Book Description

This text aims to provide an introduction to the subject of quantum field theory without the complication of introducing its application areas such as elementary particle physics or statistical physics at the same time.
It explains those features of quantum and statistical field systems that result from their field-theoretic nature and are therefore common to different physical contexts. The reader is supplied with practical tools for carrying out calculations as well as a discussion of the meaning of the results.
An approach emphasizing the simplest models is used, progressing to discussion of real systems before mentioning more general and rigorous conclusions. The book is structured around carefully selected problems, which are solved in detail. The central concept is that of effective action (or free energy in statistical physics), and the main technical tool is the path integral, although other formalisms are also mentioned. A knowledge of particle physics phenomenology is not required. T ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent informal QFT intro
You want to know what is Casimir effect, renormalization and Callan-Symanzic Eqn, effective action and path integral. You take a standard QFT course (say, Weinberg or Peskin) and find yourself overwhelmed with peculiarities of Dirac spinors and Lorentz group representations. You feel you are not going anywhere: you are not learning QFT, really! Maybe you are even not a particle physicist after all. Then this book is for YOU! Authors do a great job explaining the essence of QFT (as an interacting theory with an infinite number degrees of freedom) using the scalar field Lagrangian with the quartic interaction as a prime example. It is amazing how far one actually can go with such a model! Each chapter contains an illustrative calculation of a physical quantity (say, the Casimir energy, Ch. 5), with all the details, and without unnecessary complications. One also learns a great deal of the path integral techniques (e.g. instantons), which is extremely important in a variety of fields (QCD, condensed matter, statistical physics, etc). Overall, a highly recommended reading.

A great introductory course
I've looked at many books on quantum field theory and this is without doubt the best introductory work I have found. The Weinberg book jumps in at the deep end, the Kaku book jumps in at about 6 feet deep but this one allows you to at least climb into the pool. It's a rare intelligence to be aware of how to lead one's reader along the learning curve and these authors display it. Typo errors occur at the rate of about one every two pages (did anyone read the proofs?) but they are easily discovered if one follows the math carefully. ... Read more

Book Description

Quantum mechanics, which describes the behavior of subatomic particles, seems to challenge common sense. Waves behave like particles; particles behave like waves. You can tell where a particle is, but not how fast it is moving--or vice versa. An electron faced with two tiny holes will travel through both at the same time, rather than one or the other. And then there is the enigma of creation ex nihilo, in which small particles appear with their so-called antiparticles, only to disappear the next instant in a tiny puff of energy. Since its inception, physicists and philosophers have struggled to work out the meaning of quantum mechanics. Some, like Niels Bohr, have responded to quantum mechanics' mysteries by replacing notions of position and velocity with probabilities. Others, like Einstein and Penrose, have disagreed and think that the entire puzzle reflects not a fundamental principle of nature but our own ignorance of basic scientific processes.

Sneaking a Look at God's Cards offers the general reader a deep and real understanding of the problems inherent to the interpretation of quantum mechanics, from its inception to the present. The book presents a balanced overview of current debates and explores how the theory of quantum mechanics plays itself out in the real world. Written from the perspective of a leading European physicist, it looks extensively at ideas from both sides of the Atlantic and also considers what philosophers have contributed to the scientific discussion of this field. Sneaking a Look at God's Cards sets out what we know about the endlessly fascinating quantum world, how we came to this understanding, where we disagree, and where we are heading in our quest to comprehend the seemingly incomprehensible.

Reviews (1)

Best book on qm for general audience
This is the best book I've seen on quantum mechanics. It's probably too hard to follow without some scientific experience on the part of the reader. But it is the only book I know of (and I'm aware of most) that really covers the conceptual issues of the entire subject in an open-minded non-romantic, non-mystical and realistic way. Very refreshing. A gem. ... Read more

Book Description

"Physics Nobelist Feynman simply cannot help being original. In this quirky, fascinating book, he explains to laymen the quantum theory of lighta theory to which he made decisive contributions."--The New Yorker "Feynman's lectures must have been marvellous and they have been turned into an equally entrancing book, a vivid introduction to QED which is leavened and enlivened by his wit. Anyone with a curiosity about physics today should buy it, not only to get to grips with the deepest meaning of quantum theory but to possess a slice of history."--Pedro Waloschek, Nature ... Read more

Reviews (59)

A classic in the physics community!
QED. It's not Quod Erat Demonstrandum; no, it's not even Quickly Ends Dandruff. Then, what is it? Quantum ElectroDynamics. Now, if you're ignorant of physics, you're probably still thinking, "That says a whole lot. What is it?" By this rather formidable name, you might not be able to tell if you want to read the book or not, so I'll synopsize. Over three quarters (75%, if you prefer--ooh, I can do math!) of this book explains movements and interactions of electrons and photons expressed as probabilities. The last section discusses a variation of QED, quantum chromodynamics (i.e. quarks). Unlike some abstruse conjectures (most notably, string theory), quantum electrodynamics can be and has been experimentally verified. In fact, it is the most accurate theory ever devised! This does not mean that QED is totally compliant with common sense (fortunately; physics addicts often find common sense to be rather dull--and incorrect!). The reader learns to accept that light does not always travel in straight paths, that light reflects from all parts of a mirror, and that electrons can travel backward in time. Richard Feynman, who (along with Sin-Itiro Tomonaga and Julian Schwinger) was awarded the 1965 Nobel Prize for his work on this theory, elucidates QED so that even those who have never before studied physics can understand it. (To be more accurate, they can understand *how* QED works; Feynman admits that no one, himself included, truly understands *why* QED works.) If you already are familiar with the theory, you are likely to become bored with this book. On the other hand, I'm not sure that this book is the best for physics neophytes, since it is specific in explaining this one given area (even skipping the historical background present in most popular accounts of physics). You might want to first obtain more general knowledge of modern physics. If you find optics interesting, definitely read this book. For anyone who wants a deeper knowledge of modern physics or chemistry, an understanding of quantum electrodynamics is a sine qua non, and this book is probably the most explicit introduction on the market.

