Skip to main content

Books in Physics

Physics titles offer comprehensive research and advancements across the fundamental and applied areas of physical science. From quantum mechanics and particle physics to astrophysics and materials science, these titles drive innovation and deepen understanding of the principles governing the universe. Essential for researchers, educators, and students, this collection supports scientific progress and practical applications across a diverse range of physics disciplines.

    • Shear Deformable Beams and Plates

      • 1st Edition
      • July 19, 2000
      • C.M. Wang + 2 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 4 3 7 8 4 2
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 4 1 1 5 0
      Most books on the theory and analysis of beams and plates deal with the classical (Euler-Bernoulli/Kir... theories but few include shear deformation theories in detail. The classical beam/plate theory is not adequate in providing accurate bending, buckling, and vibration results when the thickness-to-length ratio of the beam/plate is relatively large. This is because the effect of transverse shear strains, neglected in the classical theory, becomes significant in deep beams and thick plates. This book illustrates how shear deformation theories provide accurate solutions compared to the classical theory. Equations governing shear deformation theories are typically more complicated than those of the classical theory. Hence it is desirable to have exact relationships between solutions of the classical theory and shear deformation theories so that whenever classical theory solutions are available, the corresponding solutions of shear deformation theories can be readily obtained. Such relationships not only furnish benchmark solutions of shear deformation theories but also provide insight into the significance of shear deformation on the response. The relationships for beams and plates have been developed by many authors over the last several years. The goal of this monograph is to bring together these relationships for beams and plates in a single volume. The book is divided into two parts. Following the introduction, Part 1 consists of Chapters 2 to 5 dealing with beams, and Part 2 consists of Chapters 6 to 13 covering plates. Problems are included at the end of each chapter to use, extend, and develop new relationships.
    • Radiation in Art and Archeometry

      • 1st Edition
      • June 14, 2000
      • D.C. Creagh + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 0 4 8 7 6
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 4 0 1 9 1
      /inca/publications/m... the coverThis book contains twenty chapters covering a wide range of research in the fields of scientific conservation of art and archaeometry. The common thread is the use of radiation in these analyses. The term "radiation" is used in the widest possible sense. The book encompasses the use of electromagnetic radiation in its microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x ray and &ggr; ray forms and the use of particulate forms such as electrons, neutrons and charged particles for which the Planck's Law relation applies. In many cases there is an interplay between the two forms: for example, proton induced x ray emission (PIXE), secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). As far as possible the chapters have been arranged in order of ascending particle energy. Thus it commences with the use of microwaves and finishes with the use of &ggr; rays. The authors were chosen on the basis of their expertise as practitioners of their particular field of study. This means that, for example, the mature fields of study such as the IR and UV study of paintings have been written by senior researchers, whereas for the emerging fields of synchrotron and neutron techniques the chapters have been written by talented researchers at the commencement of their careers.
    • Gels Handbook, Four-Volume Set

      • 1st Edition
      • October 18, 2000
      • Kanji Kajiwara + 1 more
      • English
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 3 2 3 4 9
      This major reference work, covering the important materials science area of gels, is a translation of a Japanese handbook. The three-volume set is organized to cover the following: fundamentals, functions, and environmental issues. Gels Handbook also contains an appendix, complete references, and data on gel compounds.Recently, polymer gels have attracted many scientific researchers, medical doctors, and pharmaceutical, chemical, and agricultural engineers to the rapidly growing field. Gels are considered to be one of the most promising materials in the 21st Century. They are unique in that they are soft, gentle, and can sense and accommodate environmental changes. Because of these unique characteristics gels have a huge potential in technological and medical applications. They are irreplaceable in the separation of molecules, the release of drugs, artificial skins and organs, sensors, actuators, chemical memories, and many other applications.The 21st century is also said to be the century of biotechnology, where two kinds of biopolymers play crucial roles: DNA as a bearer of geneticinformation and proteins as molecular machines. In spite of the dramatic progress in molecular biology and the Human Genome project, the basic principles behind the function and design of such polymeric machines are in the black box. Science and technologies that will emerge from those of polymer gels will shed light on such principles.Some researchers have already developed prototypes of artificial glands (pancreas), artificial muscles and actuators, and chemical sensors and molecular recovery systems using polymer gels.The Gels Handbook is an invaluable source of information on this rapidly growing field. It covers the entire area from the scientific basics to the applications of the materials. The authors are among the leading researchers, doctors, engineers, and patent officers in Japan. This book can be used as a textbook or an encyclopedia and is a must for those involved in gel research or applications.
    • Molecular Mechanisms in Visual Transduction

