Book Description
The universe has its secrets. It may even hide extra dimensions, different from anything ever imagined. A whole raft of remarkable concepts now rides atop the scientific firmament, including parallel universes, warped geometry, and threedimensional sink-holes. We understand far more about the world than we did just a few short years ago -- and yet we are more uncertain about the true nature of the universe than ever before. Have we reached a point of scientific discovery so advanced that the laws of physics as we know them are simply not sufficient? Will we all soon have to accept explanations that previously remained in the realm of science fiction?
Lisa Randall is herself making these extraordinary breakthroughs, pushing back the boundaries of science in her research to answer some of the most fundamental questions posed by Nature. For example, why is the gravitational field from the entire Earth so defenseless against the small tug of a tiny magnet? Searching for answers to such seemingly irresolvable questions has led physicists to postulate extra dimensions, the presence of which may lead to unimaginable gains in scientific understanding. Randall takes us into the incredible world of warped, hidden dimensions that underpin the universe we live in, describing how we might prove their existence, while examining the questions that they still leave unanswered.
Warped Passages provides an exhilarating overview that tracks the arc of discovery from early twentieth-century physics to the razor's edge of today's particle physics and string theory, unweaving the current debates about relativity, quantum mechanics, and gravity. In a highly readable style sure to entertain and elucidate, Lisa Randall demystifies the science and beguilingly unravels the mysteries of the myriad worlds that may exist just beyond the one we are only now beginning to know.
Customer Reviews:
AMERICA'S GOT TALENT!!!.......2007-09-28
You really don't need my opinion because there are already over 100 reviews. I don't have a serious review to offer because the serious ones have already been done. I will agree with the best of them because this lady author has many great talents in putting such an amazing book together with such STYLE!!!! Many points of praise. I got this book in hardcover and decided I needed another one so I got two.
You go scientists!!!! Please continue writing books like this one that are so so delicious to read and well put together in SO many ways. Keep them (books) real long like this one (or even longer) and packed with lots of goodies. Brian Greene, I still LOVE your work also--ESPECIALLY The Fabric of the Cosmos, so Lisa Randall, Briane Greene and other talented scientists--keep on dishing out books like these that keep us wanting more more more!!!
SOME speculation is HEALTHY SCIENCE. Always know that there is A BEYOND EVERYTHING! Be certain of that. You scientists have now acquired an audience of the MASSES. We will be there to hail you or boo you like the jury of Q in Star Trek The Next Generation. We want more and better and more and better. Ha Ha Ha. Great work!
The Problem With Math.......2007-09-26
Randall, along with many other, such as Susskind The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design makes a serious mistake in leaping to the conclusion that reality corresponds to her mathematical models. Along with other string theorists, they assume that if the math they use to build their models contains some number of additional dimensions, then the real world must contain those dimensions. I see this in much of the literature, including, for example Woit Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory And the Search for Unity in Physical Law who debunks string theory, but nevertheless seems to accept the idea that if the math contains extra dimensions, reality must also contain those extra dimensions.
A mathematical model is just that - a model. It is the best math we can construct at this point in time to describe the reality we are trying to model. It is not the reality itself. If the string theorists are successful in constructing a model that includes six or seven tiny dimensions, that does not mean that those dimensions actually exist. All it means is that the best model we can currently construct has to include those dimensions in the math. Susskind really goes off the deep end with this. We must remember that much more math will come along. Someday, we may have a math that describes the same reality without the additional dimensions.
That said, if the string theorists can make a prediction that absolutely, positively depends upon those extra dimensions and if that prediction is confirmed by experimental results, then they may have a case. So far, the string theorists have failed utterly to make such a prediction. Even here, a different math may come along. The night is young.
Readable!.......2007-09-24
In order to keep this short and sweet, this is a very readable book about string, superstring theory, and branes! An excellent job by the author! Also contains references to nice music lyrics and quotes! Fantastic book, highly recommended!
Randall re where we are........2007-08-24
Superb summary of contemporary cosmological crucial questions. Not not for the novice, but she writes so clearly--who knows?
Interesting, the idea is similar to the experiences left by some Buddists and Taoists.......2007-08-10
1.
Why not use any possible monitoring system to collect the local variatons in space as beings dying, being born and fertilizing? We may find something come from and go to some other dimensions or layers.
2.
According to some old chinese books of Buddhism and Taoism,(a) some Buddhists and Taoists could see the future, but they could not change the future, (b) the space is layered, (c) there is something called "the singular door and the invisible armour" in Taoism.
3.
The results of some experiments, such as experiments described in the book authored by "SHE DING MING", in hypnosis are seemly relevant to this dimensional idea.
Book Description
The new edition of this introductory graduate textbook provides a concise but accessible introduction to the Standard Model. It has been updated to account for the successes of the theory of strong interactions, and the observations on matter-antimatter asymmetry. It has become clear that neutrinos are not mass-less, and this book gives a coherent presentation of the phenomena and the theory that describes them. It includes an account of progress in the theory of strong interactions and of advances in neutrino physics. The book clearly develops the theoretical concepts from the electromagnetic and weak interactions of leptons and quarks to the strong interactions of quarks. Each chapter ends with problems, and hints to selected problems are provided at the end of the book. The mathematical treatments are suitable for graduates in physics, and more sophisticated mathematical ideas are developed in the text and appendices.