~pythia~

Earnest Enthusiasm and Elfish Delight
*QED* is an edited version of four lectures delivered to a lay audience at UCLA in 1983. It conveys Feynman's unique combination of earnest enthusiasm and elfish delight at the fact that "the way we have to describe Nature is generally incomprehensible to us." (p. 77) It is probably true that the book can be profitably read by every class of reader, from Feynman's physicist peers to street people (if this is not the contemporary equivalent of "the man in the street," why isn't it??) who have never studied physics. Feynman was a great communicator, and knew how to throw out a lifeline of wit, reason, or good sense in the midst of the most bewildering complexities. Twenty-first century humanity urgently needs to integrate something of the quantum view of reality into its common understanding of things, and Feynman's work is a precious contribution toward that end. Highly recommended!

Illuminating
Get it? Illuminating. This book explains the interaction between light and matter, which is illuminating. If you understand the pun, then you have the brain capacity to understand this book.

Richard Feynman possessed some kind of special brand of genius which enabled him to masquerade as a regular guy. He was able to cut to the quick of Nature's mysteries and explain in plain english what he saw there for the benefit of those of us lacking in genius.

Feynman freed us from the need to relate to quantum physics by memorizing a set of arcane mathematical expressions, and delivered to us a way of understanding the probabilistic nature of quantum reality by drawing a bunch of little arrows pointing this way and that. His method, known as "Feynman diagrams", is so simple that it seems almost childlike, yet it works every time.

The theory of Quantum ElectoDynamics is the most complete theory that science has in its arsenal. The theory explains 99% of everything we see at the classical level of reality. Feynman was never quite able to tie in the oddities observed in the interaction of nuclei or gravitrons, but reality as we observe it is more or less dictated by the interaction of electrons, and this theory describes that interplay perfectly.

Feyman's "sum over histories" explains reality even better than Newton's seemingly incontrovertable laws of Nature, which in actuality, decribe only the end result of the sum over histories. Where Newton described one reality, the one observed by all of us, Feynman described every microscopic reality, each as real as the other, and all culminating in the one macroscopic reality as described by Newton. Feynman described particles moving faster than light, and even backwards in time - all of which is explained in his "strange theory of light and matter", and all of which is endlessly verifiable in the laboratory.

For anyone willing to break out of the Newtonian mindset which humanity has been in for over 300 years, and which is still taught in today's high school science classrooms, this book is a must read. Treat yourself to 150 pages of plain english which will infuse you with wonder for the rest of your days.

Excellent
I am an Electrical Engineer and had the usual education. It is a delight to read this book and learn about the fundamental theory upon which much of the Electrical Engineering profession is based.

Much of what we are taught in schools is an approximation and sometimes wrong. It is great to learn, even if it is only qualitatively, about more accurate representations.

I wish that Feynman were alive to keep updating his lectures with the latest developments. The lectures seem to have been last updated in 1980s and I am sure Physics has moved on since then.

Easily understood intro to QED
Richard Feynman, along with Schwinger and Tomonaga, won Nobel prizes in the 1960's for their development of quantum electrodynamics (QED). In this book, Feynman attempts to bring this esoteric field down to the layman's level and succeeds as usual. The chapters in the book are taken from lectures he presented to a largely nonscientific audience, but the material is not dumbed down. Of course, many of the details are left out since only years of study can provide a true understanding of the theory, but Feynman presents his lectures in such a way that only a reasonable amount of thought is needed to appreciate the basics of QED.

"The Strange Theory of Light and Matter" is an entirely appropriate subtitle to a book that attempts to explain the theory behind phenomena that escape our everyday experience and intuition. QED is arguably the most successful scientific theory in existence. Its predictions have correlated extraordinarily well with experiment although "prediction" in the QED sense is not what we are generally used to. The quantum world is inherently probabilistic. There are certain things we just cannot "know." We cannot predict which photons will reflect of a glass surface, but with QED, we can at least accurately calculate the percentage of photons that do reflect. That's just one of the results of QED that Feynman attempts to explain, and he does so in a very straightforward fashion.

Feynman never insults the intelligence of his audience by pretending that the basics of QED are beyond its grasp, but instead repeatedly insists that no one really understands QED, but that should not prevent anyone from appreciating some of its results. With this attitude, Feynman explains the basics of partial reflection, particle interactions, and the discoveries of new particles, and he does all this through numerous figures and analogies rather than mathematical equations.

Richard Feynman was not your ordinary physicist. He was a physicist's physicist and a great teacher (read James Gleick's bio of Feynman called Genius). His teaching abilities are in full display in this book as he is able to bring an incredibly strange theory down to the average reader's level. I highly recommend this book. It will tax your thinking abilities but will never insult them. ... Read more

Book Description

An exciting new edition of a classic text

Howard Georgi is the co-inventor (with Sheldon Glashow) of the SU(5) theory. This extensively revised and updated edition of his classic text makes the theory of Lie groups accessible to graduate students, while offering a perspective on the way in which knowledge of such groups can provide an insight into the development of unified theories of strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

A good *first* start
This book is good for what it is, namely, something to get your feet wet. When learning the basics of particle physics, e.g. as an undergrad or a beginning experimentalist, this is the quickest way to get a feel for the standard model gauge group.
However, this is *not* a complete text on group theory in particle physics (and therefore, little of what you need for supersymmetric field theories and string theories). So in addition to this book, you'd need something else with an introduction to the other things you need for your particular interest. Try Gilmore's "Applications of Lie algebras...", which I believe is out of print (in libraries). Also, Cornwell's abridged "Group theory in physics" is good (though if you can find the older set of three volumes, that may be more suited to your desires).
I don't suggest many of the other books on group theory for particles/fields/strings. There are tidbits of group theory you can pick up in the particular text you are working with, e.g. "Quantum theory of Fields" by Weinberg if you are learning quantum field theory.
For mathematical physics in general, I strongly suggest "Gauge fields, knots, and gravity" (John Baez), "Differential Geometry for physicists" (Chris Isham), and "Mathematical Physics" (Geroch).

