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- The best book on electrodynamics
- Very good text
- watch editions
- Don't buy J.D. Jackson!!
- Excellent, Easy to Read
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Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd Edition)
David J. Griffiths
Manufacturer: Benjamin Cummings
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ASIN: 013805326X |
Book Description
Features a clear, accessible treatment of the fundamentals of electromagnetic theory. Its lean and focused approach employs numerous examples and problems.
Carefully discusses subtle or difficult points. Contains numerous, relevant problems within the book in addition to end of each chapter problems and answers.
Customer Reviews:
The best book on electrodynamics.......2007-07-27
A fantastic textbook, ideal for any undergraduate, and highly recommended to a graduate student for a "grounded" reality of what one is talking about in doing problems in Jackson! One can teach oneself from this book. Griffiths is a master of understanding and showing.
This is written as a graduate physicist.
Very good text.......2007-04-30
Yes - this is a good intro to electrodynamics, just as everyone says. It isn't a substitute for Jackson - they are in different classes, each with their own intended audiences and purposes. If you're fairly new to the subject, here's a little secret: in addition to this book, get vol 2 of The Feynman Lectures in physics! There's no equal to Richard Feynman when it comes to conveying complex abstractions in ways that even a caveman could understand (not even Geico Insurance). Later, when you're already grounded in the subject, by all means, knock yourself for a loop with Jackson.
watch editions.......2007-04-06
Great textbook, amazingly readable, but watch out which edition you have. The so-called "Eastern Economy Edition" (paperback and marketed in Asia)is missing a few things, notably labels on some problem diagrams. If you don't have friends with the real one, be sure to avoid that.
Don't buy J.D. Jackson!!.......2007-03-08
Unless: a) your professor makes you, b) you have bought Griffiths to actually learn something, c) all of the above. Griffiths should be a mandatory graduate text to introduce and lay foundations for more advanced concepts- it bridges the gap really well.
Excellent, Easy to Read.......2007-03-08
Griffiths does an excellent job presenting the material in an easy to read, conversational manner. He focuses on both the physics and the mathematics in a non-pretentious way, unlike many other books. It may not be as technically deep as, say, Jacksons book, but it gets the job done. Highly recommended.
Book Description
This book first teaches learners how to do quantum mechanics, and then provides them with a more insightful discussion of what it means. Fundamental principles are covered, quantum theory presented, and special techniques developed for attacking realistic problems.
The book's two-part coverage organizes topics under basic theory, and assembles an arsenal of approximation schemes with illustrative applications.
For physicists and engineers.
Customer Reviews:
Emphasis on problems.......2007-09-04
How does Griffiths manage to cram such a comprehensive exploration of non-relativistic QM into such a small textbook? Nearly half of the material is explained only through doing the chapter problems. If you are a self-learner or looking for a reference, take a look at other texts such as Liboff before this one. If you are using this as part of an undergraduate class, get ready for some serious problem sets.
Fantastic First Book.......2007-07-27
The best introduction to quantum mechanics around, without doubt. Griffiths knows how to drive home the key concepts. Insufficient for a graduate student, but a highly desirable supplement to Shankar/Cohen-Tannoudji because Griffiths reminds you what is and what is not important concisely. There is no question that this book is brilliantly written. The smartest people are those who understand how to say things concisely and to the point, not pretentious people who hide behind equations and jargon because they cannot communicate ideas. Griffiths is obviously a very smart man.
This is written as a graduate physicist.
People who say that this book is insufficiently rigorous tend to be (but not necessarily) intellectual snobs who want to impress themselves and others by saying "Oh, Griffiths is too low level for me, I'm so great..." This is an INTRODUCTION, and that's what it serves to do...science was created by men based on intuition and logical clues, not by the gods of math (and I'd argue most of what is key in math came from mathematical clues and intuition before the proofs and notation...before derivatives and integrals were well defined, people were using them to solve physical problems).
Lots of subjects.......2007-05-15
A good book with lots of subjects but you need to listen to the instructor carefully and some theorems are just coming from somewhere that you dont understand...
Good choice as a first step.......2007-05-07
This is really a nice book to get a feeling about Quantum Mechanics. In just 450 pages, it covers most of the subject. Of course, with so few pages, you can't expect to see everything in depth.
The biggest quality Griffiths has, both in Introduction to Quantum Mechanics and Introduction to Electrodynamics, is developing a kind of physical intuition about the subject. The biggest flaw is a lack of mathematical rigour. Conserning this book, for example, I missed an axiomatic structure-like treatment of the theory. I would really recommend Cohen's book to anyone who wish to learn more.
Doesn't stand on its own........2007-04-28
I find example problems the most useful part of a science text book, and the ones in this book were very unhelpful. They did not prepare me at all for the problems in the book. It is not very clearly written and interspersed with jokes that do not make it easier to read. They're fairly extraneous. It's not detailed enough to be clear. I dont get a very good idea of the material from reading. Find a longer book.
Book Description
Thorough and accessible, this book presents the design principles of biological systems, and highlights the recurring circuit elements that make up biological networks. It provides a simple mathematical framework which can be used to understand and even design biological circuits. The text avoids specialist terms, focusing instead on several well-studied biological systems that concisely demonstrate key principles. An Introduction to Systems Biology: Design Principles of Biological Circuits builds a solid foundation for the intuitive understanding of general principles. It encourages the reader to ask why a system is designed in a particular way and then proceeds to answer with simplified models.
Customer Reviews:
Clear, rigorous, fascinating.......2007-01-20
I'm a Ph.D. student in biophysics. This is the best treatment of systems biology that I've encountered. It treats both the math and the biology with clarity, rigor, and respect. It simplifies without dumbing down. It's beautifully written. If you doubt that systems biology is a real scientific discipline, this book will change your mind.
