Invitation To Contemporary Physics

Readership: Students, researchers in physics, chemistry, engineering and mathematics, science writers and general readers.

This completely revised second edition of our hugely popular book invites the reader to explore ten of the most important areas of modern physics: Symmetry, Lasers, Superconductivity, Bose–Einstein Condensation, Nanoscience, Quantum Computation, Chaos and Fractals, Stellar Evolution, Particles, and Cosmology. The new edition adds three new chapters in about a third of the book, covering the latest, hottest topics in contemporary physics: Bose–Einstein Condensate: Where Many Become One and How to Get There: Bose Statistics: Counting of the Indistinguishables; Bose–Einstein Condensation (BEC): The Over-Population Crisis; Cooling and Trapping of Atoms: Towards BEC; Doppler Limit and its Break Down; Trapping of Cold Atoms: Magnetic and Magneto-Optic Trap; Evaporative Cooling; BEC Finally: But How do We Know?; BEC: What Good is it? Exploring Nanostructures: Towards the Bottom; The Rise of Nanoscience; Confined Systems; Quantum Devices; The Genius of Carbon; Spintronics; Nanos at Large. Quantum Computation and Information: Classical Computer; Quantum Computer; Quantum Gates; Deutsch's Algorithm; Finding the Period of a Function; Shor's Factorization Algorithm; Grover's Search Algorithm; Hardware and Error Correction; Cryptography; Quantum Teleportation. The authors give a fascinating, up-to-date account of the exciting advances in these fast-moving fields. Their emphasis is as much on describing natural phenomena as on attempting to explain them in terms of basic principles, replacing equations with physical insight. General readers and university undergraduates alike will find this unique book a useful guide to the worlds of modern physics, while the mature scientist will get an insightful survey of neighboring fields of research. For the teacher who takes a thematic approach to teaching physics, this book will be a complete source of current topics at the frontiers of research; and for the student, a valuable tool of study, made even more useful by numerous pertinent problems (with complete solutions) and references found at the end of each chapter. Contents:Symmetry of Nature and Nature of SymmetryLasers and PhysicsSuperconductivityBose-Einstein Condensate: Where Many Become One and How to Get ThereExploring NanostructuresQuantum Computation and InformationChaos: Chance Out of NecessityBright Stars and Black HolesElementary Particles and ForcesCosmology Readership: Students, researchers in physics, chemistry, engineering and mathematics, science writers and general readers. Keywords:Symmetry;Lasers;Superconductivity;Bose-Einstein Condensate;Chaos;Fractals;Nanostructures;Spintronics;Fullerenes;Quantum Computation;Quantum Information;Elementary Particles;Cosmology;White Dwarfs;Neutron Stars;Black HolesReviews:“I am quite impressed both with the choice of highly interesting topics and the pedagogical presentation. This book will provide those with a basic knowledge of mathematics and physics, and an urge to learn more about Nature, with a precious source of information. I commend World Scientific for publishing this book. There is a need for this type of presentation, which lies in between non-technical, popular discussions and professional articles.”Professor Paul Hoyer University of Helsinki “This book invites readers to an up-to-date account of the ever changing world of modern physics from the smallest of elementary particles and strings to the vast of the whole cosmos. The authors have done an excellent job of explaining in simple language the physical principles and the complex phenomena. The book is a delightful reading to everyone who is interested in understanding the physical world around us. I especially enjoy the exposition of the fascinating subject of quantum computing.”Professor Tung-Mow Yan Cornell University “This is a very entertaining book — much like an extended banquet with a choice of intellectual delicacies. Not to be consumed in one sitting, but savored over many readings. The book addresses many of the most exciting topics of the day: quantum computation, Bose–Einstein condensation, cosmology, and nanotechnology. The presentation is engaging and smooth, and the book is very enlightening and informative.”Professor S “Sri” Sridhar Northeastern University “It is an impressive feat by the authors to cover such a wide panorama of physics from particles to cosmos and at a consistently high scientific level of information and explanation. This level is excellent and is at the frontier of current research … the great strength of this book, and the main reason why it is worth reading by anyone interested in modern science, lies in the text itself, which provides a fascinating and lively guide to the world of contemporary physics. And, as with any guide, this is truly an invitation to go beyond.”European Journal of Physics “This book is a must-read for those wanting to put their finger back on the pulse of physics research today … Ho-Kim, Kumar, and Lam successfully create a relaxed learning atmosphere, teach difficult topics, and generate reader excitement and interest in important research areas. Many guests will accept this invitation to contemporary physics.”The Industrial Physicist

