Download or read book Dialogues Between Physics and Mathematics written by Mo-Lin Ge and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-12-10 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume celebrates the 100th birthday of Professor Chen-Ning Frank Yang (Nobel 1957), one of the giants of modern science and a living legend. Starting with reminiscences of Yang's time at the research centre for theoretical physics at Stonybrook (now named C. N. Yang Institute) by his successor Peter van Nieuwenhuizen, the book is a collection of articles by world-renowned mathematicians and theoretical physicists. This emphasizes the Dialogue Between Physics and Mathematics that has been a central theme of Professor Yang’s contributions to contemporary science. Fittingly, the contributions to this volume range from experimental physics to pure mathematics, via mathematical physics. On the physics side, the contributions are from Sir Anthony Leggett (Nobel 2003), Jian-Wei Pan (Willis E. Lamb Award 2018), Alexander Polyakov (Breakthrough Prize 2013), Gerard 't Hooft (Nobel 1999), Frank Wilczek (Nobel 2004), Qikun Xue (Fritz London Prize 2020), and Zhongxian Zhao (Bernd T. Matthias Prize 2015), covering an array of topics from superconductivity to the foundations of quantum mechanics. In mathematical physics there are contributions by Sir Roger Penrose (Nobel 2022) and Edward Witten (Fields Medal 1990) on quantum twistors and quantum field theory, respectively. On the mathematics side, the contributions by Vladimir Drinfeld (Fields Medal 1990), Louis Kauffman (Wiener Gold Medal 2014), and Yuri Manin (Cantor Medal 2002) offer novel ideas from knot theory to arithmetic geometry. Inspired by the original ideas of C. N. Yang, this unique collection of papers b masters of physics and mathematics provides, at the highest level, contemporary research directions for graduate students and experts alike.
Download or read book Dialogues on Modern Physics written by Mendel Sachs and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 1998 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, important conceptual developments of the two major revolutions of modern physics ? the quantum and relativity theories ? are presented in a nonmathematical, dialectical form of dialogue. The implications of conflicting philosophical attitudes of these revolutions in physics and applications to topics such as cosmology/astrophysics and high energy physics are emphasized. It is argued that for any substantial progress in our understanding of 21st century physics, it will be necessary to resolve these 20th century conflicts. These richly rewarding dialogues provide a starting point for discussions that could lead to such progress. An epilogue is presented on the philosophical advantage of the dialogue form for increased understanding.
Download or read book Philosophy of Physics written by David Wallace and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Philosophy of physics is concerned with the deepest theories of modern physics - quantum theory, our theories of space, time and symmetry, and thermal physics - and their strange, even bizarre conceptual implications. This book explores the core topics in philosophy of physics, and discusses their relevance for both scientists and philosophers.
Download or read book Conversations on Mind Matter and Mathematics written by Jean-Pierre Changeux and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 1998-12-27 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Do numbers and the other objects of mathematics enjoy a timeless existence independent of human minds, or are they the products of cerebral invention? Do we discover them, as Plato supposed and many others have believed since, or do we construct them? Does mathematics constitute a universal language that in principle would permit human beings to communicate with extraterrestrial civilizations elsewhere in the universe, or is it merely an earthly language that owes its accidental existence to the peculiar evolution of neuronal networks in our brains? Does the physical world actually obey mathematical laws, or does it seem to conform to them simply because physicists have increasingly been able to make mathematical sense of it? Jean-Pierre Changeux, an internationally renowned neurobiologist, and Alain Connes, one of the most eminent living mathematicians, find themselves deeply divided by these questions. The problematic status of mathematical objects leads Changeux and Connes to the organization and function of the brain, the ways in which its embryonic and post-natal development influences the unfolding of mathematical reasoning and other kinds of thinking, and whether human intelligence can be simulated, modeled,--or actually reproduced-- by mechanical means. The two men go on to pose ethical questions, inquiring into the natural foundations of morality and the possibility that it may have a neural basis underlying its social manifestations. This vivid record of profound disagreement and, at the same time, sincere search for mutual understanding, follows in the tradition of Poincaré, Hadamard, and von Neumann in probing the limits of human experience and intellectual possibility. Why order should exist in the world at all, and why it should be comprehensible to human beings, is the question that lies at the heart of these remarkable dialogues.
Download or read book Lost in Math written by Sabine Hossenfelder and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this "provocative" book (New York Times), a contrarian physicist argues that her field's modern obsession with beauty has given us wonderful math but bad science. Whether pondering black holes or predicting discoveries at CERN, physicists believe the best theories are beautiful, natural, and elegant, and this standard separates popular theories from disposable ones. This is why, Sabine Hossenfelder argues, we have not seen a major breakthrough in the foundations of physics for more than four decades. The belief in beauty has become so dogmatic that it now conflicts with scientific objectivity: observation has been unable to confirm mindboggling theories, like supersymmetry or grand unification, invented by physicists based on aesthetic criteria. Worse, these "too good to not be true" theories are actually untestable and they have left the field in a cul-de-sac. To escape, physicists must rethink their methods. Only by embracing reality as it is can science discover the truth.