Building Mathematical Models of Cells.......2006-09-25
The history of science over the past few centuries is to become ever more specialized. The physicists, becomming ever more concerned with the very large (stars, galaxies, the cosmos) or the very tiny (first atoms, then atomic components, now sub-components. The biologists on the other hand were studying much larger things, such as the cells that make up life. Both sciences developed techniques to facilitate their study.
In recent years, researchers have discovered that sometimes these specialized techniques can be used to develop greater insight into what is happening in other sciences.
In this book, Dr. Alon uses his training in physics to examine certain aspects of biology and to use the terminology and mathematics to describe the way these biological networks work.
The goal of the book is to begin the formulation of general laws that apply to biological networks. This is done by providing a mathematical framework in which some of the design principles of biological systems can help to understand biological networks. In looking at the results, an underlying simplicity not seen before appears in biological systems.
Great Job.......2006-09-09
A superb intro to the field. The math is moderate and helpful. Network concepts and their ties to examples and theory are clearly and succinctly presented. This is a textbook but reads easily like a book. Covers key elements while connecting them by at least mention to up-to-date further research. The basics and the grandeur of systems biology. I am trying to remember now anything on the negative side and cannot.
Book Description
Since the publication of the first edition over 50 years ago, Introduction to Solid State Physics has been the standard solid state physics text for physics students. The author's goal from the beginning has been to write a book that is accessible to undergraduates and consistently teachable. The emphasis in the book has always been on physics rather than formal mathematics. With each new edition, the author has attempted to add important new developments in the field without sacrificing the book's accessibility and teachability.
* A very important chapter on nanophysics has been written by an active worker in the field. This field is the liveliest addition to solid state science during the past ten years
* The text uses the simplifications made possible by the wide availability of computer technology. Searches using keywords on a search engine (such as Google) easily generate many fresh and useful references
Customer Reviews:
Solid State Physics Book.......2007-10-08
This book is in good condition! It also came in good time (a little less than a week). I am a satisfied customer.
I'm sorry.......2007-09-28
Hey guys, so my friend and I are trying to work through a problem set in our solid state physics course at UC Berkeley and as you might imagine, because Kittel was one of our professors, the department likes to use his books. We love ourselves. Unfortunately for us undergrads (and all of you) we are forced to use his book. Now our problem sets reeeally shouldn't be too much of a problem. For instance, we were asked to solve something for x-ray diffraction and though we had a little bit of an understanding a la Kittel, we found that that little tidbit of knowledge could not in fact be used with confronted with data or a simple experimental setup. There are simply no examples. We have not read Ashcroft or the other books suggested, but after I write this review, we will certainly be out there to purchase another book.
I just wanted to say that I'm sorry we harbored the professor that wrote ths book. I'm sure he's not a bad guy. I know it's hard to write coherently, but seriously this is ridiculous.
To be read together with Ashcroft and Mermin.......2006-12-02
This book has been compared so much with A&M that I have a suggestion - read both together! There are some parts in Kittel where a better treatment can be found in A&M, such as the treatment on Bravais lattice. And A&M goes into greater detail into some topics such as the Drude and Sommerfeld theory of metals. But I feel that there are many areas where Kittel is superior simply because the notation is simpler and the treatment more concise. See, for instance, the material on the empty lattice approximation and energy bands. Kittel is also more updated, and the 8th edition includes a chapter on nanostructures written by Paul McEuen.
Kittel is not a perfect book, but neither is A&M. The two, however, seem to complement each other. There are many instances when I come across something I do not understand, and I find it explained better in the other book. So if you have the time (and money!), read both!
This is not an introductory book.......2006-11-06
This book cannot be used to learn solid state physics. Kittel has a problem with leaving out large portions of derivations. It seems that with each successive edition he removes essential details in return for covering new science. There is also a problem with Kittel's use of terminology. He uses the term lattice to refer to bravais lattices. It is a small but confusing distinction. This is not a good introductory book, though it is quite useful as a reference material after you have some background in solid state physics.
Awful.......2006-09-26
A nightmare... The prose is both laconic and imprecise - a combination that spells very poor readability. The book assumes too much knowledge for an undergraduate text: in order not to get confused you'd have to be comfortable with QM including Dirac notation, Hamiltonian mechanics, results from e&m in matter, atomic physics, and a good deal of thermal and statistical physics. It's actually worse than that, because the book simply uses results or assumes familiarity with some technique without stating so much as "it is well-known from X..."
If this weren't bad enough, the main body of the text is cluttered with pedagogically useless references to charts and experimental data. This always disrupts the flow of logic and makes already inadequate explanations even harder to follow.
The problems are usually trivial once the light bulb is on and you've come to grips with the concepts involved. The problem here though is that, for above-mentioned reasons, it takes much, much longer to learn anything from this book than it should given the actual level of complexity of the material.
If this book is required for a course, then be sure you at least have a teacher whose lectures you can learn from. A bad teacher plus this book will ensure that you have one hell of a stressful semester.
Book Description
The only text to cover both thermodynamic and statistical mechanics--allowing students to fully master thermodynamics at the macroscopic level. Presents essential ideas on critical phenomena developed over the last decade in simple, qualitative terms. This new edition maintains the simple structure of the first and puts new emphasis on pedagogical considerations. Thermostatistics is incorporated into the text without eclipsing macroscopic thermodynamics, and is integrated into the conceptual framework of physical theory.
