Mathematical / Computational / Theoretical physics Books

Book SynopsisThis textbook presents basic and advanced computational physics in a very didactic style. It contains very-well-presented and simple mathematical descriptions of many of the most important algorithms used in computational physics. The first part of the book discusses the basic numerical methods. The second part concentrates on simulation of classical and quantum systems. Several classes of integration methods are discussed including not only the standard Euler and Runge Kutta method but also multi-step methods and the class of Verlet methods, which is introduced by studying the motion in Liouville space. A general chapter on the numerical treatment of differential equations provides methods of finite differences, finite volumes, finite elements and boundary elements together with spectral methods and weighted residual based methods. The book gives simple but non trivial examples from a broad range of physical topics trying to give the reader insight into not only the numerical treatment but also simulated problems. Different methods are compared with regard to their stability and efficiency. The exercises in the book are realised as computer experiments. Trade ReviewFrom the book reviews:“The well-written monograph about computational physics is based on two-semester lecture courses given by the author on a period of several years for undergraduate physics and biophysics students … . convenient for students and practitioners of computer science, chemistry, and mathematics who are interested in applications of numerical methods in physics and engineering sciences. … well-organized book with a concentration to the important ideas of the methods and physical applications including software, examples, illustrations, and references to further reading.” (Georg Hebermehl, zbMATH, Vol. 1303, 2015)Table of ContentsPart I Numerical Methods.- Error Analysis.- Interpolation.- Numerical Differentiation.- Numerical Integration.- Systems of Inhomogeneous Linear Equations.- Roots and Extremal Points.- Fourier Transformation.- Random Numbers and Monte-Carlo Methods.- Eigenvalue Problems.- Data Fitting.- Discretization of Differential Equations.- Equations of Motion.- Part II Simulation of Classical and Quantum Systems.- Rotational Motion.- Molecular Dynamics.- Thermodynamic Systems.- Random Walk and Brownian Motion.- Electrostatics.- Waves.- Diffusion.- Nonlinear Systems.- Simple Quantum Systems.

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Book SynopsisAn energetic charged particle beam introduced to an rf cavity excites a wakefield therein. This wakefield can be decomposed into a series of higher order modes and multipoles, which for sufficiently small beam offsets are dominated by the dipole component. This work focuses on using these dipole modes to detect the beam position in third harmonic superconducting S-band cavities for light source applications. A rigorous examination of several means of analysing the beam position based on signals radiated to higher order modes ports is presented. Experimental results indicate a position resolution, based on this technique, of 20 microns over a complete module of 4 cavities. Methods are also indicated for improving the resolution and for applying this method to other cavity configurations. This work is distinguished by its clarity and potential for application to several other international facilities. The material is presented in a didactic style and is recommended both for students new to the field, and for scientists well-versed in the field of rf diagnostics.Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Electromagnetic Eigenmode Simulations of the Third Harmonic Cavity.- Measurements of HOM Spectra.- Analysis Methods for Beam Position Extraction from HOM.- Dependencies of HOM on Transverse Beam Offsets.- HOM-Based Beam Position Diagnostics.- Conclusions.- Bibliography.- Mathematics.- Eigenmodes of an Ideal Third Harmonic Cavity.- Technical Details of the HOM Measurements.