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 3
      • November 30, 2000
      • D.G. Stavenga + 2 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 0 1 0 2 8
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 3 6 7 7 4
      Molecular mechanisms in visual transduction is presently one of the most intensely studied areas in the field of signal transduction research in biological cells. Because the sense of vision plays a primary role in animal biology, and thus has been subject to long evolutionary development, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying vision have a high degree of sensitivity and versatility. The aims of visual transduction research are firstto determine which molecules participate, and then to understand how they act in concert to produce the exquisite electrical responses of the photoreceptor cells.Since the 1940s [1] we have known that rod vision begins with the capture of a quantum of energy, a photon, by a visual pigment molecule, rhodopsin. As the function of photon absorption is to convert the visual pigment molecule into a G-protein activating state, the structural details of the visual pigments must beexplained from the perspective of their role in activating their specific G-proteins. Thus, Chapters 1-3 of this Handbook extensively cover the physico-chemical molecular characteristics of the vertebrate rhodopsins. Following photoconversion and G-protein activation, the phototransduction cascade leads to modifications of the population of closed and open ion channels in the photoreceptor plasma membrane, and thereby to the electrical response. The nature of the channels of vertebrate photoreceptors is examined in Chapter 4, and Chapter 5 integrates the present body of knowledge of the activation steps in the cascade into a quantitative framework. Once the phototransduction cascade is activated, it must be subsequently silenced. The various molecular mechanisms participating in inactivation aretreated in Chapters 1-4 and especially Chapter 5. Molecular biology is now an indispensable tool in signal transduction studies. Numerous vertebrate (Chapter 6) and invertebrate (Chapter 7) visual pigments have been characterized and cloned. The genetics and evolutionary aspects of this great subfamily of G-protein activating receptors are intriguing as they present a natural probe for the intimate relationship between structure and function of the visual pigments. Understanding the spectral characteristics from the molecular composition can be expected to
    • Quantum Theory, Deformation and Integrability

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 186
      • November 9, 2000
      • R. Carroll
      • English
      • Paperback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 4 1 9 8 7
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 4 0 0 8 5
      About four years ago a prominent string theorist was quoted as saying that it might be possible to understand quantum mechanics by the year 2000. Sometimes new mathematical developments make such understanding appear possible and even close, but on the other hand, increasing lack of experimental verification make it seem to be further distant. In any event one seems to arrive at new revolutions in physics and mathematics every year. This book hopes to convey some of the excitment of this period, but will adopt a relatively pedestrian approach designed to illuminate the relations between quantum and classical. There will be some discussion of philosophical matters such as measurement, uncertainty, decoherence, etc. but philosophy will not be emphasized; generally we want to enjoy the fruits of computation based on the operator formulation of QM and quantum field theory. In Chapter 1 connections of QM to deterministic behavior are exhibited in the trajectory representations of Faraggi-Matone. Chapter 1 also includes a review of KP theory and some preliminary remarks on coherent states, density matrices, etc. and more on deterministic theory. We develop in Chapter 4 relations between quantization and integrability based on Moyal brackets, discretizations, KP, strings and Hirota formulas, and in Chapter 2 we study the QM of embedded curves and surfaces illustrating some QM effects of geometry. Chapter 3 is on quantum integrable systems, quantum groups, and modern deformation quantization. Chapter 5 involves the Whitham equations in various roles mediating between QM and classical behavior. In particular, connections to Seiberg-Witten theory (arising in N = 2 supersymmetric (susy) Yang-Mills (YM) theory) are discussed and we would still like to understand more deeply what is going on. Thus in Chapter 5 we will try to give some conceptual background for susy, gauge theories, renormalization, etc. from both a physical and mathematical point of view. In Chapter 6 we continue the deformation quantization then by exhibiting material based on and related to noncommutative geometry and gauge theory.
    • Handbook on the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 30
      • December 15, 2000
      • K.A. Gschneidner + 2 more
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 0 5 2 8 6
      • Paperback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 4 8 4 9 8
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 4 4 3 7 3
      This volume of the Handbook is the first of a two-volume set of reviews devoted to the rare-earth-based high-temperature oxide superconductors (commonly known as hiTC superconductors). The history of hiTC superconductors is a few months short of being 14 years old when Bednorz and Müller published their results which showed that (La,BA)2CuO4 had a superconducting transition of ~30 K, which was about 7K higher than any other known superconducting material. Within a year the upper temperature limit was raised to nearly 100K with the discovery of an ~90K superconducting transition in YBa2Cu3O7-&dgr;. The announcement of a superconductor with a transition temperature higher than the boiling point of liquid nitrogen set-off a frenzy of research on trying to find other oxide hiTC superconductors. Within a few months the maximum superconducting transition reached 110 K (Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3010, and then 122K (TlBa2Ca3Cu4O11. It took several years to push TC up another 11 K to 133 K with the discovery of superconductivity in HgBa2Ca2Cu3O8, which is still the record holder today.
    • Frontiers in Dusty Plasmas