Customer Reviews:
Wrong Edition Sent.......2007-09-24
Although the edition was correct, the book was a paperback when I specifically paid for hardbound. Even more frustrating was the fact that it was not eligible for return.
Key to undestanf statistical physics.......2006-10-26
The postulational approach is really great. This book tooks away all the question I had about the connection between thermodynamics and statistical physics. I think it's a good idea to read Fermi's thermodynamics also. To see how smart one can be when using thermodynamics.
nice book, nice service.......2005-09-16
I am both satisfied with amazon service and with the book.
Excellent.......2005-03-30
Beautiful simple straightforward approach to thermodynamics. The postulates are well explained and the use of the axioms is highlighted. Challenging questions make this book a joy to use, great a student text as well as a reference.
Insightful Postulational Approach to Thermodynamics.......2004-05-19
Why did I buy an older thermodynamics text, one first published in 1960? I trusted the advice of earlier reviewers.
They say: 1) The best treatment of classical thermodynamics that I have seen. The chapters on phase transitions are excellent and the mechanical model used to illustrate critical phenomena is brilliant. 2) It is far better than most books on the subject. 3) I think this book has no competition as a text in thermodynamics. It is the ideal preparation for a book like Landau's Statistical Physics. 4) The overview of the fundamentals of thermodynamics is without rival. 5) I think this book is a great option if you feel disappointed with the standard treatment of thermodynamics.
A few reviewers argued that Callen's text was less suitable for engineering students (too few heat-mechanical energy conversion problems) and chemical engineers (too few chemical mixture problems).
My trust was not misplaced. Thermodynamics, an Introduction to the Physical Theories of Equilibrium Thermostatics and Irreversible Thermodynamics, is an exceptional text. I give it five stars.
H. B. Callen offers a fascinating and insightful postulational approach to thermodynamics rather than the conventional inductive approach. He targets first year graduate students and advanced undergraduates; however, even readers proficient with advanced thermodynamics should find Callen's approach stimulating.
The text has three primary sections: General Principles of Classical Thermodynamics (200 pages), Representative Applications (65 pages), and Fluctuations and Irreversible Thermodynamics (50 pages). An extensive appendix, some 50 pages, offers a useful review of pertinent mathematics and other relevant topics. Answers are not provided to the chapter problems.
Interspersed throughout are brief chapters that review useful mathematical techniques. I appreciated the discussions of the Euler equation, the Legendre transformations, the extremum principle in the Legendre transformed representations, and the Maxwell relations (not the Maxwell EM equations). Callen provides useful tools like a thermodynamic mnemonic diagram (first introduced by Max Born) and associated procedures for reducing the formal manipulation of partial derivates to "a simple recipe".
Callen's text has been widely used. I reviewed the 1960 first edition, eighteenth printing. A second edition published in 1984 is easier to find and is often used today as a supplementary text.
Thanks again for the advice from previous reviewers.
Book Description
This is the first quantitative treatment of elementary particle theory that is accessible to undergraduates. Using a lively, informal writing style, the author strikes a balance between quantitative rigor and intuitive understanding. The first chapter provides a detailed historical introduction to the subject. Subsequent chapters offer a consistent and modern presentation, covering the quark model, Feynman diagrams, quantum electrodynamics, and gauge theories. A clear introduction to the Feynman rules, using a simple model, helps readers learn the calculational techniques without the complications of spin. And an accessible treatment of QED shows how to evaluate tree-level diagrams. Contains an abundance of worked examples and many end-of-chapter problems.
Customer Reviews:
Do yourself a favor - BUY THIS BOOK NOW.......2007-07-17
Seriously, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR, BUY THIS BOOK NOW.
I find it hard to describe to you in words how much I love this book. I am just speechless! This book will take you by the hand and spoon feed you all the important concepts and calculation steps. If you are thinking of pursuing a high energy physics and trying to find the very first book to read on this subject, Griffiths is THE ONE.
Reading QFT books before this book is in my opinion a NO-GO. Trust me from someone that has been there! You lose insight immediately and get taken down hard by the unfamiliar math. Griffiths knows how to explain things and always keeps in close contact with the actual physics. You will never lose motivation / insights into what's going on.
Take my word for it. BUY THIS BOOK NOW! You will save hundreds of hours invested on other books that claim to be "good". There are none of this kind.
After Griffiths, proceed to Ryder's QFT, and then Peskins. Then and only then will you finally see the light of the day. There are not other routes to the promised land.
The perfect introduction.......2004-08-30
This is the perfect introduction for any student learning about particle physics, the Standard Model, or Quantum Field Theory. It introduces Feynman calculus very well, although anyone planning to continue will need Peskin & Schroeder's book as well for the details not introduced here. This book contains an excellent appendix with all formulae and rules needed for even an advanced researcher.
Griffiths defines "Introductory Course".......2003-09-03
David Griffiths' texts are indispensable for any beginner, and are used to "translate" more advanced texts. I used his "Quantum Mechanics" to fill in the gaps at the advanced graduate level, and his "Electrodynamics" was essential to understanding Jackson. I'm sorry that I waited so long to purchase his "Elementary Particles".
This book contains all the background that professors expect you to have already been exposed to: particle classification schemes, the November Revolution, relativistic kinematics, and fundamental force overviews. Griffiths then goes on to discuss Feynman rules, QED, QCD, electroweak and gauge theories. Griffiths also works out some essential problems, like muon decay, that you will want to see done, but I think it is done better by Lahiri and Pal (that, however, is a field theory book, which might be more advanced than is necessary to some people in particle physics).