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Book SynopsisThis book offers an essential bridge between college-level introductions and advanced graduate-level books on special relativity. It begins at an elementary level, presenting and discussing the basic concepts normally covered in college-level works, including the Lorentz transformation. Subsequent chapters introduce the four-dimensional worldview implied by the Lorentz transformations, mixing time and space coordinates, before continuing on to the formalism of tensors, a topic usually avoided in lower-level courses. The book’s second half addresses a number of essential points, including the concept of causality; the equivalence between mass and energy, including applications; relativistic optics; and measurements and matter in Minkowski space-time. The closing chapters focus on the energy-momentum tensor of a continuous distribution of mass-energy and its co-variant conservation; angular momentum; a discussion of the scalar field of perfect fluids and the Maxwell field; and general coordinates.Every chapter is supplemented by a section with numerous exercises, allowing readers to practice the theory. These exercises constitute an essential part of the textbook, and the solutions to approximately half of them are provided in the appendix.Trade ReviewFrom the reviews:“The book is one of the best texts in special relativity designed for readers between the college-level and advanced level. … A number of useful and new examples is added at the end of every chapter of the book. … A very useful table of constants is added at the end of the book. … The book represents one of the best conspects in special relativity and is useful for professors of special relativity. It is good for students and every other reader.” (Alex Gaina, zbMATH, Vol. 1277, 2014)Table of ContentsFundamentals of Special Relativity.- Introduction.- The Principle of Relativity.- Groups—the Galilei group.- Galileian law of addition of velocities.- The lesson from electromagnetism.- The postulates of Special Relativity.- Consequences of the postulates.- Conclusion.- Problems.- The Lorentz transformation.- Introduction.- The Lorentz transformation.- Derivation of the Lorentz transformation.- Mathematical properties of the Lorentz transformation.- Absolute speed limit and causality.- Length contraction from the Lorentz transformation.- Time dilation from the Lorentz transformation.- Transformation of velocities and accelerations in Special Relativity.- Matrix representation of the Lorentz transformation.- The Lorentz group.- The Lorentz transformation as a rotation by an imaginary angle with imaginary time.- The GPS system.- Conclusion.- Problems.- The 4-dimensional world view.- Introduction.- The 4-dimensional world.- Spacetime diagrams.- Conclusion.- Problems.- The formalism of tensors.- Introduction.- Vectors and tensors.- Contravariant and covariant vectors.- Contravariant and covariant tensors.- Tensor algebra.- Tensor fields.- Index-free description of tensors.- The metric tensor.- The Levi-Civita symbol and tensor densities.- Conclusion.- Problems.- Tensors in Minkowski spacetime.- Introduction.- Vectors and tensors in Minkowski spacetime.- The Minkowski metric.- Scalar product and length of a vector in Minkowski spacetime.- Raising and lowering tensor indices.- Causal nature of 4-vectors.- Hypersurfaces.- Gauss’ theorem.- Conclusion.- Problems.- Relativistic mechanics.- Introduction.- Relativistic dynamics of massive particles.- The relativistic force.- Angular momentum of a particle.- Particle systems.- Conservation of mass-energy.- Conclusion.- Problems.- Relativistic optics.- Introduction.- Relativistic optics: null rays.- The drag effect.- The Doppler effect.- Aberration.- Relativistic beaming.- Visual appearance of extended objects.- Conclusion.- Problems.- Measurements in Minkowski spacetime.- Introduction.- Energy of a particle measured by an observer.- Frequency measured by an observer.- A more systematic treatment of measurement.- The 3+1 splitting.- Conclusion.- Problems.- Matter in Minkowski spacetime.- Introduction.- The energy-momentum tensor.- Covariant conservation.- Energy conditions.- Angular momentum.- Perfect fluids.- The scalar field.- The electromagnetic field.- Conclusion.- Problems.- Special Relativity in arbitrary coordinates.- Introduction.- The covariant derivative.- Spacetime curves and covariant derivative.- Physics in Minkowski spacetime revisited.- Conclusions.- Problems.- Solutions to selected problems.- References.- Index.

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Book SynopsisIn this "SpringerBrief" the author considers the underlying problems and questions that are common to numerical models of turbulence in different astrophysical systems. Turbulence has emerged as an important research topic in several areas of astrophysics. Understanding and modeling turbulence is particularly important for the dynamics of the interstellar medium, but also for the intergalactic medium, as well as in stars. The advancement of methods for numerical simulations of astrophysical turbulence, however, is still challenging because of gravity, strong compressibility, magnetic fields, and other effects.The book begins with a review of general aspects of numerical simulations of turbulence. In the main part the author presents findings from his numerical studies on astrophysical turbulence and discusses the astrophysical implications. He also explains in detail the numerical schemes utilized.Readers will find that this book offers a compact yet comprehensive introduction.Trade Review“This book provides an interesting and well-written account on an area witnessing encouraging progress.” (H. Muthsam, Monatshefte für Mathematik, 2016)“The primary focus of this book is on the numerical methods and their application in studying the fundamental statistical properties of compressible hydrodynamic turbulence. … The book can be a useful survey and reference source for researchers in the field. Also, it can be a good point of introduction for someone wanting to develop a research capability in this area.” (Stephen Wollman, zbMATH 1317.85004, 2015)Table of ContentsTurbulence theory.- Simulation techniques.- Phenomenology and statistics.- Complex processes.