What do you need more?
I'd say that, at least, the Georgi's book is too underestimated here.

I agree that this book lacks some notions and concepts which are usually dealt with in the matmatical literature, but not on logical clearity. Every book has its own way. For example the later parts of Green, Schwarz and Witten are also a mere sketches but it sufficiently pinpoints every important steps. A physically inclined reader(?), soon realize that it is filled with (and you may feel the leakage of) the master's intuition. You can see what mathematics going on beneath the physics. It is a well-framed series of informal lectures which reveals some space-between-lines secret.

good supplement
good supplement of introductory quantum field theory. particle physics books often have aggressiveness but this is in a relaxed mood, apt for reading in fine sunday mornings. 27 chapters in 300 pages, short chapters, without one for manifold and topology. from this book you can't get a mathematically deep understanding of Lie algebra nor exotic viewpoint for particle/string, but that's not this is for. i hope someday this will be included in Dover classics.

1.finite groups 2.Lie groups 3.SU(2) 4.tensor operators 5.isospin 6.roots and weights 7.SU(3) 8.simple roots 9.more SU(3) 10.tensor methods 11.hypercharge and strangeness 12.Young tableaux 13.SU(n) 14.3-d harmonic oscillator 15.SU(6) and the quark model 16.color 17.constituent quarks 18.unified theories and SU(5) 19.classical groups 20.classification theorem 21.SO(2n+1)and spinors 22.SO(2n+2)spinors 23.SU(n) Mediocre
Georgi's book has its strengths and weaknesses. It is very strong on application to physics but suffers greatly from a lack of mathematical substance. It has all the earmarks of a mathematics book written by a physicist: lots of physical insight but poor logical structure. Clear definitions and statements of theorems are missing and contribute to the nebulous feel of the text.

This is the kind of book that a casual reader will go through and think he has learned alot but for which the serious student who seeks a precise, thorough understanding of the material will likely end up confused at many points. It is a book of tools. The reader will not obtain a mastery of the subject but must suppliment this book with other, more theoretical treatments of representation theory.

The lack of mathematical rigor is by design as Geogi mentions in the preface. It could have been a better book, in my opinion, had it been more fleshed out in that respect.

A good read
A good book for introducing group theoretical methods, especially for students of physics. Nicely cast into LaTex, but I wish some of the peoblems could be a little more illuminating. ... Read more

Book Description

"The nuclear physicist most responsible for the creation of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer, was a genius both scientifically and otherwise. In Jeremy Bernstein's intensely interesting biographical memoir, Oppenheimer emerges as a man unsure of his identity and captive to an element of self-destructiveness in his makeup. As a former colleague of Oppenheimer's, Bernstein has composed a book that is both personal and historical, bringing the reader close to the life and workings of an extraordinary and controversial man." ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Interstitial Material
This book has supplied insights and information which none of my readings on the topic of Oppenheimer or the Manhattan Project or Los Alamos (where I spent part of my childhood, hence the interest) has provided.

This is not a massive tome with large quantities of detail related to any one specific area of Oppenheimer's life, but provides information that tends to hold the massive amounts of data which has been written about him at a more personal level.

All in all, a readable, cogent, human book about a man whose life seems filled with contradictions and disparate interests.

An involving, highly recommended biographical survey
Oppenheimer: Portrait Of An Enigma is the biography of the preeminent American nuclear scientist has been a long-awaited book: Biographer Jeremy Berstein spent two years at the institute where Robert Oppenheimer was director, observed him nearly daily, and is in the perfect position to blend history with personal observation. The nuclear physicist Oppenheimer was key in creating the atomic bomb, and was a genius both scientifically and otherwise: Oppenheimer's science, background, and most of all the personal talks between biographer and scientist spice up a revealing, involving, highly recommended biographical survey. ... Read more

Book Description

This book presents, for the first time, a unified treatment of the quantum mechanisms of magnetic resonance, including both nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron spin resonance (ESR). Magnetic resonance is perhaps the most advanced type of spectroscopy and it is applied in biology, chemistry, physics, material science, and medicine. If applied in conjunction with spectroscopy, the imaging version of magnetic resonance has no counterpart in any type of experimental technique.

The authors present explanations and applications from fundamental to advanced levels. Additionally, they pave the way to successfully simulating magnetic resonance phenomena numerically through an accompanying CD-ROM.

The authors present explanations and applications from fundamental to advanced levels

This groundbreaking volume is accompanied by a CD ROM which simulates magnetic resonance phenomena ... Read more

Reviews (1)

folks: the hype is true
I will tell you this: for those people out there who love German people's names, Volker Achim Weberruß's name will not disappoint. And his book... ach, his book-- I will just say this: it lives up to his name.

That is what I will say.

Additionally, I will say that reading this book, you feel ravished by the technical command Volker Achim Weberruß has over his computational domain-- you feel like a young child, in the hands of a brutish master. You feel like a life raft cradled in a tempest-loving sea. You are at his mercy.