This is a great text for anyone starting out in particle physics and for anyone who needs to review the fundamentals. My only bone with Griffiths is that sometimes more of the work is left to the reader than is appropriate (those problems worked out in gory detail are a godsend when you genuinely aren't getting the point).
Great Intro to Particle Physics.......2003-06-26
Griffiths' book provides an ideal introduction to particle physics for the undergraduate who is desperate to find a comprehensive treatment that is truly understandable. I was greatly disappointed by Griffiths' books on electrodynamics and quantum mechanics, but he really hit the mark on this one. There is the usual introductory material on the Standard Model, relativistic kinematics, symmetries and bound states, but his presentations of QED, Feynman calculus, decays and interactions are clearly written and geared for the student who has been frustrated by the obtuseness of other so-called introductory texts. His exposition on gauge theories, the Yang-Mills field and the Higgs mechanism is elementary but enlightening and even entertaining.
Griffiths' sly wit is in great evidence in this text, and this is one of the reasons why it is so enjoyable. Although he displays a similar witty vein in his other texts, it just doesn't succeed as it does for this book. If you want to be able to calculate particle decay rates and interaction cross sections and have fun doing it, Griffiths' book is an excellent investment.
A grain of salt..........2002-05-01
OK. It seems that I am the one who criticizes all the books that everyone else loves.
The book is very good as far as didactics is concerned. But have you really read it? Let me ask you a few questions:
How many typos can you find in chapter 9?
What do you think - had ANYONE proofread Chapter 11 before the book was published?
What about the exercises -can you do 9.2 without Halzen and Martin at hand (so that you may look up what, say, |7'> really means? (Griffiths mixes notation from the two books and you can never solve the exercise without intoroducing some corrections).
There are many more questions like these to be asked about the Introduction to Elementary Particles.
So, do you like the content or the lively style?
But, of course, five stars!
Book Description
String theory is one of the most exciting and challenging areas of modern theoretical physics. This book guides the reader from the basics of string theory to recent developments. It introduces the basics of perturbative string theory, world-sheet supersymmetry, space-time supersymmetry, conformal field theory and the heterotic string, before describing modern developments, including D-branes, string dualities and M-theory. It then covers string geometry and flux compactifications, applications to cosmology and particle physics, black holes in string theory and M-theory, and the microscopic origin of black-hole entropy. It concludes with Matrix theory, the AdS/CFT duality and its generalizations. This book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in modern string theory, and will make an excellent textbook for a one-year course on string theory. It contains over 120 exercises with solutions, and over 200 homework problems with solutions available on a password protected website for lecturers at www.cambridge.org/9780521860697.
Customer Reviews:
A good general introduction.......2007-04-22
String theory has been criticized since it was first invented but not to the degree that it has now, this criticism mostly focusing on its failure to connect with observation. The criticism has increased dramatically in recent years however, and some of this has been too vituperative to be useful to those curious about string theory as a viable physical theory. But criticism, however harsh, can be healthy, since it motivates the proponents of a theory to more carefully elucidate its foundations and content. This is usually not the case when a theory is popular, as researchers are in a competitive spirit and are hesitant to share the knowledge to possible competitors. At this stage in the game however, string theorists it seems are now on the defensive, and have thus taken the time to discuss in-depth what this reviewer still believes is the most complex and beautiful theory ever constructed in mathematical physics. String theory still has a long way to go before it gains status as being a physical theory, but hopefully by the end of the next few decades one will see the appearance of charts, graphs, and numerical calculations in books on string theory, much like one finds in the most successful of all physical theories to date: relativistic quantum field theory.
Some highlights in the book that are particularly insightful include:
1. The observation that Dirichlet boundary conditions (for the open string) break Poincare invariance, but that this leads to the introduction of Dp-branes as positions of the endpoints of the open string. Poincare invariance is recovered as long as Dp-brane is space filling, i.e. has a dimension one less than the background spacetime.
2. The view that the BRST quantization of the path integral is really a conformal field theory. This is interesting in that BRST analysis is typically thought of as a procedure for quantizing constrained systems (gauge theories being predominant examples).
3. The `Myers effect'. Sometimes referred to as the `D-brane dielectric effect', it is part of an attempt to understand the physics of non-Abelian D-branes for strong fields. One of the challenges in this understanding involves the validity of the Dirac-Born-Infeld action in these kinds of circumstances, which as the authors remark is designed for situations where the background fields and world-volume gauge fields do not vary appreciably over the distances on the order of the string scale.
4. The origin of the (classical) Virasoro algebra as the freedom of choice of gauge in the reparametrization symmetry. And along these same lines, the quantization of the Virasoro algebra is defined to the normal ordering of the Virasoro generators, and their commutators give an expression consisting of the ordinary classical term plus a "quantum" correction, the famous central extension. Thus the quantum Virasoro algebra can be viewed as a "quantum deformation" of the classical Virasoro algebra, with the central parameter as being the deformation parameter. This philosophy of deformation has found generalization in what are now called `quantum groups' (even though strictly speaking they are much more complicated objects than ordinary groups).
5. The connection of the dilaton to the Euler characteristic.
6. The role of the GSO projection in insuring consistency in the state spectrum.
7. The use of (vector bundle) K-theory to classify D-brane charges. This use arises when it is realized that the conserved R-R charges cannot be identified with cohomology classes of gauge field configurations. Instead, the D-branes are classified by K-theory classes.
8. The discussion on `primitive cohomology' and its relation to de Rham cohomology and Hodge theory.
9. The role of the Born-Infeld structure in ensuring Lorentz invariance of the T-dual description. The Born-Infeld action was once viewed as a mere historical curiosity, namely as a nonlinear generalization of the Maxwell theory, with no experimental backing. That it finds such a natural place in string theory is very interesting (but still of course lacking in experimental support).