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Book SynopsisIn these lecture notes, we will analyze the behavior of random walk on disordered media by means of both probabilistic and analytic methods, and will study the scaling limits. We will focus on the discrete potential theory and how the theory is effectively used in the analysis of disordered media. The first few chapters of the notes can be used as an introduction to discrete potential theory.Recently, there has been significant progress on the theory of random walk on disordered media such as fractals and random media. Random walk on a percolation cluster(‘the ant in the labyrinth’)is one of the typical examples. In 1986, H. Kesten showed the anomalous behavior of a random walk on a percolation cluster at critical probability. Partly motivated by this work, analysis and diffusion processes on fractals have been developed since the late eighties. As a result, various new methods have been produced to estimate heat kernels on disordered media. These developments are summarized in the notes.Table of ContentsIntroduction.- Weighted graphs and the associated Markov chains.- Heat kernel estimates – General theory.- Heat kernel estimates using effective resistance.- Heat kernel estimates for random weighted graphs.- Alexander-Orbach conjecture holds when two-point functions behave nicely.- Further results for random walk on IIC.- Random conductance model.

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Book SynopsisA certain curious feature of random objects, introduced by the author as “super concentration,” and two related topics, “chaos” and “multiple valleys,” are highlighted in this book. Although super concentration has established itself as a recognized feature in a number of areas of probability theory in the last twenty years (under a variety of names), the author was the first to discover and explore its connections with chaos and multiple valleys. He achieves a substantial degree of simplification and clarity in the presentation of these findings by using the spectral approach.Understanding the fluctuations of random objects is one of the major goals of probability theory and a whole subfield of probability and analysis, called concentration of measure, is devoted to understanding these fluctuations. This subfield offers a range of tools for computing upper bounds on the orders of fluctuations of very complicated random variables. Usually, concentration of measure is useful when more direct problem-specific approaches fail; as a result, it has massively gained acceptance over the last forty years. And yet, there is a large class of problems in which classical concentration of measure produces suboptimal bounds on the order of fluctuations. Here lies the substantial contribution of this book, which developed from a set of six lectures the author first held at the Cornell Probability Summer School in July 2012.The book is interspersed with a sizable number of open problems for professional mathematicians as well as exercises for graduate students working in the fields of probability theory and mathematical physics. The material is accessible to anyone who has attended a graduate course in probability.Table of ContentsPreface.- 1.Introduction.- 2.Markov semigroups.- 3.Super concentration and chaos.- 4.Multiple valleys.- 5.Talagrand’s method for proving super concentration.- 6.The spectral method for proving super concentration.- 7.Independent flips.- 8.Extremal fields.- 9.Further applications of hypercontractivity.- 10.The interpolation method for proving chaos.- 11.Variance lower bounds.- 12.Dimensions of level sets.- Appendix A. Gaussian random variables.- Appendix B. Hypercontractivity.- Bibliography.- Indices.

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Book SynopsisThis textbook presents problems and exercises at various levels of difficulty in the following areas: Classical Methods in PDEs (diffusion, waves, transport, potential equations); Basic Functional Analysis and Distribution Theory; Variational Formulation of Elliptic Problems; and Weak Formulation for Parabolic Problems and for the Wave Equation. Thanks to the broad variety of exercises with complete solutions, it can be used in all basic and advanced PDE courses.Trade Review“The material, at an advanced undergraduate or first year graduate level, presents a very interesting mix of physical applications and abstract theory supporting rigorous existence and regularity results of PDEs. … Each chapter begins with a short formal summary of the basic concepts, which is followed by several dozen of problems covering all aspects of the materials in the corresponding chapters of the book.” (Peter Bernard Weichman, Mathematical Reviews, July, 2016)“Provides an excellent overview of the field and is highly recommended for modern PDEs courses designed for advanced students. … Each chapter first reviews the main theoretical concepts and tools and then provides solved problems and exercises. A broad range of problems and exercises at various levels of difficulty, as well as the extensive reference list, makes this book a valuable resource for advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate researchers … . Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers/faculty.” (C. Park, Choice, Vol. 53 (9), May, 2016)“The authors’ aim is to give a systematic treatment of some of the classical methods in partial differential equations. … the book is a very useful contribution to the growing literature on this circle of ideas. I wholeheartedly recommend this book both as a textbook, as well as for independent study.” (Vicenţiu D. Rădulescu, zbMATH 1330.35003, 2016)Table of Contents1 Diffusion.- 2 The Laplace equation.- 3 First order equations.- 4 Waves.- 5 Functional analysis.- 6 Variational formulations.- 7 Appendix A Sturm-Liouville, Legendre and Bessel equations.- 8 Appendix B Identities.