Customer Reviews:
Review for An Intoduction to the Standard Model of Particle Physics.......2007-10-04
According to my opinion this book is well written and well organized and also quite short so that you are not lost in details.
Updated New Edition.......2007-05-15
In this second edition the authors have upgraded their book to incorporate recent discoveries in several areas including:
o the successes of the theory of strong interactions
o the observations on matter-antimatter asymmetry
o advances in neutrino physics, especially as it has become clear that neutrinos are not mass-less
o the theoretical concepts from the electromagnetic and weak interactions of leptons and quarks to the strong interactions of quarks.
The book is aimed at the graduate student in particle physics. It has a rigorous mathematical structure. After all, the Standard Model is basically a mathematical theory that describes the interactions between leptons and quarks.
Throughout the book there are many references to open questions that likewise reflect the state of the Standard Model.
workout with the Standard Model lagrangian.......2005-10-25
This book is about the experimental facts and the theoretical principles that lead to the construction of the Standard Model lagrangian. It is NOT about calculating scattering crossections. Some of the problems ask you to calculate decay rates but only at tree level and the fields are treated like classical fields not operators, with the exception that the fermionic fields anticommute. There is a 12-page chapter on quantizing the fields and renormalization but I find it rather sketchy so don't expect to understand a lot from it if you don't already know it.
You should have some background in varying lagrangians otherwise the book will frequently seem difficult to you. The authors obtain symmetry currents corresponding to a symmetry of the lagrangian not in the standard way of Noether's theorem. Their method is entirely correct but it took me long time to understand because they didn't explain it with enough details the first time they used it (section 7.1, page 65). I think that will throw off the horse many readers.
The style is wonderfully concise which makes the logical structure easier to follow and there isn't the usual fluff `to motivate' things that are simply put guesses like the principle of local gauge invariance. On the other hand, some places definitely need more detailed explanations like signs of certain quantities or the symmetry currents I mentioned above.
The treatment of the Dirac equation and spinors is the least messy I've seen. The way they obtain the nonrelativistic limit of the Dirac equation with EM field is again the best and least messy I've seen.
The book has nice appendix on the groups of the Standard Model which covers what you need to know about SO(3), SU(2) and SU(3) in a very efficient way. There are about 5 problems after each chapter most of which have a solution outline at the end of the book.
Things I understood from this book:
-- why time reversal, space inversion and charge conjugation of fields are defined in a way that previously seemed to me quite arbitrary
-- how demanding local gauge invariance necessitates introduction of gauge fields which leads to interaction terms
-- how local gauge invariance can't be proven, it's just a guess that has worked so far hence it's called `principle' (my own interpretation)
-- global and local symmetry breaking, Goldstone bosons and Higgs boson
-- how the Lagrangian densities of the electroweak and strong interactions were constructed from the experimental input by demanding local gauge invariance and guessing the symmetry group to be SU(2) and SU(3) correspondingly
-- what's Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix that mixes the quark fields and how it arises
-- how symmetries of the lagrangian density lead to conservation numbers
-- how neglecting some terms in the lagrangian leads to effective lagrangian and effective theory
-- how to work with the terms in the QCD lagrangian where different matrices multiply different indices
well written book but..........2005-09-24
This is a very short resume of Standard Model, but well written,
the misguidance here, is the title "introduction" ... this text
is not for beginners.
Excellent Introduction to Particle Physics.......2002-04-01
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.
Book Description
An accessible introduction to string theory, this book provides a detailed and self-contained demonstration of the main concepts involved. The first part deals with basic ideas, reviewing special relativity and electromagnetism while introducing the concept of extra dimensions. D-branes and the classical dynamics of relativistic strings are discussed next, and the quantization of open and closed bosonic strings in the light-cone gauge, along with a brief introduction to superstrings. The second part begins with a detailed study of D-branes followed by string thermodynamics. It discusses possible physical applications, and covers T-duality of open and closed strings, electromagnetic fields on D-branes, Born/Infeld electrodynamics, covariant string quantization and string interactions. Primarily aimed as a textbook for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses, it will also be ideal for a wide range of scientists and mathematicians who are curious about string theory.
Customer Reviews:
An undergraduate's textbook.......2007-03-09
For any advanced undergraduate student in physics who is interested in string theory, this book is ideal. It starts off very easily, reviewing concepts of free point particle actions in special relativity and then gradually introduces classical strings, which are then quantised in the light-cone gauge. It doesn' get too technical, but it provides one with a good foundation in string theory's concepts. The topics are discussed very clearly, both in words and in formulae. At the end of the book, black holes are discussed very briefly (in connection with the Hagedoorn temperature) in an easy way, covariant quantisation (as an "improvement" on the light-cone gauge, which does not preserve Lorentz invariance all the way through), and D-branes.
