Mathematical Methods For Mechanics

This book constructs the mathematical apparatus of classical mechanics from the beginning, examining basic problems in dynamics like the theory of oscillations and the Hamiltonian formalism. The author emphasizes geometrical considerations and includes phase spaces and flows, vector fields, and Lie groups. Discussion includes qualitative methods of the theory of dynamical systems and of asymptotic methods like averaging and adiabatic invariance.

Quantum mechanics and the theory of operators on Hilbert space have been deeply linked since their beginnings in the early twentieth century. States of a quantum system correspond to certain elements of the configuration space and observables correspond to certain operators on the space. This book is a brief, but self-contained, introduction to the mathematical methods of quantum mechanics, with a view towards applications to Schrodinger operators. Part 1 of the book is a concise introduction to the spectral theory of unbounded operators. Only those topics that will be needed for later applications are covered. The spectral theorem is a central topic in this approach and is introduced at an early stage. Part 2 starts with the free Schrodinger equation and computes the free resolvent and time evolution. Position, momentum, and angular momentum are discussed via algebraic methods. Various mathematical methods are developed, which are then used to compute the spectrum of the hydrogen atom. Further topics include the nondegeneracy of the ground state, spectra of atoms, and scattering theory. This book serves as a self-contained introduction to spectral theory of unbounded operators in Hilbert space with full proofs and minimal prerequisites: Only a solid knowledge of advanced calculus and a one-semester introduction to complex analysis are required. In particular, no functional analysis and no Lebesgue integration theory are assumed. It develops the mathematical tools necessary to prove some key results in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics. Mathematical Methods in Quantum Mechanics is intended for beginning graduate students in both mathematics and physics and provides a solid foundation for reading more advanced books and current research literature. It is well suited for self-study and includes numerous exercises (many with hints).

This book primarily focuses on rigorous mathematical formulation and treatment of static problems arising in continuum mechanics of solids at large or small strains, as well as their various evolutionary variants, including thermodynamics. As such, the theory of boundary- or initial-boundary-value problems for linear or quasilinear elliptic, parabolic or hyperbolic partial differential equations is the main underlying mathematical tool, along with the calculus of variations. Modern concepts of these disciplines as weak solutions, polyconvexity, quasiconvexity, nonsimple materials, materials with various rheologies or with internal variables are exploited. This book is accompanied by exercises with solutions, and appendices briefly presenting the basic mathematical concepts and results needed. It serves as an advanced resource and introductory scientific monograph for undergraduate or PhD students in programs such as mathematical modeling, applied mathematics, computational continuum physics and engineering, as well as for professionals working in these fields.

Mathematics is undoubtedly the key to state-of-the-art high technology. It is aninternationaltechnicallanguageandprovestobeaneternallyyoungscience to those who have learned its ways. Long an indispensable part of research thanks to modeling and simulation, mathematics is enjoying particular vit- ity now more than ever. Nevertheless, this stormy development is resulting in increasingly high requirements for students in technical disciplines, while general interest in mathematics continues to wane at the same time. This book and its appendices on the Internet seek to deal with this issue, helping students master the di?cult transition from the receptive to the productive phase of their education. The author has repeatedly held a three-semester introductory course - titled Higher Mathematics at the University of Stuttgart and used a series of “handouts” to show further aspects, make the course contents more motiv- ing, and connect with the mechanics lectures taking place at the same time. One part of the book has more or less evolved from this on its own. True to the original objective, this part treats a variety of separate topics of varying degrees of di?culty; nevertheless, all these topics are oriented to mechanics. Anotherpartofthisbookseekstoo?eraselectionofunderstandablereal- ticmodelsthatcanbeimplementeddirectlyfromthemultitudeofmathema- calresources.TheauthordoesnotattempttohidehispreferenceofNumerical Mathematics and thus places importance on careful theoretical preparation.

The word "elements" in the title of this book does not convey the implica tion that its contents are "elementary" in the sense of "easy": it mainly means that no prerequisites are required, with the exception of some basic background in classical physics and calculus. It also signifies "devoted to the foundations". In fact, the arguments chosen are all very classical, and the formal or technical developments of this century are absent, as well as a detailed treatment of such problems as the theory of the planetary motions and other very concrete mechanical problems. This second meaning, however, is the result of the necessity of finishing this work in a reasonable amount of time rather than an a priori choice. Therefore a detailed review of the "few" results of ergodic theory, of the "many" results of statistical mechanics, of the classical theory of fields (elasticity and waves), and of quantum mechanics are also totally absent; they could constitute the subject of two additional volumes on mechanics. This book grew out of several courses on meccanica razionaie, i.e., essentially, theoretical mechanics, which I gave at the University of Rome during the years 1975-1978.

Many different mathematical methods and concepts are used in classical mechanics: differential equations and phase ftows, smooth mappings and manifolds, Lie groups and Lie algebras, symplectic geometry and ergodic theory. Many modern mathematical theories arose from problems in mechanics and only later acquired that axiomatic-abstract form which makes them so hard to study. In this book we construct the mathematical apparatus of classical mechanics from the very beginning; thus, the reader is not assumed to have any previous knowledge beyond standard courses in analysis (differential and integral calculus, differential equations), geometry (vector spaces, vectors) and linear algebra (linear operators, quadratic forms). With the help of this apparatus, we examine all the basic problems in dynamics, including the theory of oscillations, the theory of rigid body motion, and the hamiltonian formalism. The author has tried to show the geometric, qualitative aspect of phenomena. In this respect the book is closer to courses in theoretical mechanics for theoretical physicists than to traditional courses in theoretical mechanics as taught by mathematicians.

This short primer, geared towards students with a strong interest in mathematically rigorous approaches, introduces the essentials of classical physics, briefly points out its place in the history of physics and its relation to modern physics, and explains what benefits can be gained from a mathematical perspective. As a starting point, Newtonian mechanics is introduced and its limitations are discussed. This leads to and motivates the study of different formulations of classical mechanics, such as Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics, which are the subjects of later chapters. In the second part, a chapter on classical field theories introduces more advanced material. Numerous exercises are collected in the appendix.