Download or read book Structure and Approximation in Physical Theories written by A. Hartkamper and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The present volume contains 14 contributions presented at a colloquium on "Structure and Approximation in Physical Theories" held at Osnabruck in June 1980. The articles are presented in the revised form written after the colloquium and hence also take account of the results of the discussion at the colloquium. It is a striking feature that the problem of approximation in physical theories has only recently found some attention in the philosophy of science, although the working physicist is con stantly confronted with those questions. No interesting theory of exact science exactly fits its experimental data; almost every relation between different theories is an approximate one. There fore an adequate reconstruction of physical theories must take into account and conceptualize the moment of approximation. The majority of the articles in this book is centered around this subject. There are at least two elaborate, 'structuralistic' approaches to the formalization of physical theories in which the aspect of approximation has been incorporated: the approach due to P. Suppes, J. Sneed, W. Stegmuller ("S-approach") and the approach of G. Lud wig and his co-workers ("L-approach"). The articles in this book correspondingly fall into three classes: presentation, elaboration and critique of the L-approach [Hartkamper/Schmidt, Ludwig, Neumann, Werner, Schmidt, Mayr, Kamiah, Majer, Grafe] or of the S-approach [Moulines, Balzer, Cooke], and articles referring to both approaches or concerned with related matters [Scheibe, Pfarr, Castrigiano]. Of course, this is only a rough classification and each article must be appraised in its own right.
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.
Download or read book A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics written by Stephen Wolfram and published by Wolfram Media. This book was released on 2020 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Wolfram Physics Project is a bold effort to find the fundamental theory of physics. It combines new ideas with the latest research in physics, mathematics and computation in the push to achieve this ultimate goal of science. Written with Stephen Wolfram's characteristic expository flair, this book provides a unique opportunity to learn about a historic initiative in science right as it is happening. A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics includes an accessible introduction to the project as well as core technical exposition and rich, never-before-seen visualizations.
Download or read book A New Kind of Science written by Stephen Wolfram and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 1197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work presents a series of dramatic discoveries never before made public. Starting from a collection of simple computer experiments---illustrated in the book by striking computer graphics---Wolfram shows how their unexpected results force a whole new way of looking at the operation of our universe. Wolfram uses his approach to tackle a remarkable array of fundamental problems in science: from the origin of the Second Law of thermodynamics, to the development of complexity in biology, the computational limitations of mathematics, the possibility of a truly fundamental theory of physics, and the interplay between free will and determinism.
Download or read book The Structure of Physics written by Carl F. von Weizsäcker and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-01-15 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book is a newly arranged and revised English version of "Aufbau der Physik" by Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker. Some original chapters and sections have been deleted, and a new chapter about further insights and results of ur-theoretic research of the late 1980’s and 1990’s has been included. Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker combines the perspectives of science, philosophy, religion and politics with a view towards the challenges as well as the responsibilities of our time.
Download or read book A Mathematical Introduction to Electronic Structure Theory written by Lin Lin and published by SIAM. This book was released on 2019-06-05 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on first principle quantum mechanics, electronic structure theory is widely used in physics, chemistry, materials science, and related fields and has recently received increasing research attention in applied and computational mathematics. This book provides a self-contained, mathematically oriented introduction to the subject and its associated algorithms and analysis. It will help applied mathematics students and researchers with minimal background in physics understand the basics of electronic structure theory and prepare them to conduct research in this area. The book begins with an elementary introduction of quantum mechanics, including the uncertainty principle and the Hartree?Fock theory, which is considered the starting point of modern electronic structure theory. The authors then provide an in-depth discussion of two carefully selected topics that are directly related to several aspects of modern electronic structure calculations: density matrix based algorithms and linear response theory. Chapter 2 introduces the Kohn?Sham density functional theory with a focus on the density matrix based numerical algorithms, and Chapter 3 introduces linear response theory, which provides a unified viewpoint of several important phenomena in physics and numerics. An understanding of these topics will prepare readers for more advanced topics in this field. The book concludes with the random phase approximation to the correlation energy. The book is written for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, specifically those with mathematical backgrounds but without a priori knowledge of quantum mechanics, and can be used for self-study by researchers, instructors, and other scientists. The book can also serve as a starting point to learn about many-body perturbation theory, a topic at the frontier of the study of interacting electrons.