This book is intended for advanced undergraduates, but for those who find beginning graduate courses in string theory too complicated at the outset, buy this one, read it and you'll probably understand more of the classics by Polchinski or Green/Schwarz/Witten. Those who have a solid knowledge of QFT might go passed this book, but it might be a good back-up for what more standard textbooks might call "trivial calculations".
The long way to learning string theory.......2007-03-08
Until chapter 10, the book is a pleasure to read. It is very systematic, everything is explained in great detail, and the different concepts are very clear and well exposed. The author succeeds in turning a rather obscure scientific topic into an exciting adventure. If I should judge the book only for this first part, I would give it 5 stars. In fact the book is misleading since when you start reading, you get the illusion string theory can be made accessible even for beginners with an average background.
However, this illusion is in vain since the panorama changes dramatically in chapter 10, where the author enters directly into quantum field theory, without any further preparation. An this is the real problem, because the author who developed from the ground up the classical approach to strings mechanics, takes for granted the reader is highly knowledged in quantum mechanics. In spite of his efforts to introduce the subject in successive approximations, all is in vain because the subject is too intricate. The book is not any more systematic for readers lacking adequate quantum theory background.
Certainly this is not a book for beginners. The book requires previous deep understanding of quantum mechanics. Beginners can still learn some interesting concepts from the first part of the book, but a complete reading would require deep study of less advanced quantum mechanics bibliography. That said, I must also point out if the level of the book is maintained in its second part, it may become a top ten for more advanced readers.
Hopelessly dated.......2007-01-27
In spite of being published only two years ago, this book does not make any mention of Professor Susskind's Landscape theory, the single most important advancement in string theory since anomaly cancellation was discovered. The book does a disservice to the students it is intended for, letting them think they understand string theory while depriving them of key mathematical and physical concepts, such as the Lanscape or Calabi Yau manifolds.
Satisfy curiosity but not envision advancement.......2006-11-10
I still think advanced physics needs advanced mathematics to explain and explore. With limited depth of mathematics in this book, even though lots of ideas can be expressed, the process is tedious. This introductory book can satisfy my curiosity but not enough to envision the potential study advancement.
Emanuel Degni.......2006-11-10
Top quality and well revised.
To emit my opinion I will have to complete the readings, but before that I am studying Quantum mechanics and Relativity
Book Description
The past decade has witnessed dramatic developments in the field of theoretical physics. This book is a comprehensive introduction to these recent developments. It contains a review of the Standard Model, covering non-perturbative topics, and a discussion of grand unified theories and magnetic monopoles. It introduces the basics of supersymmetry and its phenomenology, and includes dynamics, dynamical supersymmetry breaking, and electric-magnetic duality. The book then covers general relativity and the big bang theory, and the basic issues in inflationary cosmologies before discussing the spectra of known string theories and the features of their interactions. The book also includes brief introductions to technicolor, large extra dimensions, and the Randall-Sundrum theory of warped spaces. This will be of great interest to graduates and researchers in the fields of particle theory, string theory, astrophysics and cosmology. The book contains several problems, and password protected solutions will be available to lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521858410.
Customer Reviews:
Not a place to learn subject for first time.......2007-07-22
The book by Dine attempts to cover a huge assortment of topics. As a result, the detail needed to learn the subject is sorely lacking. If you don't know it already, it will be extremely difficult to learn the subject here for the first time.
In a lot of sections, the author writes down the relevant equations, but it would take a page or two of detail to explain how they arise, and that sort of detail is lacking, so you pretty much have to accept things on faith.
Further, the author switches metric half way through the book,
so the first half is not consistent with the second half. And as to the cover, there is no explanation of what that is in the text, except in the most remote terms. He mentions LHC in the first paragraph of Preface, and then the first paragraph of the epilogue, so to my mind the cover is mis-leading. He should have probably used some sort of string diagram.
Clear.......2007-06-30
Dine is that kind of guy who can explain complicated thing super clear.
If you are not a physicist, this book also has something for you: the introduction covers history not familiar with everyone, and I am sure some detail you can find nowhere in other textbook.
A wonderful book, beautiful stoies.
Fills a much needed gap in the literature........2007-01-23
This volume will serve as a Rosetta Stone for future historians trying to make sense of the pre-LHC era of speculative physics literature. The author has accomplished a heroic task, preserving these elegant yet soon to be forgotten theories for future generations.
Average customer rating:
- Great MRI Book
- Handbook of MRI pulse sequences is the best handbook I had ever used
|
Handbook of MRI Pulse Sequences
Matt A. Bernstein ,
Kevin F. King , and
Xiaohong Joe Zhou
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Biophysics
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Biotechnology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Imaging Systems
| Computer Technology
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Biotechnology
| Bioengineering
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Biophysics
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Biotechnology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Neuroscience
| Neurology
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Diagnostic Imaging
| Radiology
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Radiologic & Ultrasound Technology
| Allied Health Professions
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Neuroscience
| Neurology
| Internal Medicine
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Diagnostic Imaging
| Radiology
| Specialties
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Physical Principles and Sequence Design
-
Principles of Magnetic Resonance Imaging: A Signal Processing Perspective
-
Questions and Answers in Magnetic Resonance Imaging
-
MRI from Picture to Proton
-
Spin Dynamics: Basics of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
ASIN: 0120928612 |
Book Description
This indispensable guide gives concise yet comprehensive descriptions of the pulse sequences commonly used on modern MRI scanners. The book consists of a total of 65 self-contained sections, each focused on a single subject. Written primarily for scientists, engineers, radiologists, and graduate students who are interested in an in-depth understanding of various MRI pulse sequences, it serves readers with a diverse set of backgrounds by providing both non-mathematical and mathematical descriptions.
