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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.

    • Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 19
      • September 21, 2000
      • English
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      The field of phase transitions and critical phenomena continues to be active in research, producing a steady stream of interesting and fruitful results. It has moved into a central place in condensed matter studies.Statistical physics, and more specifically, the theory of transitions between states of matter, more or less defines what we know about 'everyday' matter and its transformations.The major aim of this serial is to provide review articles that can serve as standard references for research workers in the field, and for graduate students and others wishing to obtain reliable information on important recent developments.
    • Phase Transitions and Critical Phenomena

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 18
      • September 15, 2000
      • English
      • Hardback
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      The field of phase transitions and critical phenomena continues to be active in research, producing a steady stream of interesting and fruitful results. No longer an area of specialist interest, it has acquired a central focus in condensed matter studies. The major aim of this serial is to provide review articles that can serve as standard references for research workers in the field, and for graduate students and others wishing to obtain reliable information on important recent developments.The two review articles in this volume complement each other in a remarkable way. Both deal with what might be called the modern geometricapproach to the properties of macroscopic systems. The first article by Georgii (et al.) describes how recent advances in the application ofgeometric ideas leads to a better understanding of pure phases and phase transitions in equilibrium systems. The second article by Alava (et al.)deals with geometrical aspects of multi-body systems in a hands-on way, going beyond abstract theory to obtain practical answers. Thecombination of computers and geometrical ideas described in this volume will doubtless play a major role in the development of statisticalmechanics in the twenty-first century.
    • Foundations of Engineering Acoustics

      • 1st Edition
      • September 12, 2000
      • Frank J. Fahy
      • English
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      Foundations of Engineering Acoustics takes the reader on a journey from a qualitative introduction to the physical nature of sound, explained in terms of common experience, to mathematical models and analytical results which underlie the techniques applied by the engineering industry to improve the acoustic performance of their products. The book is distinguished by extensive descriptions and explanations of audio-frequency acoustic phenomena and their relevance to engineering, supported by a wealth of diagrams, and by a guide for teachers of tried and tested class demonstrations and laboratory-based experiments. Foundations of Engineering Acoustics is a textbook suitable for both senior undergraduate and postgraduate courses in mechanical, aerospace, marine, and possibly electrical and civil engineering schools at universities. It will be a valuable reference for academic teachers and researchers and will also assist Industrial Acoustic Group staff and Consultants.
    • Thinning Films and Tribological Interfaces

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 38
      • September 1, 2000
      • D. Dowson + 9 more
      • English
      • Hardback
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      This collection of fully peer-reviewed papers were presented at the 26th Leeds-Lyon Tribology Symposium which was held in Leeds, UK, 14-17 September, 1999. The Leeds-Lyon Symposia on Tribology were launched in 1974, and the large number of references to original work published in the Proceedings over many years confirms the quality of the published papers. It also indicates that the volumes have served their purpose and become a recognised feature of the tribological literature. This year's title is 'Thinning Films and Tribological Interfaces', and the papers cover practical applications of tribological solutions in a wide range of situations. The evolution of a full peer review process has been evident for a number of years. An important feature of the Leeds-Lyon Symposia is the presentation of current research findings. This remains an essential feature of the meetings, but for the 26th Symposium authors were invited to submit their papers for review a few weeks in advance of the Symposium. This provided an opportunity to discuss recommendations for modifications with the authors.
    • Ode to a Quantum Physicist