Download or read book Mathematics for Physics written by Michael Stone and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-09 with total page 821 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engagingly-written account of mathematical tools and ideas, this book provides a graduate-level introduction to the mathematics used in research in physics. The first half of the book focuses on the traditional mathematical methods of physics – differential and integral equations, Fourier series and the calculus of variations. The second half contains an introduction to more advanced subjects, including differential geometry, topology and complex variables. The authors' exposition avoids excess rigor whilst explaining subtle but important points often glossed over in more elementary texts. The topics are illustrated at every stage by carefully chosen examples, exercises and problems drawn from realistic physics settings. These make it useful both as a textbook in advanced courses and for self-study. Password-protected solutions to the exercises are available to instructors at www.cambridge.org/9780521854030.
Download or read book The Dialogues written by Clifford V. Johnson and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2018-10-23 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A series of conversations about science in graphic form, on subjects that range from the science of cooking to the multiverse. Physicist Clifford Johnson thinks that we should have more conversations about science. Science should be on our daily conversation menu, along with topics like politics, books, sports, or the latest prestige cable drama. Conversations about science, he tells us, shouldn't be left to the experts. In The Dialogues, Johnson invites us to eavesdrop on a series of nine conversations, in graphic-novel form—written and drawn by Johnson—about “the nature of the universe.” The conversations take place all over the world, in museums, on trains, in restaurants, in what may or may not be Freud's favorite coffeehouse. The conversationalists are men, women, children, experts, and amateur science buffs. The topics of their conversations range from the science of cooking to the multiverse and string theory. The graphic form is especially suited for physics; one drawing can show what it would take many words to explain. In the first conversation, a couple meets at a costume party; they speculate about a scientist with superhero powers who doesn't use them to fight crime but to do more science, and they discuss what it means to have a “beautiful equation” in science. Their conversation spills into another chapter (“Hold on, you haven't told me about light yet”), and in a third chapter they exchange phone numbers. Another couple meets on a train and discusses immortality, time, black holes, and religion. A brother and sister experiment with a grain of rice. Two women sit in a sunny courtyard and discuss the multiverse, quantum gravity, and the anthropic principle. After reading these conversations, we are ready to start our own.
Download or read book The Square Root of 2 written by David Flannery and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-04-26 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An elegantly dramatized and illustrated dialog on the square root of two and the whole concept of irrational numbers.
Download or read book Dialogues on Mathematics written by Alfred Renyi and published by . This book was released on 2019-06-14 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses in dialogue form the basic principles of mathematics and its applications including the question: What is mathematics? What does its specific method consist of? What is its relation to the sciences and humanities? What can it offer to specialists in different fields? How can it be applied in practice and in discovering the laws of nature? Dramatized by the dialogue form and shown in the historical movements in which they originated, these questions are discussed in their full complexity, yet are easily comprehended. The first dialogue, whose chief actor is Socrates, leads the reader to the source of modern mathematics in Athens in the 5th Century BC. The second dialogue, featuring Archimedes, takes place during the siege of Syracuse in 212 BC and shows the birth of applied mathematics. The third dialogue occurs in the year 1633 in Rome, its chief character being Galileo Galilei who fully realized the central importance of the mathematical method in discovering the laws of nature. Intended as supplemental reading for philosophy of mathematics courses at the high school or college level it will be of interest to both specialists and non-specialists in mathematics. Alfréd Rényi was born in Budapest Hungary in 1921. He studied mathematics and physics at the University of Budapest and received his Ph. D. from the University of Szaged in 1945. Since 1950 he has been Director of the Mathematical Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and since 1952 a professor at the University of Budapest. Dr. Renyi was a visiting professor at Michigan State University in 1961, at the University of Michigan in 1964 and at Stanford University in 1966. His main fields of research are probability theory, mathematical statistics and information theory, and he has also worked in analytic number theory as well as in various branches of analysis, combinatorial analysis and geometry.
Download or read book An Equation That Changed the World written by Harald Fritzsch and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1994-10-15 with total page 318 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Following the style of Galileo's Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems, and addressed to readers without specialized knowledge in physics and higher mathematics, this book lets us listen in on an imaginary meeting of the scientists who created classical physics and modern relativity.