The book is divided into five parts. Part I of the book describes two mathematical tools, Fourier transforms and the rotating reference frame, that are useful for understanding MRI pulse sequences. The second part is devoted to a wide variety of radiofrequency (RF) pulses, and the third part focuses on gradient waveforms. Data acquisition, image reconstruction, and physiological monitoring related to pulse sequence design form the subject of Part IV of the book. Once this foundation is established, Part V of the book describes the underlying principles, implementation, and selected applications of many pulse sequences commonly in use today.
The extensive topic coverage and cross-referencing makes this book ideal for beginners learning the building blocks of MRI pulse sequence design, as well as for experienced professionals who are seeking deeper knowledge of a particular technique.
·Explains pulse sequences, their components, and the associated image reconstruction methods commonly used in MRI
·Provides self-contained sections for individual techniques
·Can be used as a quick reference guide or as a resource for deeper study
·Includes both non-mathematical and mathematical descriptions
·Contains numerous figures, tables, references, and worked example problems
Customer Reviews:
Great MRI Book.......2005-12-28
I tried the green book but found it didn't cover the pulse sequence development to a depth that was acceptable to me. This books covers pulses in such a way that it's invaluable if you're developing or rewriting any MR sequences.
Handbook of MRI pulse sequences is the best handbook I had ever used.......2005-09-03
I got to know this good handbook from an international conference. It was sold out in few days during the exhibition period. I strongly recommend every MRI guy own at least one copy of it. ^__^
Book Description
The two volumes that comprise String Theory provide an up-to-date, comprehensive account of string theory. Volume 1 provides a thorough introduction to the bosonic string, based on the Polyakov path integral and conformal field theory. The first four chapters introduce the central ideas of string theory, the tools of conformal field theory, the Polyakov path integral, and the covariant quantization of the string. The book then treats string interactions: the general formalism, and detailed treatments of the tree level and one loop amplitudes. Toroidal compactification and many important aspects of string physics, such as T-duality and D-branes are also covered, as are higher-order amplitudes, including an analysis of their finiteness and unitarity, and various nonperturbative ideas. The volume closes with an appendix giving a short course on path integral methods, followed by annotated references, and a detailed glossary.
Customer Reviews:
Do yourself a favour and use instead the book by Green Schwarz & Witten or the one by Theisen........2006-08-26
Dr. Polchinski may know a lot on string theory but he doesn't know that much on how to write a book. I have been struggling with this book trying to learn string theory and it has been a total failure. You may think it's me but is not. I have studied chapters 1 to 4. I will announce some of its bad features: 1-The notation is awful specially on chapter 2 when he defines the infinitesimal variation of a physical quantity in a very complicated way, all formulas are presented in terms of awful excesively complicated expresions that make you feel sick (and I'm not joking), also on chapter two he defines a way for applying Wicks theorem (eq.(2.2.7)) using exponential operators but I finally gave up and did it my way for calculating expression (2.2.13). 2-Many of the results are not derived and trying to understand what happen from line to line is, besides being a mystery, in my opinion hard to say the less.
3- On chapter 3 I liked the way he calculates de Faddeev Popov determinant in terms of ghosts and you begin to hope that the book is finally going to start getting better but is not, on page 102 and 'till the end of the chapter (page 118) he starts just throwing a lot of equations that you just can't understand where they came from, specially page 105 where he uses the geodesic distance to higher orders but never explains nor show what this expressions are nor what approximations he is doing, nor where they came from. Then again on page 107 he gives a relation between operators regularized by dimensional regularization and by 'polchinski' regularization, at least the second one is defined but the other is not (on curved space)and he just shows some awful equations that no one knows where they come from. This book has been written for someone who already knows a lot on string theory but it is not for someone who is trying to learn string theory for the first time. All in all try instead the classic book by Green Schwarz and Witten or the one by Theisen and this one use it only as a reference.
The string theory book.......2006-04-01
In short, I think volumes I and II of "String Theory" are the best books on string theory available. Presumably any serious student of string theory will study them both. The writing style is clear, physical considerations are at the forefront, the selection of topics is excellent and the treatment is as up-to-date as any I'm aware of.
Volume I covers the bosonic string. Of course this doesn't provide a realistic model for our universe, but understanding it forms the foundation of the study of more realistic string theories.