Weberruß is the Mayor of Science,, folks.

I will also say this: I was a little disappointed in the appendix, though. Not quite meaty enough, for my taste, and I found several notable ommissions ("hyponautical quadraticism" was mentioned on pages 133 and 411, though the topic was apparently not substantial enough to warrant an appendixical mention). But for that I fault the editor, not Volker Achim Weberruß.

Volker Achim Weberruß is the champion of the history of science of the universe.

Object-Oriented Magnetic Resonance: Yes! ... Read more

Amazon.com

The fact that you're even making an attempt at using Web development software dispels the notion that you are a dummy. Nonetheless, ColdFusion 4 for Dummies will get novices on the way to creating interactive Web pages.

Despite the book's let's-start-with-the-basics approach, some familiarity with directory trees and the basic concepts of programming will come in handy, since the author gets right into the nitty-gritty of working with tags, functions, and variables. It seems that a book targeted toward the beginner should explain these concepts a little more thoroughly before launching into how they work within the software. The book may be assuming a bit too much about its audience, which is unusual in the Dummies series.

Still, the author clearly knows the ins and outs of ColdFusion 4, guiding you through such processes as working with databases, updating records, and building forms in fairly simple terms. He also spends ample time going over troubleshooting--which constitutes a large part of Web site development--and common coding mistakes.

ColdFusion 4 for Dummies may not be much help if you're apprehensive about delving into the world of Web site development. But if you're brave enough to take the plunge, this book has lots of information. --John Frederick Moore ... Read more

Reviews (17)

Do Not Buy This Book Unless You Like Being Confused
This is the worst possible book you can buy if you want to learn ColdFusion. They introduce unexplained, confusing code, throwing in comments that seemed to have "suddenly occured" to them as they were writing something else. It's impossible to start at a low level and build up your knowledge. It is instant confusion. I'm a fan of Dummies Books - most are valuable. This one is awful. I hate it.

ColdFusion 4 for Dummies
This dummies book is one of the worst I've seen. Compared to other CF resources this is my least valuable one. Even if you are a beginner the examples are mediocre. Not to mention several valuable tags like CFHTTP and CFFTP are not even listed in the book. The organization of the book is also confusing as it is put into the "dummies" format. Instead of trying to write a "funny" resource they should have focused a little more on the contents.

Difficult resource
There is some valuable information presented in this book, but plan on spending at least half your time extracting it. It many compliment your other CF resources.

If this were the only CF resource available, I'm sure there would not be many developers thriving today. Even if you're a Dummy, look around for something else.

Con-Fusion
This book is terrible. More often than not it is telling you to do something without telling you why. The tutorials are inconsistant. The document names it refers to are constantly changing. Worst of all, it will tell you it is going to teach you how to perform a task with a nice graphic and then drop the subject and move on without another mention of the subject. I wish I had never purchased this book.

I'm a "Dummy" for Buying This Book!
There's an old saying: "You get what you pay for." Well, in this case the saying holds true: I purchased this book because it was the least expensive book on Coldfusion. Unfortunately, its also one of the worst.

This book gets 1 star for successfully writing the book with correct grammer and spelling. However, there is little else on the positive side worth mentioning.

In terms of it's low points, the book is a confusing mess that has little to do with sound instructional design. To begin, the instructions for configuring Coldfusion are so disorganized, it will likely take you hours, if not days, to actually get Coldfusion up and running. In fact, the configuration instructions are so poorly sequenced that you will need to jump back and forth between chapters in order to make any sense of the process.

Should you be fortunate enough to decipher the installation instructions, the actual examples are so poorly described and documented that they are vitually worthless. I managed to get through the examples, but only after hours of taking notes and experimentation through trial and error.

I strongly recommend that you try to find another book, either the Ben Forte or Sams books. ... Read more

Book Description

This book is a modern introduction to the ideas and techniques of quantum field theory.After a brief overview of particle physics and a survey of relativistic wave equations and Lagrangian methods, the author develops the quantum theory of scalar and spinor fields, and then of gauge fields. The emphasis throughout is on functional methods, which have played a large part in modern field theory. The book concludes with a brief survey of "topological" objects in field theory and, new to this edition,a chapter devoted to supersymmetry. Graduate students in particle physics and high energy physics will benefit from this book. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Good Introduction
A very readable intro to QFT. After having tried a dozen or so different QFT books, this is the one that I eventually used. A nice feature is its emphasis on the path integral and its use in QFT. This book does not have any problems included. In order to gain some experience actually solving problems the book should be supplemented with another. I would recommend that Schwabl's "Advanced Quantum Mechanics" and Griffiths' "Introduction to Elementary Particles" be used in conjunction with Ryder. They complement the text perfectly. Also, you can't expect to learn QFT from only one source.

Written With Uneven Quality
Normally I would have given this book a three-star rating if it weren't for the number of interesting topics that it presents that usually don't find themselves in a QFT book: topological aspects, supersymmetry, nice approach to Dirac's equation, derivation of reduction theorem from path integrals only.

The presentations are written with uneven quality. Ryder's treatment of supersymmetry is excellent as an introduction. The first chapter on the other hand is entirely forgetable. The mathematics is too loose and somewhat sloppy at parts. However almost every field theory text I've come across suffers from this criticism. (It would be nice to see a QFT book written for physicists but by a mathematician.) Explanations and insight into QFT are scant; the book focuses mostly on formalism. The best thing about Ryder is it covers a great amount of material in a short size (487 pages) and in a very readable form.