10. The derivation of a lower bound for Newton's constant from heterotic M-theory, which is close to the observed value.
11. The argument, beautifully elucidated in this book, that type IIA supergravity may be obtained from 11-dimensional supergravity by dimensional reduction.
12. The discussion on warped space-times and the gauge hierarchy. The authors cleverly motivate this subject by asking why Newtonian gravity follows an inverse-square law rather than an inverse-cube law.
13. An entire chapter is devoted to "stringy" geometry, which is a fascinating subject given that it touches so many areas of modern mathematics.
14. The discussion of the `hidden sector' and its conjectured relation to dark matter and supersymmetry breaking.
15. The author's treatment of the AdS/CFT conjecture is superb and is by far the most interesting part of the book. The dualities shown to exists between gauge theory and string theory are a possible route to a full understanding of nonperturbative quantum chromodynamics, which to this date has defied resolution.
Some major omissions or discussions that need more elaboration include:
1. The difficulties that are actually involved in quantizing the Nambu-Goto action. The authors remark that this is due to the presence of the square root, but it would have been interesting if they would have indicated just where the trouble rises explicitly when a quantization procedure is attempted with the Nambu-Goto action. In ordinary quantum field theory, the presence of the square root is interpreted as a "nonlocal" problem, but even there this issue is not usually dealt with in a manner that is very transparent.
2. A more detailed treatment of string field theory for those readers who want to compare it to what is done in second quantization in ordinary quantum field theory.
3. The role of the Beltrami differentials in the attaining of a measure for moduli space that is invariant under reparametrizations of the moduli space.
4. No in-depth discussion of characteristic classes over and above the algebra involved in their manipulation (i.e. the wedge products). An understanding of characteristic classes is crucial to understanding superstring and brane theory, but the pages of this book mislead the unsuspecting reader that there is nothing to characteristic classes except algebraic manipulation of the differential forms. But characteristic classes have a deep geometrical meaning, and obtaining insight into this meaning has been proven to be difficult for students of string theory. This book does not provide any of this insight, nor do any of the other books currently in print on string theory.
5. Is supersymmetry absolutely necessary for the incorporation of fermions into string theory? The authors seem to argue that it is, but an explicit proof is lacking.
6. The proof that `threshold bound states' are stable is omitted, disappointing the more mathematically sophisticated reader. As the authors remark, the proof involves a special type of index theory involving non-Fredholm operators, and where one must deal with a continuous spectrum. The usual index theory breaks down since one is only dealing with elliptic operators, and contributions to the index from bosons and fermions do not necessarily have to be integers.
7. The authors should have included more discussion on mirror symmetry, beautiful subject that it is.
8. Dp-branes are asserted to be useful in incorporating non-Abelian gauge symmetries in string theory, in that they appear "naturally" as confined to world volumes of multiply-coincident Dp-branes. But is this the best way to introduce these symmetries? Is there a method, other than this one and `compactification', that is just as "natural" and does not have the contrived element that the introduction of Dp-branes sometimes has?
9. The authors need to elaborate in more detail on the definition of "stable" and "unstable" D-brane.
10. The omitting of the proof that string theories are ultraviolet finite theories of quantum gravity. This is by far the most serious omission in the book. This reviewer does not know of a reference that proves this assertion, and many in the physics community have pointed to this omission as being a sign that the string theory research community has been misled by false assertions of proof.
Excellent Book.......2007-03-11
I think this is a great book that provides not only a great introduction to string theory (there is no assumed prior knowledge of string theory), but also provides coverage of many more advanced topics as well. I think it's likely that the vast majority of students specializing in string theory will want to read it at some point in their studies.
The coverage of topics in the first few chapters is in some ways fairly standard. The first two chapters consists of a high level overview of string theory, bosonic string, the Nambu-Goto action the Polyakov action, the Virasoro algebra, the critical dimension, light code gauge and the spectra of open/closed strings. After this there is a chapter on conformal field theory, naturally emphasizing the parts relevant to string theory (including a bit of string field theory). This is followed by discussions of worldsheet supersymmetry, spacetime supersymmetry, anomalies, T-duality and heterotic strings. The writing is very clear and considering the nature of the material, fairly straight forward. There are two things that I considered exceptional strengths. One is that the discussions incorporate D-branes, M-theory and the (unexpected) symmetries of string theory early on. The other is that there are numerous worked examples, as there are throughout the book.
At a very high level the rest of the book contains more extensive discussions of M-theory, compactification (including a substantial amount besides the standard approach of the compact dimensions being a Calabi-Yau space), mirror symmetry, S-duality, possible cosmological consequences of string theory, black holes and other solutions with horizons, matrix theory, AdS/CFT correspondence (a proposed equivalence between closed string solutions on the product of a sphere and anti-deSitter space and Yang-Mills theories) and the holographic principle (or as some would say conjecture).
The things I appreciated the most about this material was that is was a very interesting mix of topics. The discussion of black holes and cosmology was fairly extensive (for cosmology it was the most extensive I've seen in a text book). As was the coverage of the AdS/CFT correspondence. There were also some topics that I don't recall seeing in other string theory books, such as warped geometries in compactification and S-branes (these are like D-branes but they satisfy Dirichlet boundary conditions in timelike directions).
Needless to say it's a fairly advanced book. There is some coverage of things like complex spaces, topology, general relativity and cosmology. However this material is more along the lines of a review, not something intended to teach from first principles (some of the other string theory books cover this kind material in more detail).
