Download or read book The Aim and Structure of Physical Theory written by Pierre Maurice Marie Duhem and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-08-10 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic work in the philosophy of physical science is an incisive and readable account of the scientific method. Pierre Duhem was one of the great figures in French science, a devoted teacher, and a distinguished scholar of the history and philosophy of science. This book represents his most mature thought on a wide range of topics.
Download or read book Physical Theory and its Interpretation written by William Demopoulos and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-11-03 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The essays in this volume were written by leading researchers on classical mechanics, statistical mechanics, quantum theory, and relativity. They detail central topics in the foundations of physics, including the role of symmetry principles in classical and quantum physics, Einstein's hole argument in general relativity, quantum mechanics and special relativity, quantum correlations, quantum logic, and quantum probability and information.
Download or read book The Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory written by Werner Heisenberg and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nobel Laureate discusses quantum theory, uncertainty, wave mechanics, work of Dirac, Schroedinger, Compton, Einstein, others. "An authoritative statement of Heisenberg's views on this aspect of the quantum theory." — Nature.
Download or read book Fundamentals of the Physical Theory of Diffraction written by Pyotr Ya. Ufimtsev and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2007-02-09 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the first complete and comprehensive description of the modern Physical Theory of Diffraction (PTD) based on the concept of elementary edge waves (EEWs). The theory is demonstrated with the example of the diffraction of acoustic and electromagnetic waves at perfectly reflecting objects. The derived analytic expressions clearly explain the physical structure of the scattered field and describe in detail all of the reflected and diffracted rays and beams, as well as the fields in the vicinity of caustics and foci. Shadow radiation, a new fundamental component of the field, is introduced and proven to contain half of the total scattered power.
Download or read book Physical Theory written by Lawrence Sklar and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-09-30 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In nine new essays, distinguished philosophers of science take on outstanding philosophical issues that arise in the exploration of the foundations of contemporary, especially physical scientific theories. In the first part of the book issues of scientific method are explored. What are we asking when we pose scientific "why?" questions? How does probability play a role in answering such questions? What are scientific laws of nature? How can we understand what abstract theories are telling us about the world? What is the structure of the theories we use to explain the observable phenomena? Finally, how do theories evolve over time and what consequence do such changes have for our intuition that science is seeking the truth? In the second part of the volume, foundational issues are explored in a number of crucial physical theories. What do our best available theories tell us about space and time? When we apply quantum theory to fields or other systems with infinite degrees of freedom, what new foundational puzzles appear and how might a theory of interpretation deal with them? Finally, what are the crucial foundational issues in statistical mechanics, where probabilities are applied to explain macroscopic thermal phenomena?
Download or read book Group Theory written by Morton Hamermesh and published by . This book was released on 1964 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Assumption and Myth in Physical Theory written by H. Bondi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1967-11-02 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Professor Bondi discusses some of the myths that have grown up around various scientific theories and ideas, particularly special relativity and Mach's principle. His critical - and often light-hearted - approach to what are usually regarded as complicated ideas leaves the reader with the feeling that perhaps much of his subject is common sense after all. Professor Bondi's aim is to provoke thought, rather than to provide all the answers. He first discusses the limits of theory-making, the significance of depth and universality and the devising of effective tests for scientific theories. The relation of Einstein's theory to classical Newtonian mechanics is then considered, the author showing that relativity can be regarded simple as an extension of Newton's ideas on dynamics to the whole of physics. After deriving the equations of special relativity by the so-called k-calculus, he disposes rapidly of the 'clock paradox' and moves on to discuss general relativity, the significance of the result of Newman and Penrose concerning gravitational waves, the sources of gravitation and inertia, Mach's principles and the Hoyle-Narlikar relativity theory.
Download or read book Philosophy of Physics written by M. Bunge and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with some of the current issues in the philosophy, methodology and foundations of physics. Some such problems are: - Do mathematical formalisms interpret themselves or is it necessary to adjoin them interpretation assumptions, and if so how are these as sumptions to be framed? - What are physical theories about: physical systems or laboratory operations or both or neither? - How are the basic concepts of a theory to be introduced: by ref erence to measurements or by explicit definition or axiomatically? - What is the use ofaxiomatics in physics? - How are the various physical theories inter-related: like Chinese boxes or in more complex ways? - What is the role of analogy in the construction and in the inter pretation of physical theories? In particular, are classical analogues like those of particle and wave indispensable in quantum theories? - What is the role of the apparatus in quantum phenomena and what is the place of measurement theory in quantum mechanics? - How does a theory face experiment: single-handed or with the help of further theories? These and several other questions of the kind are met with by the research physicist, the physics teacher and the physics student in their everyday work. If dodged they will recur. And a wrong answer to them may obscure the understanding of what has been achieved and may even hamper further advancement. Philosophy, methodology and foundations, like rose bushes, are enjoyable when cultivated but become ugly and thorny when neglected.
Download or read book A First Look at Perturbation Theory written by James G. Simmonds and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2013-07-04 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Undergraduates in engineering and the physical sciences receive a thorough introduction to perturbation theory in this useful and accessible text. Students discover methods for obtaining an approximate solution of a mathematical problem by exploiting the presence of a small, dimensionless parameter — the smaller the parameter, the more accurate the approximate solution. Knowledge of perturbation theory offers a twofold benefit: approximate solutions often reveal the exact solution's essential dependence on specified parameters; also, some problems resistant to numerical solutions may yield to perturbation methods. In fact, numerical and perturbation methods can be combined in a complementary way. The text opens with a well-defined treatment of finding the roots of polynomials whose coefficients contain a small parameter. Proceeding to differential equations, the authors explain many techniques for handling perturbations that reorder the equations or involve an unbounded independent variable. Two disparate practical problems that can be solved efficiently with perturbation methods conclude the volume. Written in an informal style that moves from specific examples to general principles, this elementary text emphasizes the "why" along with the "how"; prerequisites include a knowledge of one-variable calculus and ordinary differential equations. This newly revised second edition features an additional appendix concerning the approximate evaluation of integrals.