An Inspiring Introduction to QFT
One of the basic questions in the education of theoretical physics is, what is a good way of introducing QFT and giving the student a taste of what is to come? In my opinion, this book offers a fine solution to this thorny problem.
There are many sides to this question; for example, there is the view that the students should be exposed to this vast topic in a complete and thorough way (for such a text, I HIGHLY recommend Weinberg's 3 volume set, which, if not commonly regarded as a classic yet, soon will be), and also there is the point of view that most of the students studying QFT are experimentalists, so they should first be exposed to how to calculate amplitudes and cross sections for useful processes as soon as possible (see Peskin-Schroder for an outstanding exemplification of this principle). Both of these points of view have strong arguments supporting them, and there are many other reasonable opinions that might be taken; perhaps this is an indication that there is not any one approach to this subject which is a good introduction for all, but rather that the student must choose intelligently which text he/she finds they are most comfortable with. However, I can say that for me at least, this book had just the right selection of topics and at just the right level to get me interested in the subject and to give me a taste as to what it would be like if I were to go into it in more depth (which indeed I did). Other reviewers are quite right in pointing out that there are several inaccuracies in this text; also in more than a few places the treatment is considerably less clear than it might have been (this is one of the main strengths of Weinberg's set; every last detail is crystal clear, and the physical reasoning in the derivations is very rarely muddled in the math). Perhaps in this sense, the book could have been better written, and just by this element of style, I probably would have rated this 4 stars. However, I think that these valid criticisms are more than offset by the overwhelming strength of the book:that it is truly inspiring. Several reviewers have gone over details; I shall not rehash these matters, but instead leave off with the statement that this book was the best introduction to QFT that I could have bought.

one of good books
1)as other reviewers put, we cannot expect every thing from one source. but without doubt, this is a good buy.
2)this is not so pedagogic as the book seller's copy on the backcover. it needs some endeavor of course.
3)major flaw i noticed is only one: at page 150 the author mingled two different things i.e. (a)subsidiary condition which excludes unphysical state from consideration (b)re-definition of norm which brings the unphysical state into consideration.

Reminds me of Sakurai
This book reminds me of Sakurai's book Modern Quantum Mechanics, in that Sakurai manages to explain many topics in a very compact form, but is not always suitable
for beginners who need to actually see calculations and have every step justified
for them; i.e., it is a bit TOO intuitive (yes, you can be too intuitive). Intuition is great, but intuition should come from first doing calculations and proving things thoroughly, which is something this book just doesn't do.
Also, the outstanding pedagogy mentioned by some other reviewers here isn't so outstanding. Allow me to give an example - on page 63 Ryder defines the little group as the subgroup of the Poincare group which leaves a certain vector invariant. Then a few lines later he writes down a certain vector and adds: "what is its little group? It is clearly the rotation group, since this will have no effect on [the vector]" - hardly an explanation; this look more like a tautology to me. I'm not nitpicking - this is the sort of reasoning provided in many places in the book. In my opinion, it might be good for readers who are looking for an intuitive angle on things, but for people learning QFT for the first time a book such as Bjorken and Drell will do a better job, even if not as exciting. ... Read more

Book Description

As the only stable baryon, the nucleon is of crucial importance in particle physics. Since the nucleon is a building block for all atomic nuclei, there is a need to analyse the its structure in order to fully understand the essential properties of all atomic nuclei.
After more than forty years of research on the nucleon, both the experimental and theoretical situations have matured to a point where a synthesis of the results becomes indispensable. Here, A.W. Thomas and W. Weise present a unique report on the extensive empirical studies, theoretical foundations and the different models of the nucleon. The appendices provide an extensive summary of formulae needed in practical calculations.

From the contents: electromagnetic structure of the nucleon, weak probes of nucleon structure, deep inelastic lepton scattering on the nucleon; elements of QCD, aspects of non-perturbative QCD, Chiral Symmetry and nucleon structure, models of the nucleon ... Read more

Book Description

Plasma processing of semiconductors is an interdisciplinaryfield requiring knowledge of both plasma physics and chemicalengineering. The two authors are experts in each of these fields, andtheir collaboration results in the merging of these fields with acommon terminology. Basic plasma concepts are introduced painlessly tothose who have studied undergraduate electromagnetics but have had noprevious exposure to plasmas. Unnecessarily detailed derivations areomitted; yet the reader is led to understand in some depth thoseconcepts, such as the structure of sheaths, that are important in thedesign and operation of plasma processing reactors. Physicists notaccustomed to low-temperature plasmas are introduced to chemicalkinetics, surface science, and molecular spectroscopy. The materialhas been condensed to suit a nine-week graduate course, but it issufficient to bring the reader up to date on current problems such ascopper interconnects, low-k and high-k dielectrics, and oxide damage.Students will appreciate the web-style layout with ample colorillustrations opposite the text, with ample room for notes. Theincluded CD contains a copy of the book which can be indexed using aSearch function, and which can be enlarged on a monitor for a closerlook at the diagrams. Sample homework and exam problems can also befound on the CD. This short book is ideal for new workers in the semiconductor industrywho want to be brought up to speed with minimum effort. It is alsosuitable for Chemical Engineering students studying plasma processingof materials; Engineers, physicists, and technicians entering thesemiconductor industry who want a quick overview of the use of plasmasin the industry. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Very strong monograph
Given the time at which it was written, this book is still unsurpassed in its quality, conciseness, and clarity of style in the field of NMR. It was written by a physicist, contrary to Ernst's book, which is also excellent but focuses more on the interpretation of spectra rather than spin physics. (This was of course Ernst's intent anyways, there already was an excellent textbook on NMR by Abragam; he saw no need to reinvent the wheel.) While Abragam's book is quite a joy to read, it is also rather outdated. Nearly half the topics dealt with are no longer in use today. It needs to be supplemented by Ernst's book, as well as Callaghan's book. I also recommend Abragam & Goldman's book "Order and disorder" for a treatment of more modern NMR physics, if like me, you like eclectic topics. Abragam uses a purely quantum approach, and does not treat feynman path integral approach to relaxation. The chapter on relaxation is excellent, and has been praised by many, but he does not really explain much of the theory of random processes, so you'll need to learn this stuff elsewhere if you've never been exposed to stochastic processes before (well, Abragam makes very simple markov approximations, which is easy to understand as is- without too much extra background). Definitely the chapter on dipolar line width is worth mentioning.