Download or read book The Theory of the Knowledge Square The Fuzzy Rational Foundations of the Knowledge Production Systems written by Kofi Kissi Dompere and published by Springer. This book was released on 2012-08-28 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The monograph is about a meta-theory of knowledge-production process and the logical pathway that connects the epistemic possibility to the epistemic reality. It examines the general conditions of paradigms for information processing and isolates the classical and fuzzy paradigms for comparative analysis. The sets of conditions that give rise to them are defined, stated and analyzed to abstract the corresponding sets of laws of thought. The fuzzy paradigm with its corresponding logic and mathematics is related to inexact symbolism for the defective information structure where the results of the knowledge production must satisfy the epistemic conditionality, composed of fuzzy conditionality and fuzzy-stochastic conditionality under the principle of logical duality with continuum. The classical paradigm with its corresponding logic and mathematics is related to exact symbolism for exact information structure where the vagueness component of the defectiveness is assumed away, and where the results of the knowledge production must satisfy no epistemic conditionality or at the maximum only the stochastic conditionality under the principle of logical dualism with excluded middle. It is argued that the epistemic path that links ontological space to the epistemological space is information. The ontological space is taken as the primary category of reality while the epistemological space is shone to be a derivative. Such information is universally defective and together with assumptions imposed guides the development of paradigms with their laws of thought, logic of reasoning, mathematics and computational techniques. The relational structure is seen in terms of logical trinity with a given example as matter-information-energy transformational trinity which is supported by the time trinity of past-present-future relationality. The book is written for professionals, researchers and students working in philosophy of science, decision-choice theories, economies, sciences, computer science, engineering, cognitive psychology and researchers working on, or interested in fuzzy paradigm, fuzzy logic, fuzzy decisions, and phenomena of vagueness and ambiguities, fuzzy mathematics, fuzzy-stochastic processes and theory of knowledge. It is further aimed at research institutions and libraries. The subject matter belongs to extensive research and development taking place on fuzzy phenomena and the debate between the fuzzy paradigm and the classical paradigm relative to informatics, synergetic science and complexity theory. The book will have a global appeal and across disciplines. Its strength, besides the contents, is the special effort that is undertaken to make it relevant and accessible to different areas of sciences and knowledge production.
Download or read book Theoretical Chemistry and Physics of Heavy and Superheavy Elements written by U. Kaldor and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-06-29 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Quantum mechanics provides the fundamental theoretical apparatus for describing the structure and properties of atoms and molecules in terms of the behaviour of their fundamental components, electrons and nudeL For heavy atoms and molecules containing them, the electrons can move at speeds which represent a substantial fraction of the speed of light, and thus relativity must be taken into account. Relativistic quantum mechanics therefore provides the basic formalism for calculating the properties of heavy-atom systems. The purpose of this book is to provide a detailed description of the application of relativistic quantum mechanics to the many-body prob lem in the theoretical chemistry and physics of heavy and superheavy elements. Recent years have witnessed a continued and growing interest in relativistic quantum chemical methods and the associated computa tional algorithms which facilitate their application. This interest is fu elled by the need to develop robust, yet efficient theoretical approaches, together with efficient algorithms, which can be applied to atoms in the lower part of the Periodic Table and, more particularly, molecules and molecular entities containing such atoms. Such relativistic theories and computational algorithms are an essential ingredient for the description of heavy element chemistry, becoming even more important in the case of superheavy elements. They are destined to become an indispensable tool in the quantum chemist's armoury. Indeed, since relativity influences the structure of every atom in the Periodic Table, relativistic molecular structure methods may replace in many applications the non-relativistic techniques widely used in contemporary research.