All-in-all I believe this book not only provides a great introduction, it also provides an excellent treatment of some of the more advanced topics in string theory.
Best of All Worlds.......2007-03-09
This new textbook on string theory might be considered a modern pimped up version of Zwiebach's introductory course. The book is - as an introduction - better than the 2-volume set by Schwarz (Green, Schwarz, Witten), which is partly outdated, and on the same footing as Polchinski's version, but certainly not as thorough and elaborate. There is some overlap between all books (e.g. the CFT bits from Polchinski are quite similar to those in this new text, the introduction of the bosonic string via the relativistic point particle looks like the ones by Polchinski and Zwiebach, but Becker & Schwarz immediately generalise the concept to p-branes, SCFTs are discussed in a similar manner as in Polchinski, and so on), but there are additional features that really add to the value of the book: all exercises within the text have solutions directly under them, so one can either try to solve them or read them through, and some parts are explained more clearly. The concepts of "(gauge) symmetries" are discussed slightly better than by Polchsinki or GSW, but for those who want mathematical proofs instead of hand-waving arguments, and more background material on supersymmetry, I can only say that I have found no books on string theory that really do that. Both are subjects of study on their own and would go "beyond the scope" of these books... Nevertheless, a very good introduction and most of all: up to date!
For mid-undergraduates, I think, the perfect sequence for string theory would be (provided one acquires knowledge of QFT and Lie algebras for the more advanced texts):
Zwiebach>Becker/Schwarz>Polchinski (supplemented by GSW's first volume)
But if you want to learn string theory more quickly or if you don't have problems with the very basics, then leave out Zwiebach and go for this one immediately. For graduates, Polchinski should be the start, but one can take Backer/Schwarz always as a references and supplement on some topics (connection to black holes and gauge theories).
A Modern Fairytale.......2007-01-30
This is a fabulous excursion into a world inhabited by all sorts of mythical creatures: Calabi-Yau 3-folds, D-branes, orbifolds, ten and eleven-dimensional backgrounds, supersymmetric partners, covariant fermionic vertex operators and many others that only the wildest imaginations can conceive of. The wizards and magicians who have conjured these beasts have also cast a powerful spell on their easily-beguiled followers who see streets of gold and emerald trees as they walk through the morass of E8*E8 gauge fields, compactifications and dualities. This tome will be a welcome addition to your bookshelf right between Harry Potter and Alice in Wonderland. I gladly recommend each of you to take a brief stroll into this enchanted land to be followed by the volumes of Landau and Lifchitz, so that you will be able to find your way back to reality again. Some have called strings "a theory of anything". Indeed, it is a wonderful place where you can make all your wishes come true. But do not stay too long in the kingdom of string theory lest you end up like so many others who are lost, searching endlessly for the legendary realms of M-theory or wandering aimlessly in the infinite labyrinth of the Landscape, wasting the remaining years of their life on naught but a fable.
Most up-to-date string theory tome published this year........2007-01-24
This volume was authored by one of the most respected researchers in the field, as well as the Becker sisters. It is beautifully illustrated, and is well timed for upcomming experimental tests of superstring theory at the Large Hadron collider. I did not give if five starts because it only devoted four pages to the Landscape, which professor Susskind, the father of string theory, has declared the most significant advance in physics in the past century.
Average customer rating:
- Perfect.
- Wow, does this suck . . . get a different book!
- This book is a very very very bad book which you never buy.
- Don't make the same fault I did!
- It is sad that we don't have a better book out there...
|
An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory (Frontiers in Physics)
Michael E. Peskin , and
Dan V. Schroeder
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0201503972 |
Customer Reviews:
Perfect........2007-08-10
I received the book as it should be: knew. And it cames before the estimated time.
Wow, does this suck . . . get a different book!.......2007-06-13
Ok--I just need to help lower the overall rating for this book. I think the people who love it are professors and students who already are familiar with QFT--because it glosses over everything, does pertinent examples, etc. But that's just it, it GLOSSES over everything. Note that nearly all the higher reviews say things like: "oh, you wouldn't want to start with this book." or "Everyone knows that you're going to need more books than this one to understand it . . ." I couldn't even figure out how to create a Feynmann diagram from this book, let alone what one MEANT. FYI, my favorite QFT book so far is Weinberg's Quantum Theory of Fields.
This book is a very very very bad book which you never buy........2007-01-20
Absolutely no logic.
Perfectly nonclear.
No subject.
Mathematically poor.(very poor.)
Nonneccessary words.
No depth.
Not for self-study.
Just arrangement.
No physical insight.
No process.
No thinking.
This is indeed not a book.
This is a stuff for a vanity.
I wonder whether Peskin and Schroeder are genuine physicists.
Don't make the same fault I did!.......2006-12-16
Hi there!
The important information first: I'm a graduate student, mainly interested in theoretical physics. At the moment, I'm trying to get a deeper understanding of QFT.
Peskin's QFT book is NOT the one you should buy if you want to UNDERSTAND renormalization.
I learned the basics of QFT (\phi^4 and QED up to a first contact with renormalization - "trivial" subtraction of infinities) in a lecture and I finally felt like: "What does renormalization mean? What is it good for? Is there a deeper truth in it?" Well, the answer to the last question is definitely yes. It's about the Beta function. This function tells you how the coupling constants of a QFT behave at different momenta. E.g., we can learn from it why perturbation theory works for QED at low energies and for QCD at high energies (I think, this is amazing).
What I just said I learned from Huang's book. Peskin "deals" with it in chapters 10 to 12. In the middle of chapter 12 I finally said to myself: "Hey, don't feel stupid. This book is just completely incomprehensible here."