The classic on Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Referenced in countless professional journal articles, this 1961 classic is one of the seminal treatises on the subject of Nuclear Magnetism. Topics addressed are: motion of free spins, basic resonant and non-resonant methods, macroscopic aspects of nuclear magnetism (Bloch equations, transient methods, detection methods), Dipolar line width in a rigid lattice, spin temperature, electron-nuclear interactions, quadrupole effects (fine structure), thermal relaxation, line width theory, multiplet structure in liquids, and effects of strong RF fields.

All of these topics are covered in consise, easy-to-understand language, and the treatment of the material is classic and elegant. A necessary part of any complete solid-state or NMR library. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Excellent problems and solutions book in Atomic Physics
This is the best problem and solutions book in Atomic Physics I sow! It has a broad variety of detail solved problems, from those which are almost easy to those which are really hard. I use that one like main book in Atomic Physics to prepare myself for Ph.D. qualifier. I also highly recommend this book to all graduate students, as well as to those undergraduate who are willing to learn more than they can from ordinary undergraduate courses. ... Read more

Book Description

The energy that can, in principle, be obtained from the fusion of hydrogen nuclei to form helium is enormous; the hydrogen (actually deuterium) in seawater would provide an energy many orders of magnitude greater than that in all fossil fuels combined. Unfortunately, harnessing fusion for commercial power production has proven elusive. One approach is based on trying to scale down thermonuclear explosions to a sufficiently small size that can be routinely used in a power plant. In such a process the inertia of the fuel itself provides the confinement necessary to maintain the thermonuclear reaction for long enough that more energy is produced than was needed to start the reaction: hence the name, "Inertial- Confinement Fusion". This book analyzes the progress that has been made in indirect-drive inertial-confinement fusion, in which energy is delivered to the fuel in two steps: first high-intensity lasers are used to generate x-rays, then these are focused on a target to heat it to ignition. Much of the material in this book was previously classified by DOE. Intended as a reference guide to researchers, the book also contains sufficient background and introductory material that it can serve as an introduction to the field for graduate students and researchers new to the field. Lindl is the 1993 recipient of the Edward Teller Medal in in Inertial Fusion and of the 1994 DOE E.O. Lawrence Award. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A must read in terms of future of energy R&D, space travel.
John Lindl's "Inertial Confinement Fusion" is a must read for those interested in the future of energy R&D, space travel and science for the 21st century. ICF (inertial confinement fusion) was first demonstrated in the early 1950s with the development of the hydrogen bomb. The nuclear fusion of hydrogen to form helium is the primary source of the energy which lights the stars. One gallon of sea water contains enough heavy hydrogen (deuterium) to generate the equivalent energy of 300 gallons of gasoline--and only costs a few cents to extract.Beginning in the 1950s and accelerating with the invention of the laser, scientists working at national laboratories, like Los Alamos and Livermore, and elsewhere, began to pursue the harnessing of ICF on a scale one million times smaller than that of thermonuclear weapons. On this scale, the fusion energy output can be readily harnessed like the "explosion" of gasoline in the internal combustion engine.! ! As Dr. Lindl details, the scientific feasibility of accomplishing this scale down of H-bombs was demonstrated in the mid-1980s with halite/centurion underground tests. And within acouple of years a laser which can achieve the same physical conditions will have been constructed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California--the National Ignition Facility (NIF).But, until the publication of this work, most of the science underlying this approach to harnessing fusion was classified "top secret." And in fact many of the references in Dr. Lindl's book are still classified top secret. For the first time, Dr. Lindl reveals the actual history of ICF and the science involved. That is, Dr. Lindl details how the concept of "indirect drive" was developed and applied to laser pellet fusion. Instead of lasers directly driving the implosion of fusion fuel pellets to the densities and temperatures found in the center of stars, the laser energy! !is first transformed into X-rays and the X-rays are trappe! d within a chamber, called a hohlraum. The trapped X-rays are then utilized to implode the fusion fuel pellet. Dr. Lindl details for the first time the research effort which has been carried out over the last four decades to accomplish this approach to harnessing the virtually unlimined energy potentials of nuclear fusion. ... Read more

Book Description

A primer on the evolution of particle physics and the search for the fundamental building blocks of matter. The book presents the full current body of understanding of particle physics in way accessible to a reader with some basic principles of physics (energy, momentum, electrical charge). This concise book tells the fascinating story of how 20th century physicists revealed layer upon layer of structure within the atom to reach the basic particles of matter, and then culminates in descriptions of current theories which form the Standard Model and the discovery of the top quark. Includes chapters on cosmology. The book includes many illustrations and photographs, and integrates the stories of the individual scientists throughout. Includes 4 color photographs, and the famous "Particle Chart". The book is a collaboration among eminent physicists (including J.D. Jackson and G. Goldhaber) at LBL, CERN andhigh school teachers in the Contemporary Physics Education Projectto develop a novel book to teach particle physics to students.Book can thus be used as a supplement for courses in advanced high school and physics courses.