The first chapter provides the physical motivation for string theory. A brief description of some current unsolved problems in physics, and how string theory may resolve them, is given. Most notably this includes not only providing a quantum theory of gravity, but also providing a grand unified theory. A brief outline of techniques used throughout the book is given. These are covered in more detail as the book develops and include: the Polyakov action (how to get it from the Nambu-Goto form and why it's more useful), the Polyakov action symmetries, string theory as a two-dimensional quantum field theory, string boundary conditions, the string spectra, supersymmetry (worldsheet and spacetime) and the critical dimension. This is an excellent introduction and nicely sets the stage for the rest of the book.
The next chapter presents conformal field theory. It's also an excellent introduction. In particular covering conformal field theory with anticommuting fields. The Virasoro algebra is also derived. He could have covered these conformal field theory concepts as they came up, but I liked having them in one central location early in the book.
Strings take center stage again in the following chapter as the Polyakov path integral is examined in great detail. Among the results are a calculation of the critical dimension and the recovery of general relativity in the low energy limit of string theory. These are just a couple of the interesting results, there is much more in this chapter.
The following chapters quantize the string, calculate the string spectrum, derive the S-matrix, calculate tree level scattering amplitudes and calculate one-loop amplitudes (higher order amplitudes are covered in the final chapter). One of many things that stand out is his discussion of divergences. He describes the difference between infrared and ultraviolet divergences. After showing ultraviolet divergences are absent in string theory he comments on how the mechanisms that remove them is different for open and closed strings. This is just one example of how physical concepts are kept at the forefront.
The chapter on compactification covers more than just the basics such as (D - 4) dimensions must be compactified and this gives rise to some extra gauge fields. Orbifolds are introduced in this chapter. It also covers T-duality, one of the important (and unexpected) symmetries of string theories. D-branes are also introduced (D-branes are covered in more detail in volume II), obviously this is an important concept in string theory. I was happy to see such important concepts introduced so quickly.
In short, this is a great book. Even with only light coverage of supersymmetry (this is covered in detail in volume II) many interesting and up-to-date topics are presented. Clearly the author put a lot of time into thinking about how to make a difficult subject as approachable as possible. Throughout the book he anticipates questions the reader may have, or maybe should have, and addresses them.
Enlightening text on a murky topic.......2002-09-17
This book succeeds in what seems to be the impossible. It actually presents a clear, up to date, and entertaining version of a field that is still very much in a state of active research and is still, after all these years, on quite uncertain ground. By studying this, the reader who thinks intelligently about the material presented will be able to form his/her own opinions on this still somewhat controversial topic and will be able to converse intelligently with others who have opinions on the topic. I know that for me personally, this text opened up beautiful ideas which, to a large extent, are still unexplored. Before I read this book, my gut feelings about the topic were that it was rather dubious at best, but now that I understand (I think) the basic ideas of the field, I feel quite comfortable in it, indeed almost as if it is completely natural. What I think is one of the best things about this book is that it does not assume the pretense that string theory is on firm ground, that everything is quite certain and that string theory HAS to be the final theory of nature in all its glory. I find this attitude EXTREMELY pretensious and annoying. Instead, it simply covers what we know about string theory, and explains in detail just why it is consistent, and why it offers an explanation for what we see in nature. In short, it leaves just enough room for the imagination of an intelligent reader to philosophize as to the meaning of the theory and as to its ultimate place in nature
As for practical details, it seems to me that the reader should at the very least have a firm understanding of Quantum Field Theory (at least at the level of Weinberg's first volume, see my review on that modern masterpiece), and to a lesser extent of General Relativity, before even attempting to tackle this. I know that I myself, despite the fact that I have read several texts on QFT, had to reread several sizeable chunks of the book to fully digest it.
Good try, but too dense.......2002-04-12
Lets face it, string theory is a difficult subject. But the only reason this book is the best string theory text is because they are all lousy. What it comes down to is string theory is too new for a good textbook writer to have tackled the task. What has happened, is string theory is currently populated by a small group of elite geniuses. So some of these elite geniuses take to writing a book, which turns out to be clear to other geniuses, but maybe not so clear to others, who are nonetheless capable of learning the theory. This happens in all fields, you will find that modern quantum mechanics books are much more readable than volumes written by the founders of the theory. Polchinski has clear writing, but can you solve the problems? If it seems clear but solving the problems is a mystery, it isn't a good book. Why can't people put in lots of examples? Why can't they include solutions to at least odd numbered problems? If they went to all the trouble to write the book they could at least do that. After all the goal is to teach, not to be mysterious. What needs to happen is some physicist with a talent for writing needs to A)Write an undergraduate level text on field theory, and B)write a more accessible book about string theory aimed at people who aren't at the level of Weinberg intelligence wise.
very thorough and complete.......2000-08-22
Polochinski presents upto date developments (mostly in 2nd volume) in string theory such as D-branes and dualities that are not discussed in Green, Witten, Schwarz's Superstring theory text. However, I found GWS's arguments easier to follow because they were intuitively and physically motivated. Although Polchinski's books lack physical insights, he more than makes up for them by completeness of the material, mathematical rigor and helpful exercises. However, I highly recommend that you first get Di Francesco's conformal field theory and read chapters 3-7 , 10 and 12 to get a better feel for stuff like state-operator mappings, Virasoro algebra, OPE's, etc. Although Polchinski claims the books are pretty much self-contained, I would say QFT (probably around lvl of 1st vol. of Weinberg) and GR are min prereq and some knowledge of SUSY, rep. theory of Lie alg, alg. toplogy wouldn't hurt. Lastly, the first edition had many many typos but corrections are frequently updated and you can download them through a website whose address is given in the book (the address in the book has a typo and should read "ucsb").