In my opinion, if you want to see behind renormalization (and therefore behind any QFT(!!)), don't buy Peskin's book. Any other book is better regarding this issue.
It is sad that we don't have a better book out there..........2006-05-28
The main problem of this book: what exactly is it supposed to be?
If it is an introduction, then the opening chapters are written at a level too sophisticated that an average first-time student can't handle.
If it aims to be a "bible" of the subject, then the later chapters are far too technical, loaded with only Feynman diagram calculations for standard model. Not being a phenomenologist, I personally have very little interest in all the technical detail, and apparently several other reviewers share my view here.
Now let me gives some examples to support my claim.
First, C, P and T symmetries are introduced very early on (right after Dirac spinor), and in a very formal way. Yes, they logically belong there, but in an "introduction" of the subject you don't throw out an isolated topic like this which you don't make use of in the following few hundred pages.
The part on cannonical quantization is written at a very fast pace. A complex scalar field is probably the first model you can construct with charged particles. And guess what kind of treatment it receives in this book? Not a single word in the main text. The problem 2 of that chapter essentially asks you to work out the content of this model with few hints given. If you have troble working it out, which is not uncommon for a first-timer, then you won't see the logic behind the decomposition of a complex Dirac field either. This is done in the following chapter, with no explaination.
Like the charged scalar field example, some important pieces of knowledge are hidden only in the exercises. So if you treat these high-power opening chapters as your bible-type reference, you will often end up in the frustrating situation that the book tells you to work out by yourself what you are seeking in the first place.
Now get to the later parts of the book. As I mentioned above, the second half of the book is almost conceptually too simple, overloaded with technical details.
This downfall begins around the renormalization group. On the back of this book, this Prof. Micheal Dine is qouted: "it is the only field theory text with a thoroughly modern, Wilsonian treatment of renormalization". The connection between the Wilsonian idea and dimensional regularization/renormalization scale is shaky at best. You read the text, and are left puzzled at the magic: how does a cut-off scale become some (much lower) arbitrary momentum scale? No explaination. The Wilsonian theory is completely isolated and have little connection with the rest of the renormalization section.
Furthermore, the book does not do a very good job on Lie algebra and non-abilien Lie groups. I mean, come on, if this is an "introduction" type of book, make it more readable. If this is a "bible" type of book, make it more comprehensive.
Having voiced all my bad opinions, I have to admit that the book has its merit. Bottom line is, this is a book written by phenomenologists for phenomenologists. If you view it from such an angle, it is not too badly written after all, and does cover most of the important topics a phnomenologist would want to know. But you may want to start from a more accessible text such as Ryder.
If you are a theorist, but not a phenomenologist, then, well, let's say the ability of getting through the first part perfectly is the minimum requirement for your research.
If you are an experimentalist, don't bother.
Book Description
Introduction to Cosmology provides a rare combination of a solid foundation of the core physical concepts of cosmology and the most recent astronomical observations. The book is designed for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students and assumes no prior knowledge of general relativity. An emphasis is placed on developing the readers' physical insight rather than losing them with complex math. An approachable writing style and wealth of fresh and imaginative analogies from "everyday" physics are used to make the concepts of cosmology more accessible. The book is unique in that it not only includes recent major developments in cosmology, like the cosmological constant and accelerating universe, but also anticipates key developments expected in the next few years, such as detailed results on the cosmic microwave background. For anyone interested in cosmology or astronomy.
Customer Reviews:
Ease your way into cosmology.......2005-09-06
As an undergraduate studying particle physics, I have found Ryden to be an excellent first-book in cosmology for self-study. The text requires no previous knowledge of general relativity (though this certainly helps, perhaps at the level of Carroll's text) or astrophysics, which is refreshing for those who would rather not wade through the astrophysics part of an astrophysics-cosmology course.
Ryden's explanations are clear and carefully thought out, and she really makes an effort to hold one's hand through many topics. The book is straightforward and well-organized enough for more advanced students to skim quickly through chapters they are familiar with while also being able to slow down at certain points for a careful derivation here and there.
Overall, the topics are somewhat rudimentary (this text is definitely geared towards undergraduates)--i.e. don't expect to be calculating dark matter relic densities or studying cosmic strings--but combined with her suggested references for further reading and the text's ground-up style, this is a fantastic book at this level that provides a solid foundation for students who wish to move on to more advanced texts such as Kolb and Turner or Dodelson.
Addison Wesley should also be commended for their excellent typesetting (continuing a string of very well typeset books including Carroll's Spacetime Geometry and Goldstein's Classical Mechanics, 3rd. ed). Formulae are clear and easy to read, sections are well divided, and there is a wonderfully large margin for readers to write notes in.
The only lament I can agree with on this book is that it does not contain WMAP data, which would be a delight for a modern cosmology book.
Very well written.......2004-11-15
It seems lately people have been writing very good textbooks, for example "Gravity: from the ground up", "String theory: First Course" and "Spacetime and Geometry" etc, and this is among the best. As has been mentioned, there are no tensors in this book. General relativity is introduced with equivalence principle and the metric and by investigating different kind of curvatures and corresponding metrics. Clarity is outstanding in almost every chapter.
After introducing the Friedmann, fluid and acceleration equations etc, the chapters include single-component universes, multiple-component universes, measuring cosmological parameters. dark matter, cosmic microwave background, nucleosynthesis and the early universe, inflation and the very early universe + formation of structure. I think one of the positives of this book is that the chapters are quite short and the whole book itself is quite short at 250 pages. I think this is a good thing because its much easier to stay focused/motivated when you know it wont take 10 years to reach the end. And as has been mentioned, the writing style is very understandable and not too terse. I think this book is a perfect example on how to write physics tetxbooks.