FROM THE REVIEWS:

"...Recommended as a supplementary text for introductory college courses or for advanced high-school courses; science teachers will find it useful for updating their knowledge in an ever-expanding field of physics research." -PHYSICS TODAY ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A great introduction to concepts of particle physics
I found this book easy to read and fun. Ive gone back to it several times and still enjoy it each time I open the pages.
With only a highschool backround but an interest in science, I would recommend this book for those who are curious about the world around us but dont have the time or the math skills to grind through a deeper introduction.

Information a wannabe physicist can use
I wanted a book that would provide me a readable introduction to the world of particle physics. My days at university are a distant memory and I didn't want to wade through reams of notes or a modern text book just so I could satisfy my mild interest in knowing a little more about the subject. The Charm of Strange Quarks was just what I needed. Not only did it provide me with the theory, but also stimulated my interest by giving some historical background. The theory is presented in a simple structured manner, but is also sufficiently challenging to keep me humble in any desire I may have to become an instant particle physicist.

My only two minor irritations: Firstly I did not find the sequence of presenting the theory and the use of Appendices helpful. It made me feel that I was being shown one thing then before I got really familiar with it I would be whisked off to be shown something else and expected to put it all together myself. Secondly I would have liked a couple of new side bar type boxes to be included headed "... and in plain English!" and "This is what it means to you". The side bars and boxes that are included are very interesting and helpful.

I have no idea what a true particle physicist would think of the book, but for me it is exactly what I was looking for and will remain on my bookshelf for further exploration when I feel like taking my brain out for some exercise. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a lively and compact biography of P. M. S. Blackett, one of the most brilliant and controversial physicists of the twentieth century. Nobel laureate, leader of operational research during the Second World War, scientific advisor to the British government, President of the Royal Society, member of the House of Lords, Blackett was also denounced as a Stalinist apologist for opposing American and British development of atomic weapons, subjected to FBI surveillance, and named as a fellow traveler on George Orwell's infamous list.

His service as a British Royal Navy officer in the First World War prepared Blackett to take a scientific advisory role on military matters in the mid-1930s. An international leader in the experimental techniques of the cloud chamber, he was a pioneer in the application of magnetic evidence for the geophysical theory of continental drift. But his strong political stands made him a polarizing influence, and the decisions he made capture the complexity of living a prominent twentieth-century scientific life.

Book Description

This book should be at the side of every particle and nuclear physics graduate student and professional. Journeys Beyond the Standard Model starts with a detailed and modern account of the Standard Model of elementary particle physics, the paradigm of particle physics for the last twenty years. Its timely release coincides with the recent dramatic discovery that the neutrino has a finite mass, which is the first indication that the Standard Model is an incomplete description of fundamental physics at short distances. This book presents in detail three possible generalizations of the Standard Model: its extension to accommodate neutrino masses; its extension to avoid CP violation in the strong interactions by introducing a new particle, the axion; and finally, its generalization to low-energy supersymmetry, which provides a link between the standard model and Einstein's theory of general relativity.

This new graduate text complements the author's previous book, Modern Field Theory: A Primer, which focuses on the methodology of particle physics. Its aim is to give students and professional physicists alike a thorough comprehension of the phenomena described by the Standard Model, while keeping track of the most recent and cutting-edge principles of elementary particle physics. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A well-prepared travell
Judging by this book, Pierre Ramond must be somebody who spends more time packing his suitcases than travelling. He must therefore be a very well-prepared and careful traveller. Two-thirds of "Journeys Beyondthe Standard Model" is devoted to the Standard Model of fundamentalparticle interactions. Considerable understanding can be revealed byundertaking the journeys described in Pierre Ramond's book, provided thetraveller invests in the Standard Model groundwork excellently surveyed inthe book's initial chapters.

Gian Francesco Giudice/ Theoretical PhysicsDivision, CERN

A complete review is available in CERN Courier, June 2000 ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (12)

OK But Not Entirely Satisfying
Gregg Herken's BROTHERHOOD OF THE BOMB is subtitled: "The
Tangled Lives And Loyalties Of Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest
Lawrence, And Edward Teller". This statement implies that
this book is something of a three-way biography of three
important nuclear scientists, but it actually has a broader
focus, discussing not merely the lives of these three men but
traces through the story of the US nuclear weapons program in
World War II; the American Communist Party; the Red spy
network in the US; McCarthyism and the Red witch hunts of the
Cold War; and the rise of the nuclear arms race.

In a sense, this relatively broad focus makes this book, if
not exactly frustrating because it's an okay read, at
least a little unsatisfying, since it gives enough of these
stories to be intriguing but not enough to give a clear
picture -- while distracting enough from the story of Lawrence,
Oppenheimer, and Teller so that they never seem to really
come alive.

This is a pity, since at least Oppenheimer and Teller are
fascinating individuals -- Oppenheimer was brilliant and
arrogant, impatient with lesser intellects, but still
much admired; and Teller is brilliant as well, with the odd
unintentional humor of the single-minded. (In an interview
a few years ago he told the reporter up front: "If you
mention Strangelove ONE TIME, I will THROW YOU OUT!")

In the end I get the feeling like I would have been happier
with something with much more scope, detail, and length;
or, with the scope it has, less detail and length. The
story of Oppenheimer's political persecution is laid out
blow-by-blow, but for myself I think a more concise
description would have let me see the forest for the trees
much better.

I must admit that the description of AEC Chairman Lewis
Strauss, who orchestrated the charge on Oppenheimer, was
vivid enough to be creepy, since Strauss was the sort of
fellow whose faith in his own convictions so strong that
he could burn any number of witches at the stake without
a second thought. It's good to be reminded that there are
people like that out there!