Average customer rating:
|
Arms Races, Arms Control, and Conflict Analysis: Contributions from Peace Science and Peace Economics
Walter Isard ,
Christine Smith , and
Charles H. Anderton
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Arms Control
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Relations
| International
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
International Law
| Law
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0521362970 |
Book Description
Demonstrating the ways in which work in a broad range of fields can be pulled together in the analysis of conflict, this book provides the reader with a general introduction to the principles of conflict analysis and lays a methodological foundation for the further development of the interdisciplinary field of peace science. The text begins with an extensive survey of arms race models, from the classic Richardson model to models exploring the effects of factors such as the domestic and international economic environment, public opinion and party politics, and weapons technology and information development. The processes of individual and group problem-solving, in both crisis and non-crisis conditions, are examined, drawing on work in economics, operations research, cognitive science, and artificial intelligence. Building on this diverse body of work, the author moves on to develop a framework for conflict management with which to approach a variety of conflict situations and applies this procedure to the United States-Soviet arms control conflict. Walter Isard is cited by Mark Blaug as one of the Great Economists Since Keynes (CUP, 1989 paper edition).
Average customer rating:
- Excellent graduate-level introduction to particle physics
- Not for the professional, and not for the lay either.
- Great Intuition
- Excellent, very readable intro to the Standard Model
|
Modern Elementary Particle Physics
Gordon Kane , and
G. L. Kane
Manufacturer: Westview Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Quantum Theory
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Nuclear Physics
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Particle Physics
| Nuclear Physics
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Nuclear Physics
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Quantum Theory
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Introduction to Elementary Particles
-
Quarks and Leptons: An Introductory Course in Modern Particle Physics
-
An Introduction to the Standard Model of Particle Physics
-
Introduction to High Energy Physics
-
Quantum Field Theory
ASIN: 0201624605 |
Customer Reviews:
Excellent graduate-level introduction to particle physics.......2006-05-18
The typesetting and diagrams are humble, but this book delivers big. It was, for me, a superb refresher on real nuts-and-bolts particle physics. The book is a little dated: some of the unknowns, like the mass of the Top quark, are now known. Despite that, the content wears well.
It is absolutely essential to have a background in simple Legrangian (& Hamiltonian) mechanics, and an advanced undergraduate intro to quantum mechanics course already well in hand. Also necessary is advanced science/engineering math, which would have come naturally in the quantum mechanics course.
Kane leads the reader through the standard model with smoothe explication, and presents mathematical derivation of many -- perhaps all -- crucial predictions of the standard model. His derivations have the merit of being in greatly simplified form, after which he states the "real" answer, which is always close. Best of all, the math had no errors that I could find. Wow.
This is a great text for a first-year graduate course in particle physics, but will require occasional in-class updates by the instructor.
Not for the professional, and not for the lay either........2004-02-05
My background is electrical engineering, so I'm not a physicist or a lay person. I thought this book would be perfect, but it wasn't. It started out well enough, and I was following along, relying on my knowledge of electrophysics, and Maxwell's equations. But I was soon in trouble, as Kane began to rely on a mathematical operator, the Lagrangian, one which I hadn't any experience. Thinking I had forgotten something, I went looking for it, but it wasn't in any of my old math books. OK, I'll just follow along, I thought, not trying to verify the results in my own mind. But soon I was in trouble, as Mr. Kane began just listing equation after equation, with little or no explanatory text to tie it all together. After a time, my interest waned; this was very frustrating, since I was tired of reading "popular physics" books, with their unsatisfying explanations, but I knew I wasn't ready for graduate level quantum physics texts since my physics background is not that sophisiticated. This book began with promise, but ended without its fulfillment.
I don't know what the answer is, except to warn readers to be versed in the Lagrangian before they get started.
Great Intuition.......2000-07-12
Great ! Great ! Great ! This book is all about physics. The real physics... The physics is not lying in the trace theorems or in other technicalities of Quantum Field Theory but in simple, straightforward, physical arguments that arise from the basic principles of relativity and quantum mechanics. And Kane's book is all about that. As J.J Sakurai once said, a student may be a leading expert in calculating state of the art cross sections but if he/she cannot answer the simple questions, quickly and easily, then all is lost. Kane gives the reader the ability to quickly come up with answers for questions like "what do I expect the width for this particle to be", or "taking into acount this symmetry how do I expect this cross section to behave". As Fermi said, dont start the long calculation if you dont have a quick and dirty first result that will guide you along the more rigorous and exact calculation. So this book is all about that and physicists from all backgrounds will be able to follow it. I think that the book can serve excelently as an introductory graduate course before the hifh energy student moves to the more technical Field Theory books. In my opinion it is a disaster to jump into a rigorous Quantum Field Theory book before grasping the big picture and understanding why the heck all the pain is needed for the long theoretical calculations. And Kane's book serves this purpose. I am a graduate student at Stony Brook in experimental heavy ion physics and I spent some gratifying evenings going through the pages of the book. After the reading of this book interested readers in particle physics should also consider the books by Chris Quigg and also the classic Halzen - Martin book. The book touches upon all aspects of the standard model. I strongly suggest it !
