenberg group, along the way providing an informal discussion of fundamental concepts from analysis such as self-adjoint operators on Hilbert space and the Stone-von Neumann Theorem. Mathematical theory is applied to physical examples such as spin-precession in a magnetic field, the harmonic oscillator, the infinite spherical well, and the hydrogen atom.

This book, now in its second edition, provides an introductory course on theoretical particle physics with the aim of filling the gap that exists between basic courses of classical and quantum mechanics and advanced courses of (relativistic) quantum mechanics and field theory. After a concise but comprehensive introduction to special relativity, key aspects of relativistic dynamics are covered and some elementary concepts of general relativity introduced. Basics of the theory of groups and Lie algebras are explained, with discussion of the group of rotations and the Lorentz and Poincaré groups. In addition, a concise account of representation theory and of tensor calculus is provided. Quantization of the electromagnetic field in the radiation range is fully discussed. The essentials of the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms are reviewed, proceeding from systems with a finite number of degrees of freedom and extending the discussion to fields. The final four chapters are devoted to development of the quantum field theory, ultimately introducing the graphical description of interaction processes by means of Feynman diagrams. The book will be of value for students seeking to understand the main concepts that form the basis of contemporary theoretical particle physics and also for engineers and lecturers. An Appendix on some special relativity effects is added.

Symmetries in Quantum Mechanics: From Angular Momentum to Supersymmetry (PBK) provides a thorough, didactic exposition of the role of symmetry, particularly rotational symmetry, in quantum mechanics. The bulk of the book covers the description of rotations (geometrically and group-theoretically) and their representations, and the quantum theory of angular momentum. Later chapters introduce more advanced topics such as relativistic theory, supersymmetry, anyons, fractional spin, and statistics. With clear, in-depth explanations, the book is ideal for use as a course text for postgraduate and advanced undergraduate students in physics and those specializing in theoretical physics. It is also useful for researchers looking for an accessible introduction to this important area of quantum theory.

Quantum physics and special relativity theory were two of the greatest breakthroughs in physics during the twentieth century and contributed to paradigm shifts in physics. This book combines these two discoveries to provide a complete description of the fundamentals of relativistic quantum physics, guiding the reader effortlessly from relativistic quantum mechanics to basic quantum field theory. The book gives a thorough and detailed treatment of the subject, beginning with the classification of particles, the Klein–Gordon equation and the Dirac equation. It then moves on to the canonical quantization procedure of the Klein–Gordon, Dirac and electromagnetic fields. Classical Yang–Mills theory, the LSZ formalism, perturbation theory, elementary processes in QED are introduced, and regularization, renormalization and radiative corrections are explored. With exercises scattered through the text and problems at the end of most chapters, the book is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in theoretical physics.

The third volume in the bestselling physics series cracks open Einstein's special relativity and field theory Physicist Leonard Susskind and data engineer Art Friedman are back. This time, they introduce readers to Einstein's special relativity and Maxwell's classical field theory. Using their typical brand of real math, enlightening drawings, and humor, Susskind and Friedman walk us through the complexities of waves, forces, and particles by exploring special relativity and electromagnetism. It's a must-read for both devotees of the series and any armchair physicist who wants to improve their knowledge of physics' deepest truths.

This textbook develops general relativity and its associated mathematics from a minimum of prerequisites, leading to a physical understanding of the theory in some depth.