OK, I don't want to go too far. This isn't a bad book.
It's well-researched and provides worthwhile information.
There are fascinating bits in it, for example how
Oppenheimer was not merely given a clean bill of health
by the House UnAmerican Activities Committee, but even
praised as something of a national hero by the prominent
HUAC member, Congressman Richard M. Nixon of California.
(There always was a "Good Dick Nixon" and a "Bad Dick
Nixon".)

It just left me wanting much more -- which, I suppose, is
a good thing as well.

Very cool book
This book was very fascinating and fun to read. The book is very informative and interesting about the development of "the Bomb", and beyond. The book goes into vast detail about Ernest Lawrence, Robert Oppenheimer, and Edward Teller; especially Ernest Lawrence. The book starts in about 1939 with Ernest's invention of the cyclotron, and ends in the early 1960's with the Limited Test-Ban treaty. Besides talking about the relationships between the three physicists, which is very interesting, the book also talks about a lot of the small people involved in the production of the first fission weapon. What I think is cool, is the information given on Robert Oppenheimer from the FBI. The book also sends a lot of time discussing Edward Teller's interest and development of the Hydrogen Bomb. Although it does give some information about the nuclear testing we have done, it would be better if the Author discussed this more. Overall, I enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested in the history and development of nuclear weapons.

This book is VERY WELL WRITTEN
I'm only a few chapters into the book at the moment. However, I am finding the book to be very interesting and extremely well researched. I totally disagree with the other reviews on this one. The book is very well written. I can hardly put it down. Excellent job!

History treated like a heavy machinery operating manual
This book is very well researched, but is EXTREMELY poorly written. It is the driest and most boring history book that I have ever read in my life. The entire thing is presented as a simple collection of facts and the author hardly gives you any insight into what the major characters were really like (sometimes you get a little glimpse in the footnotes). I bought this book after seeing all the good reviews it had gotten, but I have trouble focusing on reading for more than 10 minutes because I feel like I'm wasting my time reading this tedious amassment of factual evidence.

It is House Committee on Un-American Activities
All references to committees in the House are referred to as House Committees on whatever. It is not HUAC. It is HCUA. It changes the whole meaning it we continue to say House Un-American Activities Commitee. The House did not have an Un-American Activities Committee. The House had a Committee on Un-American Activities. ... Read more

Book Description

The book is a selfcontained introduction in perturbative and nonperturbative Quantumchromodynamics (QCD) with worked out exercises for students of theoretical physics. It will be useful as a reference for research scientists as well. Starting with the hadron spectrum the reader becomes famliar with the representations of SU(N). Relativistic quantum field theory is recapitulated and scattering theory is discussed in the framework of scalar quantum electrodynamics. Then the gauge theory of quarks and gluons is introduced. In the more advanced chapters perturbative and nonperturbative techniques in state of the art QCD are discussed in great detail. This completely revised and enlarged second edition will fill the gap in the literature.

FROM THE REVIEWS:

FOUNDATIONS OF PHYSICS "For those who are teaching QCD in the context of its applications to hadronic physics and, especially, nucleon structure functions and Drell-Yan physics as studied experimentally at the world's large accelerator laboratories, the text of Greiner and Schaefer successfully fills a major gap." ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Introduction to strong interaction.
This may be one of the best textbooks about the topic. However, the translation is not done properly. The new edition is supposed to be published three years ago with corrections to the major errors, but the publication date has been postponed several times and it is still not available today. Anybody capable of reading German is recommended to read its original edition in German. ... Read more

Book Description

This graduate textbook provides a concise, accessible introduction to the Standard Model of particle physics. Theoretical concepts are developed clearly and carefully throughout the book--from the electromagnetic and weak interactions of leptons and quarks to the strong interactions of quarks. Chapters developing the theory are interspersed with chapters describing some of the wealth of experimental data supporting the model. The book assumes only the standard mathematics taught in an undergraduate physics course; more sophisticated mathematical ideas are developed in the text and in appendices.For graduate students in particle physics and physicists working in other fields who are interested in the current understanding of the ultimate constituents of matter, this textbook provides a lucid and up-to-date introduction. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Excellent Introduction to Particle Physics
This book is an excellent introduction to particle physics. The chapters are short, clear and very readable. As the previous reviewer mentioned, there are a series of reasonable exercises at the end of each chapter with answers provided in the back of the book. Many concepts that field theory or particle physics books leave mysterious or have a difficult time explaining are clearly laid out in this book. I would judge it superior to Griffiths particle physics book, and if you are looking for a nice supplement to serious study of quantum field theory, this is it.

An excellent introduction to particle physics
This is indeed an excellent book in particle physics. It will serve as a good introduction to gauge fields of particle physics.
The book is very readable and does not assume more than undergraduate physics. Each chapter ends with a set of problems with solution at the end of the book. It contains a lot of material which can be learned in a short time. I strongly recommend it for a beginner. ... Read more

Book Description

Bose-Einstein condensation of excitons is a unique effect in which the electronic states of a solid can self-organize to acquire quantum phase coherence. The phenomenon is closely linked to Bose-Einstein condensation in other systems such as liquid helium and laser-cooled atomic gases. Covering theoretical aspects as well as recent experimental work, the book provides a comprehensive survey of the field. After introducing the relevant basic physics of excitons, the authors discuss exciton-phonon interactions as well as the behavior of biexcitons. They also cover exciton phase-transitions and give particular attention to nonlinear optical effects including the optical Stark effect and chaos in excitonic systems. The thermodynamics of equilibrium, quasiequilibrium, and nonequilibrium systems are examined in detail. Throughout, the authors interweave theoretical and experimental results.The book will be of great interest to graduate students and researchers in semiconductor and superconductor physics, quantum optics, and atomic physics. ... Read more