Excellent, very readable intro to the Standard Model.......1999-10-28
Particularly good are the first 8 chapters introducing gauge theories and the Standard Model. This isn't a field theory text - Kane doesn't introduce spin sums or trace theorems so he never fully calculates a process; instead, he relies on dimensional analysis to provide approximate results. As a high energy theory student, I found this to be a drawback, but I guess that's what Peskin's book is for. Also, there are a fair number of minus signs and indices incorrect throughout the book (nothing serious, just a little annoying).
Book Description
From 1960 until 1990 theoretical physicists and experimentalists worked together to probe deeper and deeper into the basic structure of matter, moving closer to an understanding of the ultimate building blocks of the universe. Gerard 't Hooft was closely involved in many of the advances in modern theoretical physics that led to improved understanding of elementary particles, and this is a first-hand account of one of the most creative and exciting periods of discovery in the history of physics. Using language a layperson can understand, this narrative touches on many central topics and ideas, such as quarks and quantum physics; supergravity, superstrings and superconductivity; the Standard Model and grand unification; eleven-dimensional space time and black holes. This fascinating personal account of the past thirty years in one of the most dramatic areas in twentieth-century physics will be of interest to professional physicists and physics students, as well as the educated general reader with an interest in one of the most exciting scientific detective stories ever.
Customer Reviews:
Dear Me.......2005-01-22
Perhaps I was taken in by the 5-star average review of this book when I bot it, or seduced by the reviewer who claimed even a raw beginner could profit by reading it. I should have been more cautious when one reviewer said that it was not for the timid or faint of heart.
I have read some popularizing books on this subject and even taken a course for non-physicists in the subject of particle physics. I found the book unreadable for several reasons. Professor t'Hooft undertook by himself to translate this book from its Dutch original into English; it is clear that his upbringing in the excellent Dutch school system allowed him too early to specialize in the sciences at the expense of language study. Even though the book's English was vetted by Robin Mize, in many places--averaging once per page--the English expression is nearly unintelligible. A difficult subject whose mathematical elegance is apparent to the baptized but admittedly difficult to convey in language for tyros is here often beyond hope of being understood.
The first 11 chapters, wherein the author presents a history of the subject with its brilliant breakthroughs and sometimes insurmountable problems, are readable. But once the author himself, then a graduate student seeking a thesis topic, enters the history and the account becomes personal, the book ceases to be intelligible. Sadly, this is the very selling point of the book: "This is a first-hand account . . ." The cover reviewers from Nature and Physics World are enthusiastic, but then they are scientists. "Sharp statements" and "novel formulations" are not the stuff that open doors for novices in search of broad avenues of understanding. And the "dry ingenious humor" of the author was quite lost on this reader who was struggling to parse the English with Dutch syntax. Sorry
Fascinated by cosmology........2004-03-10
It included a Eureka moment for me, t' Hooft sets the elementary particles into a sensible context in his smart particle tables, it was one of those "I get it" moments, in which strange quarks (and the rest) just made sense.
The text is lucid and includes light touches of humor, mainly at the expense of the TOE "theories", this is a real physicist, which gently advices "reality checks" to those who will forget that physics is about the world we experience, with experimental verification high on the priority list.
Not many of us (me included) had the pleasure of a Physics Nobel laureate explaining his field of expertise to us in a personal way, this book is the closest most of us can get to that.
My only negative comment is that it should have been a longer book, including more subjects and more of `t Hooft's insights.
A honest, independent and anti-irrational popularizing book.......2002-05-30
Gerard t'Hooft is a surprisingly rare example of a rational physicist who is not-so-willing to support all those main-stream paradoxical and irrational claims which often saturate works of some celebrated theoretical physicists. Consequently, Dr. t'Hooft is not so popular among the fashionable camp of string mystics, but rather remains an idependently thinking theorist of Einstein's or Jaynes' scientific ethics.
In my opinion, Dr. 't Hooft wrote a very honest, competent, sincere, and yet highly readable book. In comparison with those popular but misleading books in the style of "The Elegant Universe" (B. Greene) or "The First Three Minutes" (S. Weinberg), this book is a much better example of a fair popularizing book on fundamental particle physics and its recent history, from a perspective of a personal scientific advanture.
Dr. 't Hooft is evidently well aware about some fundamental intrinsic difficulties in modern theoretical physics, which many other physicists either ignore, or simply cannot recognize. Just one typical quote from t'Hooft's book which many quantum, statistical and string physicists should read as a mantra every morning:
"Probabilities and statistics are mistreated a great deal, even by physicists." (p. 14)
Yes, here is the root of many "paradoxes" of modern physics. As a theoretical physicist (and independently from my personal preferences), I think that Gerard 't Hooft is right also on many other sensitive issues of modern physics and that he wrote a very honest popularizing book. This book is fair to a layman and interesting even to an advanced physicist. (As a rare exception to this rule, I cannot fully support his section on Planck's radiation law (p. 9) where I found some common physical misperceptions and some traces of a historical myth.)