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Book SynopsisThis textbook explores both the theoretical foundation of the Finite Volume Method (FVM) and its applications in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Readers will discover a thorough explanation of the FVM numerics and algorithms used for the simulation of incompressible and compressible fluid flows, along with a detailed examination of the components needed for the development of a collocated unstructured pressure-based CFD solver. Two particular CFD codes are explored. The first is uFVM, a three-dimensional unstructured pressure-based finite volume academic CFD code, implemented within Matlab. The second is OpenFOAM®, an open source framework used in the development of a range of CFD programs for the simulation of industrial scale flow problems.With over 220 figures, numerous examples and more than one hundred exercise on FVM numerics, programming, and applications, this textbook is suitable for use in an introductory course on the FVM, in an advanced course on numerics, and as a reference for CFD programmers and researchers. Trade Review“Directed towards future practitioners such as engineers the authors first provide an introduction to fluid dynamics presupposing but a modicum of mathematical and physical knowledge. … . A number of exercises plus special chapters on modelling incompressible and compressible flow make the book very useful for its purpose.” (H. Muthsam, Monatshefte für Mathematik, Vol. 187 (1), September, 2018)“The book is very attractive, carefully written and easy to read by those interested in learning about finite volume methods for fluid dynamics. The authors have made an important effort to bridge the gap between classroom material and actual model development questions. The text is well illustrated by means of quality figures helping to understand the described concepts. Furthermore, the book contains pieces of academic codes in MATLAB … . It is certainly a useful, practical and valuable book.” (Pilar Garcia-Navarro, Mathematical Reviews, May, 2016)Table of ContentsFoundation1 Introduction2 Review of Vector Calculus3 Mathematical Description of Physical Phenomena4 The Discretization Process5 The Finite Volume Method6 The Finite Volume Mesh7 The Finite Volume Mesh in OpenFOAM® and uFVMDiscretization8 Spatial Discretization: The Diffusion Term9 Gradient Computation10 Solving the System of Algebraic Equations11 Discretization of the Convection Term12 High Resolution Schemes13 Temporal Discretization: The Transient Term14 Discretization of the Source Term, Relaxation, and Other DetailsAlgorithms15 Fluid Flow Computation: Incompressible Flows16 Fluid Flow Computation: Compressible FlowsApplications17 Turbulence Modeling18 Boundary Conditions in OpenFOAM® and uFVM19 An OpenFOAM® Turbulent Flow Application 20 Closing RemarksAppendices<20 Closing RemarksAppendices20 Closing RemarksAppendices

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Book SynopsisThis volume presents five different methods recently developed to tackle the large scale behavior of highly correlated random systems, such as spin glasses, random polymers, local times and loop soups and random matrices. These methods, presented in a series of lectures delivered within the Jean-Morlet initiative (Spring 2013), play a fundamental role in the current development of probability theory and statistical mechanics. The lectures were: Random Polymers by E. Bolthausen, Spontaneous Replica Symmetry Breaking and Interpolation Methods by F. Guerra, Derrida's Random Energy Models by N. Kistler, Isomorphism Theorems by J. Rosen and Spectral Properties of Wigner Matrices by B. Schlein.This book is the first in a co-edition between the Jean-Morlet Chair at CIRM and the Springer Lecture Notes in Mathematics which aims to collect together courses and lectures on cutting-edge subjects given during the term of the Jean-Morlet Chair, as well as new material produced in its wake. It is targeted at researchers, in particular PhD students and postdocs, working in probability theory and statistical physics.Table of Contents1 Random Polymers.- 2 Spontaneous replica symmetry breaking and interpolation methods for complex statistical mechanics systems.- 3 Derrida’s random energy models: from spin glasses to the extremes of correlated random fields.- 4 Isomorphism Theorems: Markov processes, Gaussian processes and beyond.- 5 Spectral properties of Wigner matrices.

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