Clear and useful.......2003-02-06
This book is an excellent introduction to all facets of cosmology for anyone from advanced undergraduates on. It includes a slow immersion in the key physical concepts of current cosmology theory, and broadly covers all relevent topics, as listed in the chapter headings. However, the greatest strength of this book is in the decision to forgo detailed General Relativity derivations. Instead of pages of numbing treatment of tensor math and metrics, Ryden summarizes the results of GR that are relevant to current cosmology, presenting the Friedmann equation and the Robertson-Walker metric. While this approach might infuriate purists, it allows the student to understand cosmology from a conceptual standpoint, while providing the mathematical tools necessary for analysis, and is a sufficient general introduction for any physics or astronomy student. It also provides a strong base of knowledge for those who do wish to proceed further into the details of GR. Furthermore, the conversational style of the text makes it much easier to read than any other physics textbook I have encountered. I would recommend any student (or professional) who slogged through their cosmology studies with no sense of the overall state of the field to use this book for both brushing up on the basics and as a quick reference.
Book Description
This highly respected text, now in paperback, has been thoroughly updated and revised. It introduces a logical theory of photographic lighting --- one that teaches beginning photographers to predict results before setting up lights. This is not primarily a how-to book with only set examples for photographers to follow. Rather, Light: Science and Magic provides the reader with a comprehensive theory of the nature and principles of light to allow individual photographers to use lighting to express their own creativity. Numerous photographs and illustrations provide clear examples of the theories delineated within the text, while sidebars highlight special lighting questions.
Although styles of photographic lighting continue to change, Light: Science and Magic does not go out of fashion because it is not based on style; rather it is based on the behavior of light. These principles will not change until fundamental physics does.
*Now in paperback
*Highly respected text on lighting theory covering the principles, applications, and equipment for informed lighting decisions
*Sidebars highlight special lighting questions
Customer Reviews:
Excellent study.......2007-10-09
This book describes itself as a grammar of lighting. I would add that it is a descriptive rather than a prescriptive grammar, that is, it tells you how lighting works as a matter of fact, rather than trying to tell you what you should do as a photographer. I'm still rereading chapters and getting something from them, perhaps especially because I'm taking the authors' suggestion and trying to do the exercises myself.
While it is not terribly technical -- it's well written and easy to read -- the book is a bit abstract, in the sense that it's trying to describe the general properties of lighting as used for photography. For some readers and photographers, the abstract or theoretical approach may not be congenial. The book has very little (almost nothing) to say about equipment, for example. In the section on portrait lighting, the emphasis is simply on what happens when lighting is placed in different positions -- not on which form of lighting is best.
But I personally found the book's approach exhilarating. I've read so many photography books it's hard for me to single out one as THE most informative and THE most helpful to me as a photographer, but if I had to do so, this book might be my pick.
Learn What You Already Know, but Don't Know!.......2007-10-02
I sort of learned nothing from this book, but also learned EVERYTHING.
This book takes what I see everyday, but don't think about, then turns it into thought. I've always known that light reflects from things in three different ways, but that knowledge has sat unconsciously in my lower brain. My higher brain, which does shutter speed, depth of field, and f/stops, was oblivious. The book brings your two brains together!
Best Lighting Book I've Read.......2007-09-30
As a professional photographer and instructor, I've perused many books on photographic lighting, portrait lighting, etc. I say "perused" because most are complicated in the way they present their information, or, present examples that -while technically sound- are totally impractical for everyday use. So much so that I rarely buy them. This is understandable, as professional lighting is the single most difficult aspect of photography to grasp, let alone master. So explaining it isn't always easy, either.
This book -while it does use a bit of technical language- approaches each example in a very straightforward way, explaining when and where each technique is useful, how to perform each technique and even the troubles you're likely to encounter when you first attempt them. In short it's like someone is sitting there with you leading you through the logic of how the lighting works, and helping you to look out for the pitfalls. And while it's not that thick of a book, it is *dense* with information. There is much to absorb and learn, and frankly I've seen no other book that comes close in terms of making it a pleasure to learn.
This book will be a required text for any university classes I teach in the future.
The distiction between humans and apes.......2007-09-29
On the first day of his Physics 45 (i.e., photography) class, Ross Scroggs put a "rock" on his lecture table and told his students that this was an ax, one of the first human tools. He also told them that art, demonstrated in cave paintings, evolved simultaneously with tools. "I do not need to teach you art," he said, "because, if you are human, you will produce art as soon as you have the tools. I intend to give you the tools. I will not mind wasting my time with the overwhelming majority of apes in this class, because the handful of humans here will certainly listen to me and that makes it worth my time."
This book was originally developed by two students from the University where Scroggs taught, and he's the prominent dedicatee of the book. It's not my place to say they have delivered his promise, but read the other reviews of this book, written almost entirely by people who never knew Ross Scroggs, and look at the similarity between their descriptions of the book and Scroggs' promises.
Excellent title for learning lighting.......2007-09-27
This is a book that will teach you about light and how to apply it. It isn't meant for you to copy a setup to get similar results. It is an outstanding book that tells you why you put the lights in a particular position and why it works in one instance, but not another.
IMHO this is a easy to follow fun to read college course on lighting. If you are looking to improve your craft this is a must read. This is also a book in the reference library of the Certified Professional Photographers association and helps in preparing for their exam.
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- Many Particle Physics (Physics of Solids and Liquids)
- Materials Science and Engineering: An Introduction
- Mathematical Foundations of Quantum Mechanics (Dover Books on Mathematics)
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