How do atoms and electrons behave? Are they just like marbles, basketballs, suns, and planets, but smaller?They are not. Atoms and electrons behave in a fashion quite unlike the familiar marbles, basketballs, suns, and planets. This sophomore-level textbook delves into the counterintuitive, intricate, but ultimately fascinating world of quantum mechanics. Building both physical insight and mathematical technique, it opens up a new world to the discerning reader.After discussing experimental demonstrations showing that atoms behave differently from marbles, the book builds up the phenomena of the quantum world — quantization, interference, and entanglement — in the simplest possible system, the qubit. Once the phenomena are introduced, it builds mathematical machinery for describing them. It goes on to generalize those concepts and that machinery to more intricate systems. Special attention is paid to identical particles, the source of considerable student confusion. In the last chapter, students get a taste of what is not treated in the book and are invited to continue exploring quantum mechanics. Problems in the book test both conceptual and technical knowledge, and invite students to develop their own questions.

This volume is a collection of Nishina Memorial Lectures delivered by distinguished physicists during the past 50 years at the invitation of the Nishina Memorial Foundation. The Lectures commemorate Yoshio Nishina, the father of modern physics in Japan. Listen to the voice of W. Heisenberg: in the right column you can download the first minutes of his lecture "Abstraction in Modern Science" recorded in 1967! You can read the remainder of this lecture and all other lectures online via the link under "E-content". It is hoped that this volume will help young readers to grasp and enjoy the progress of modern physics.

The so-far unanswered question of whether the movements of distance-separated objects are correlated in the way quantum physics requires or whether, according to Einstein, they can influence one another only by mechanical agencies travelling between them at speeds limited to that of light. It is to that still unanswered question that this present compilation of papers is addressed. The editorial approach is unusual in that in order to break the current conceptual deadlock and to encourage true innovation they have solicited inputs which are multidisciplinary. This open-ended venture is therefore perhaps more in line with what was once called Natural Philosophy than with what is currently known as 'Physics'. This is something of a departure for those who say that Physics no longer has anything to do with Philosophy. For there are physicists who believe that their predecessors have accomplished all the really important conceptual work on interpreting natural phenomena, so that there is no longer any call for radical revision in that direction. This leads to a constricted form of the discipline in which the purpose of all observation and experimentation is seen as simply to collect more and more information and fit it to conceptions which are traditionally 'cut and dried'. The emphasis is thus on presenting informed and carefully considered descriptions of natural phenomena, economizing as far as possible on interpretations in terms of entities which turn out to be no more than speculative.

This unique book provides a clear and lucid description of several aspects of astrophysics and cosmology in a language understandable to a physicist or beginner in astrophysics. It presents the key topics in all branches of astrophysics and cosmology in a simple and concise language. The emphasis is on currently active research areas and exciting new frontiers rather than on more pedantic topics. Many complicated results are introduced with simple, novel derivations which strengthen the conceptual understanding of the subject. The book also contains over one hundred exercises which will help students in their self study.Undergraduate and graduate students in physics and astrophysics as well as all physicists who are interested in obtaining a quick grasp of astrophysical concepts will find this book useful.

While the two previous books entitled Introduction to Modern Physics: Theoretical Foundations and Advanced Modern Physics: Theoretical Foundations exposed the reader to the foundations and frontiers of today's physics, the goal of this third volume is to cover in some detail several topics omitted in the essentially linear progression of the first two. This book is divided into three parts. Part 1 is on quantum mechanics. Analytic solutions to the Schrödinger equation are developed for some basic systems. The analysis is then formalized, concluding with a set of postulates for the theory. Part 2 is on applications of quantum mechanics: approximation methods for bound states, scattering theory, time-dependent perturbation theory, and electromagnetic radiation and quantum electrodynamics. Part 3 covers some selected topics in relativistic quantum field theory: discrete symmetries, the Heisenberg picture, and the Feynman rules for quantum chromodynamics. The three volumes in this series taken together provide a clear, logical, self-contained, and comprehensive base from which the very best students can learn modern physics. When finished, readers should have an elementary working knowledge in the principal areas of theoretical physics of the twentieth century.