Thoughtful and well balanced........2001-05-03
Gerard 't Hooft is one of the best and most thoughtful physicists in the world; there are many who think he should have received the Nobel Prize long before he finally did (in 1999). This short book is a marvel. It can be read with almost no prior knowledge of mathematics or physics, and it gives an extremely clear and well-balanced view of the well-established state of knowledge in particle physics and field theory as of 1997; little has changed in the intervening four years.
't Hooft has his own prejudices and enthusiams, but in this book he tried scrupulously to stick with the mainstream concensus in the first 21 of 28 chapters. In the last seven chapters, he describes some of the current and more speculative work being done by various people all over the world who are attempting to create a "Grand Theory of Everything". This discussion is cautious and somewhat skeptical, as I believe it should be, but the underlying ideas of the various approaches are clearly described.
I consider 't Hooft to be one of the greatest physicists of the 20th century, and I consider this to be one of the half-dozen best books for laymen on any aspect of modern physics that I have come across. I believe that's because 't Hooft himself thinks so clearly.
a charming reading for a layman.......2000-03-31
't Hooft's journey through particle physics is pleasant and sometimes exciting. In the last chapters he discusses the latest theoretical models in a clear and synthetic way. He seems to think that, as we know more and more about the basic structure of matter, time and space, classical physics and quantum mechanics somehow will get closer and closer, and maybe will eventually rejoin. And this is surely a fascinating perspective.
Average customer rating:
|
Multiphase Flow and Fluidization
Dimitri Gidaspow
Manufacturer: Academic Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Chemical
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Fluid Mechanics
| Mechanical
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mechanical
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Advanced Mechanics
| Aerospace
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Biochemistry
| Bioengineering
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Mechanics
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Nuclear Physics
| Physics
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Biotechnology
| Basic Sciences
| Medical
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Fluid Dynamics
| Dynamics
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Nuclear Physics
| Physics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Modeling
| Engineering
| Applied
| Mathematics
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Biotechnology
| Special Topics
| Medicine
| Subjects
| Books
Chemical
| Engineering
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Mechanical
| Engineering
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Engineering
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Medicine
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Bubbles, Drops, and Particles
ASIN: 0122824709 |
Book Description
Useful as a reference for engineers in industry and as an advanced level text for graduate engineering students,
Multiphase Flow and Fluidization takes the reader beyond the theoretical to demonstrate how multiphase flow equations can be used to provide applied, practical, predictive solutions to industrial fluidization problems. Written to help advance progress in the emerging science of multiphase flow, this book begins with the development of the conservation laws and moves on through kinetic theory, clarifying many physical concepts (such as particulate viscosity and solids pressure) and introducing the new dependent variable--the volume fraction of the dispersed phase. Exercises at the end of each chapterare provided for further study and lead into applications not covered in the text itself.
Key Features
* Treats fluidization as a branch of transport phenomena
* Demonstrates how to do transient, multidimensional simulation of multiphase processes
* The first book to apply kinetic theory to flow of particulates
* Is the only book to discuss numerical stability of multiphase equations and whether or not such equations are well-posed
* Explains the origin of bubbles and the concept of critical granular flow
* Presents clearly written exercises at the end of each chapter to facilitate understanding and further study
Books:
- World of Warcraft Dungeon Companion
- Zapp! The Lightning of Empowerment: How to Improve Productivity, Quality, and Employee Satisfaction
- A Guide to Physics Problems: Part 2: Thermodynamics, Statistical Physics, and Quantum Mechanics (The Language of Science)
- A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy Of Godel And Einstein
- Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers,The (Voices That Matter)
- Advanced Digital Logic Design Using VHDL, State Machines, and Synthesis for FPGA's
- Aerosol Technology: Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of Airborne Particles (Wiley-Interscience)
- Aerosol Technology: Properties, Behavior, and Measurement of Airborne Particles (Wiley-Interscience)
- An Introduction to Systems Biology: Design Principles of Biological Circuits (Chapman & Hall/Crc Mathematical and Computational Biology Series)
- Applied Numerical Methods with MATLAB for Engineers and Scientists
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Conceptual Cost Estimating Manual Reprint
- The Third Secret: A Novel of Suspense
- The Elagin Affair: And Other Stories
- The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century
- The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes: The Novels
- The Turn of the Screw
- Underwater Wilderness: Life in America's National Marine Sanctuaries and Reserves
- Extreme Success: The 7-Part Program That Shows You How to Succeed Without Struggle
- The Deep Democracy of Open Forums: Practical Steps to Conflict Prevention and Resolution for the Fam
- Russian Diplomatic and International Contacts Directory
The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe
The Trouble With Physics: The Rise of String Theory, The Fall of a Science, and What Comes Next
The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Texture of Reality
Hiding in the Mirror : The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions, from Plato to String Theory and Beyond
The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design