Download or read book A Critique of Pure Physics written by Thomas Neil Neubert and published by Xlibris. This book was released on 2009-05 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Dialogues On Modern Physics written by Myron W Evans and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 1998-04-30 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, important conceptual developments of the two major revolutions of modern physics — the quantum and relativity theories — are presented in a nonmathematical, dialectical form of dialogue. The implications of conflicting philosophical attitudes of these revolutions in physics and applications to topics such as cosmology/astrophysics and high energy physics are emphasized. It is argued that for any substantial progress in our understanding of 21st century physics, it will be necessary to resolve these 20th century conflicts. These richly rewarding dialogues provide a starting point for discussions that could lead to such progress. An epilogue is presented on the philosophical advantage of the dialogue form for increased understanding.
Download or read book The Dialogues of Plato written by Plato and published by . This book was released on 1871 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists written by A. Zee and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2016-03-29 with total page 632 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise, modern textbook on group theory written especially for physicists Although group theory is a mathematical subject, it is indispensable to many areas of modern theoretical physics, from atomic physics to condensed matter physics, particle physics to string theory. In particular, it is essential for an understanding of the fundamental forces. Yet until now, what has been missing is a modern, accessible, and self-contained textbook on the subject written especially for physicists. Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists fills this gap, providing a user-friendly and classroom-tested text that focuses on those aspects of group theory physicists most need to know. From the basic intuitive notion of a group, A. Zee takes readers all the way up to how theories based on gauge groups could unify three of the four fundamental forces. He also includes a concise review of the linear algebra needed for group theory, making the book ideal for self-study. Provides physicists with a modern and accessible introduction to group theory Covers applications to various areas of physics, including field theory, particle physics, relativity, and much more Topics include finite group and character tables; real, pseudoreal, and complex representations; Weyl, Dirac, and Majorana equations; the expanding universe and group theory; grand unification; and much more The essential textbook for students and an invaluable resource for researchers Features a brief, self-contained treatment of linear algebra An online illustration package is available to professors Solutions manual (available only to professors)
Download or read book Birth of a Theorem written by Cédric Villani and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2015-04-14 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2010, French mathematician Cédric Villani received the Fields Medal, the most coveted prize in mathematics, in recognition of a proof which he devised with his close collaborator Clément Mouhot to explain one of the most surprising theories in classical physics. Birth of aTheorem is Villani's own account of the years leading up to the award. It invites readers inside the mind of a great mathematician as he wrestles with the most important work of his career. But you don't have to understand nonlinear Landau damping to love Birth of aTheorem. It doesn't simplify or overexplain; rather, it invites readers into collaboration. Villani's diaries, emails, and musings enmesh you in the process of discovery. You join him in unproductive lulls and late-night breakthroughs. You're privy to the dining-hall conversations at the world's greatest research institutions. Villani shares his favorite songs, his love of manga, and the imaginative stories he tells his children. In mathematics, as in any creative work, it is the thinker's whole life that propels discovery—and with Birth of aTheorem, Cédric Villani welcomes you into his.
Download or read book Dialogues written by Plato and published by Standard Ebooks. This book was released on 2022-06-25T16:13:45Z with total page 2510 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alfred North Whitehead once said, “the safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.” It’s hard to overstate Plato’s influence on the West’s philosophical heritage and its civilization. As the first philosopher whose works survived to the present day, his writings and ideas are often characterized as the starting point of Western philosophy. Nor was his influence confined to the modern form of philosophy—Plato also affected political, religious, and spiritual thinkers, including early Christian theologians. Plato’s works are written as dramatic dialogues. His focus is often on following the argument itself—the “dialectic”—rather than working toward a specific conclusion. His mentor, Socrates, is frequently the principal speaker, but scholars still debate whether Plato was expressing Socrates’ views or merely using Socrates as a mouthpiece for his own ideas. In general, there are forty-five major works attributed to Plato, and all but one are dialogues. Modern scholars agree that roughly half of those were definitely written by him, some of those are definitely forgeries, and the rest they’re still unsure about. In this translation Jowett includes all but one of the works that modern scholars agree are authentic, along with an appendix of selected spurious dialogues. Over time, opinion on which works attributed to Plato were definitely written by him has changed; the only work that modern scholars believe is authentic that Jowett doesn’t include in this collection is “Hippias Major.” This book is part of the Standard Ebooks project, which produces free public domain ebooks.
Download or read book Comparative Criticism Volume 20 Philosophical Dialogues written by E. S. Shaffer and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1998-11-19 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Comparative Criticism is an annual journal of comparative literature and cultural studies that has gained an international reputation since its inception in 1979. It contains major articles on literary theory and criticism; on a wide range of comparative topics; and on interdisciplinary debates. It includes translations of literary, scholarly and critical works; substantial reviews of important books in the field; and bibliographies on specialist themes for the year, on individual writers, and on comparative literary studies in Britain and Ireland.