      • 1st Edition
      • July 31, 2000
      • H. Walther + 2 more
      • English
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      Ode to a Quantum Physicist celebrates the scientific achievements of Marlan O. Scully on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday. It combines personal reminiscences from other renowned physicists who have known and worked with him over the years and 60+ scientific articles from the frontiers of Quantum Optics inspired by the work of M. O. Scully. The topics of these articles, published in the special volume 179 of Optics Communications, range from classical optics via atomic physics and quantum mechanics to non-linear optics.The book opens with special greetings from Tony Siegman, the former president of the Optical Society of America and Benjamin Bederson, the Editor-in-Chief Emeritus of Physical Review. A long time friend, Ali Javan, dating back to Marlan's MIT days, highlights some of Marlan's scientific contributions.Heidi Fearn's poems humanize physical phenomena and set the stage for the more personal reminiscences to come.Friends and colleagues of Marlan from the various stages of his scientific life shed some light on his human side. These stories reflect the admiration and respect the quantum physics community holds for Marlan and bring out many humorous anecdotes of their interactions with him. Judy Scully, his wife, takes us through Marlan's youth and college years in Wyoming. Leon Cohen illuminates the Yale days and Marlan's interactions with Willis E. Lamb. Pierre Meystre describes his arrival in Tucson fromSwitzerland for his first postdoctoral position with Marlan. The move from Tucson to Albuquerque is one of Suhail Zubairy's memories. Herbert Walther shines light on the impact of the multi-national Marlan and in particular, on the Max-Planck-Institut fü Quantenoptik. Wolfgang Schleich looks at his mentorMarlan from a graduate student's point of view and opens the arena for Reesor Woodling's description of Marlan's cattle business. We conclude the trail by the article of Thomas Walther, Ed Fry and George Welsch, who bring us up to date with Marlan's activities in Texas A & M. The actual birthday party and scientific celebration took place as a special two-day colloquium on Modern Trends in Quantum Optics at the Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptic in Garching, Germany on June 29-30, 1999. Included in this book is the program of this meeting, as wel as some excerpts from the celebration, such as, the after dinner speech by Roy J. Glauber followed by a photo album of Marlan's life. The poems by Olga Kocharovskaya poetically describe Marlan's scientific achievements. The concluding talk by Bruce Shore, given at this meeting, begins the connection to the papers by Don Kobe, Danny Greenberger and Mark Hillary, and Shi-Yao Zhu et al. covering topics from gauge invariance via unbreakable codes to photonic band gaps. The articles from the special issue of Optics Communications conclude this Festschrift.
    • Electronic Structure

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 2
      • July 19, 2000
      • English
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      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.
    • Shear Deformable Beams and Plates

      • 1st Edition
      • July 19, 2000
      • C.M. Wang + 2 more
      • English
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      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.
    • The Effective Crystal Field Potential

      • 1st Edition
      • June 22, 2000
      • J. Mulak + 1 more
      • English
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      As it results from the very nature of things, the spherical symmetry of the surrounding of a site in a crystal lattice or an atom in a molecule can never occur. Therefore, the eigenfunctions and eigenvalues of any bound ion or atom have to differ from those of spherically symmetric respective free ions. In this way, the most simplified concept of the crystal field effect or ligand field effect in the case of individual molecules can be introduced.The conventional notion of the crystal field potential is narrowed to its non-spherical part only through ignoring the dominating spherical part which produces only a uniform energy shift of gravity centres of the free ion terms. It is well understood that the non-spherical part of the effective potential "seen" by open-shell electrons localized on a metal ion plays an essential role in most observed properties. Light adsorption, electron paramagnetic resonance, inelastic neutron scattering and basic characteristics derived from magnetic and thermal measurements, are only examples of a much wider class of experimental results dependent on it. The influence is discerned in all kinds of materials containing unpaired localized electrons: ionic crystals, semiconductors and metallic compounds including materials as intriguing as high-Tc superconductors, or heavy fermion systems. It is evident from the above that we deal with a widespread effect relative to all free ion terms except those which can stand the lowered symmetry, e.g. S-terms.Despite the universality of the phenomenon, the available handbooks on solid state physics pay only marginal attention to it, merely making mention of its occurrence. Present understanding of the origins of the crystal field potential differs essentially from the pioneering electrostatic picture postulated in the twenties. The considerable development of the theory that has been put forward since then can be traced in many regular articles scattered throughout the literature. The last two decades have left their impression as well but, to the authors' best knowledge, this period has not been closed with a more extended review. This has also motivated us to compile the main achievements in the field in the form of a book.
    • Handbook on the Physics and Chemistry of Rare Earths

      • 1st Edition
      • Volume 28
      • June 14, 2000
      • English
      • Hardback
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      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.
    • Radiation in Art and Archeometry

      • 1st Edition
      • June 14, 2000
      • D.C. Creagh + 1 more
      • English
      • Hardback
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      /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.