Download or read book Information Theory and Quantum Physics written by Herbert S. Green and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this highly readable book, H.S. Green, a former student of Max Born and well known as an author in physics and in the philosophy of science, presents a timely analysis of theoretical physics and related fundamental problems.
Download or read book Masters of Theory written by Andrew Warwick and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-04-15 with total page 587 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the the Susan Elizabeth Abrams Prize in History of Science. When Isaac Newton published the Principia three centuries ago, only a few scholars were capable of understanding his conceptually demanding work. Yet this esoteric knowledge quickly became accessible in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when Britain produced many leading mathematical physicists. In this book, Andrew Warwick shows how the education of these "masters of theory" led them to transform our understanding of everything from the flight of a boomerang to the structure of the universe. Warwick focuses on Cambridge University, where many of the best physicists trained. He begins by tracing the dramatic changes in undergraduate education there since the eighteenth century, especially the gradual emergence of the private tutor as the most important teacher of mathematics. Next he explores the material culture of mathematics instruction, showing how the humble pen and paper so crucial to this study transformed everything from classroom teaching to final examinations. Balancing their intense intellectual work with strenuous physical exercise, the students themselves—known as the "Wranglers"—helped foster the competitive spirit that drove them in the classroom and informed the Victorian ideal of a manly student. Finally, by investigating several historical "cases," such as the reception of Albert Einstein's special and general theories of relativity, Warwick shows how the production, transmission, and reception of new knowledge was profoundly shaped by the skills taught to Cambridge undergraduates. Drawing on a wealth of new archival evidence and illustrations, Masters of Theory examines the origins of a cultural tradition within which the complex world of theoretical physics was made commonplace.
Download or read book Theory of Linear Physical Systems written by Ernst A. Guillemin and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2013-05-15 with total page 610 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An eminent electrical engineer presents this advanced treatise, which approaches the subject from the viewpoint of classical dynamics and covers Fourier methods. Suitable for upper-level undergraduates and graduate students. 1963 edition.
Download or read book Philosophy of Physics written by Tim Maudlin and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A sophisticated and original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics from one of the world’s leading philosophers of physics In this book, Tim Maudlin, one of the world’s leading philosophers of physics, offers a sophisticated, original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics. The briefest, clearest, and most refined account of his influential approach to the subject, the book will be invaluable to all students of philosophy and physics. Quantum mechanics holds a unique place in the history of physics. It has produced the most accurate predictions of any scientific theory, but, more astonishing, there has never been any agreement about what the theory implies about physical reality. Maudlin argues that the very term “quantum theory” is a misnomer. A proper physical theory should clearly describe what is there and what it does—yet standard textbooks present quantum mechanics as a predictive recipe in search of a physical theory. In contrast, Maudlin explores three proper theories that recover the quantum predictions: the indeterministic wavefunction collapse theory of Ghirardi, Rimini, and Weber; the deterministic particle theory of deBroglie and Bohm; and the conceptually challenging Many Worlds theory of Everett. Each offers a radically different proposal for the nature of physical reality, but Maudlin shows that none of them are what they are generally taken to be.
Download or read book Can Theories be Refuted written by Sandra Harding and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: According to a view assumed by many scientists and philosophers of science and standardly found in science textbooks, it is controlled ex perience which provides the basis for distinguishing between acceptable and unacceptable theories in science: acceptable theories are those which can pass empirical tests. It has often been thought that a certain sort of test is particularly significant: 'crucial experiments' provide supporting empiri cal evidence for one theory while providing conclusive evidence against another. However, in 1906 Pierre Duhem argued that the falsification of a theory is necessarily ambiguous and therefore that there are no crucial experiments; one can never be sure that it is a given theory rather than auxiliary or background hypotheses which experiment has falsified. w. V. Quine has concurred in this judgment, arguing that "our statements about the external world face the tribunal of sense experience not indi vidually but only as a corporate body". Some philosophers have thought that the Duhem-Quine thesis gra tuitously raises perplexities. Others see it as doubly significant; these philosophers think that it provides a base for criticism of the foundational view of knowledge which has dominated much of western thought since Descartes, and they think that it opens the door to a new and fruitful way to conceive of scientific progress in particular and of the nature and growth of knowledge in general.
Download or read book Quantum Theory of Many Particle Systems written by Alexander L. Fetter and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-03-08 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Self-contained treatment of nonrelativistic many-particle systems discusses both formalism and applications in terms of ground-state (zero-temperature) formalism, finite-temperature formalism, canonical transformations, and applications to physical systems. 1971 edition.
Download or read book A Survey of Physical Theory written by Max Planck and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1993-01-01 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this classic of scientific literature, the Nobel Laureate and creator of the quantum revolution explores the basics of physics, concluding with an engrossing narrative of how he developed quantum theory. 1925 edition.
Download or read book New Foundations for Physical Geometry written by Tim Maudlin and published by . This book was released on 2014-02 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tim Maudlin sets out a completely new method for describing the geometrical structure of spaces, and thus a better mathematical tool for describing and understanding space-time. He presents a historical review of the development of geometry and topology, and then his original Theory of Linear Structures.