      • 1st Edition
      • February 7, 2000
      • Y. Nakamura + 2 more
      • English
      • Paperback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 3 9 6 4 9
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 3 2 0 3 5
      The study of dusty plasmas is now in a vigorous state of development. Dust and plasma coexist in a vast variety of cosmic environments and their research received a major boost in the early 80's with the Voyager spacecraft observations of peculiar features in the Saturnian ring system (e.g. the radial spokes) which could not be explained purely in gravitational terms. In addition, dust streams were measured by the Galileo spacecraft in the Jovian magnetosphere and charged dust in the earth's mesosphere was detected by a direct rocket experiment. Since then the area has greatly expanded with dedicated laboratory experiments verifying aspects of basic physics of charged dust grains in plasmas.These proceedings contain invited and poster papers which were presented by scientists active in the field from more than twenty countries. The material contains new aspects of collective interactions in dusty plasmas. For example, discoveries of dust-acoustic Mach cones, dust ion-acoustic shocks, great dust voids, vortex formation, dust crystallization under microgravity, coexistence of positive negative dust grains in the mesosphere and dust in tokamaks. The more theoretical and simulation studies focus on dynamical and structural properties and kinetic theories of strongly coupled dusty plasmas, as well as on self-organizations and structures, in addition to identifying forces (viz. wakefields, electrostatic and dipolar interactions etc.), which are responsible for charged dust grain attraction and phase transitions.The resulting book is a valuable, state-of-the-art review of the field of dusty plasma physics and will be welcomed by both researchers and graduate students who want to keep up to date in this rapidly growing field.
    • Handbook of Elastic Properties of Solids, Liquids, and Gases, Four-Volume Set

      • 1st Edition
      • October 11, 2000
      • Moises Levy + 2 more
      • English
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 4 2 5 0
      Sound waves propagate through galactic space, through two-dimensional solids, through biological systems, through normal and dense stars, and through everything that surrounds us; the earth, the sea, and the air. We use sound to locate objects, to identify objects, to understand processes going on in nature, to communicate, and to entertain. The elastic properties of materials determine the velocity of sound in them and tell us about their response to stresses something which is very important when we are trying to construct, manufacture, or create something with any material. The Handbook of Elastic Properties of Materials will provide these characteristics for almost everything whose elastic properties has ever been measured or deduced in a concise and approachable manner.Leading experts will explain the significance of the elastic properties as they relate to intrinsic microscopic behavior, to manufacturing, to construction, or to diagnosis. They will discuss the propagation of sound in newly discovered or created materials, and in common materials which are being investigated with a fresh outlook.The Handbook will provide the reader with the elastic properties of the common and mundane, the novel and unique, the immense and the microscopic, and the exhorbitantly dense and the ephemeral.. You will also find the measurement. And theoretical techniques that have been developed and invented in order to extract these properties from a reluctant nature and recalcitrant systems.
    • Electronic Structure

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 2
      • July 19, 2000
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 8 9 2 9 1 1
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 5 3 0 7 5 8
      This book is the second volume in the Handbook of Surface Science series and deals with aspects of the electronic structure of surfaces as investigated by means of the experimental and theoretical methods of physics. The importance of understanding surface phenomena stems from the fact that for many physical and chemical phenomena, the surface plays a key role: in electronic, magnetic, and optical devices, in heterogenous catalysis, in epitaxial growth, and the application of protective coatings, for example. Therefore a better understanding and, ultimately, a predictive description of surface and interface properties is vital for the progress of modern technology. An investigation of surface electronic structure is also central to our understanding of all aspects of surfaces from a fundamental point of view. The chapters presented here review the goals achieved in the field and map out the challenges ahead, both in experiment and theory.
    • Handbook on the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 28
      • June 14, 2000
      • English
      • Hardback
        9 7 8 0 4 4 4 5 0 3 4 6 6
      • eBook
        9 7 8 0 0 8 0 9 2 9 3 1 6
      Even at the beginning of the new millenium the rare earths still remain, to a certain extent, a mystery. The chapters in this volume will help to unravel some of these. In the filling of the 4f electronic orbitals the lanthanides defy the elementary aufbau principle that underlies the periodic sequence of the elements, and the authors of the first chapter introduce the readers to the basic physics of the orbital collapse leading to that failure. Furthermore an explanation is offered in terms of double-well potentials. The phenomenon is illustrated using the valence transitions observed in some of the rare earth atoms, including Sm group metals and the higher oxides of cerium, praseodymium and terbium. In the second chapter the synthesis and structure of the many types of rare earth halides are described. They have been described as simple, complex, binary, ternary and multinuclear complex, and other categories needed to deal with the most studied of the rare earth compounds. The structure types are skillfully illustrated to show the elementary architecture of each type.In chapter three the authors discuss the science and applications of rare earth super ionic conductors as solid electrolytes. Conduction by oxygen and fluorine anions as well as hydrogen and other cations associated with these electrolytes is emphasized. They deal with extrinsic and intrinsic types together with their associated structures and structural types including structural defects. The chapter concludes with an outline of the many applications of solid electrolytes.Chapter four introduces the reader to the principles that underlie thermoluminescence and its application to dosimetry and provides detailed information on the R-activated phosphors that support dosimetry. This is a selective review of detailed literature based on the areas making most progress.The final chapter elaborates on the data gained by the studies and interpretation around the analytical separation of the individual rare earth elements utilizing chromatographic techniques. The authors describe the fundamental chemistry that underpins contemporary analytical separation techniques for lanthanide separation and analysis. This is done after a description of the rich assortment of separation methods in use has been introduced.