Download or read book Group Theory in Solid State Physics and Photonics written by Wolfram Hergert and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 411 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: While group theory and its application to solid state physics is well established, this textbook raises two completely new aspects. First, it provides a better understanding by focusing on problem solving and making extensive use of Mathematica tools to visualize the concepts. Second, it offers a new tool for the photonics community by transferring the concepts of group theory and its application to photonic crystals. Clearly divided into three parts, the first provides the basics of group theory. Even at this stage, the authors go beyond the widely used standard examples to show the broad field of applications. Part II is devoted to applications in condensed matter physics, i.e. the electronic structure of materials. Combining the application of the computer algebra system Mathematica with pen and paper derivations leads to a better and faster understanding. The exhaustive discussion shows that the basics of group theory can also be applied to a totally different field, as seen in Part III. Here, photonic applications are discussed in parallel to the electronic case, with the focus on photonic crystals in two and three dimensions, as well as being partially expanded to other problems in the field of photonics. The authors have developed Mathematica package GTPack which is available for download from the book's homepage. Analytic considerations, numerical calculations and visualization are carried out using the same software. While the use of the Mathematica tools are demonstrated on elementary examples, they can equally be applied to more complicated tasks resulting from the reader's own research.
Download or read book The Philosophy Behind Physics written by Thomas A. Brody and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Thomas Brody had one of the most powerful and wide-ranging intellects of his generation. Although primarily a physicist who worked on statistical prob lems in nuclear physics, on probability theory and on computational physics he had an extensive knowledge of the philosophy of science and of philosophy, and was fluent in many languages. He is well-known among physicists for the Brody-Moshinsky transformation but his extensive work on probability and on the philosophy of science remained almost unknown. This was because the originality of his ideas entailed many lengthy battles with uncomprehending referees, and he frequently published in Mexican journals of limited circula tion. In addition, his strongly critical spirit inhibited his willingness to publish his ideas. He was always most concerned by the very unsatisfactory situation in the philosophy of physics, that is largely due to the generally poor knowledge that physicists and philosophers have of each other's disciplines. Philosophers of science write at length about physics without any detailed first-hand knowl edge of how research is actually carried out. Physicists, for their part, often implicitly assume naive or erroneous philosophical ideas, and this often hinders their scientific work, besides spreading further confusion if they try to give an account of what they are doing.
Download or read book Electronic Structure and Magnetism of Inorganic Compounds written by Peter Day and published by Royal Society of Chemistry. This book was released on 1980 with total page 326 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This product is not available separately, it is only sold as part of a set. There are 750 products in the set and these are all sold as one entity. Specialist Periodical Reports provide systematic and detailed review coverage of progress in the major areas of chemical research. Written by experts in their specialist fields the series creates a unique service for the active research chemist, supplying regular critical in-depth accounts of progress in particular areas of chemistry. For over 80 years the Royal Society of Chemistry and its predecessor, the Chemical Society, have been publishing reports charting developments in chemistry, which originally took the form of Annual Reports. However, by 1967 the whole spectrum of chemistry could no longer be contained within one volume and the series Specialist Periodical Reports was born. The Annual Reports themselves still existed but were divided into two, and subsequently three, volumes covering Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry. For more general coverage of the highlights in chemistry they remain a 'must'. Since that time the SPR series has altered according to the fluctuating degree of activity in various fields of chemistry. Some titles have remained unchanged, while others have altered their emphasis along with their titles; some have been combined under a new name whereas others have had to be discontinued. The current list of Specialist Periodical Reports can be seen on the inside flap of this volume.
Download or read book Quantum Gravity written by Claus Kiefer and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-04-05 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The search for a quantum theory of the gravitational field is one of the great open problems in theoretical physics. This book presents a self-contained discussion of the concepts, methods and applications that can be expected in such a theory. The two main approaches to its construction — the direct quantisation of Einstein's general theory of relativity and string theory — are covered. Whereas the first attempts to construct a viable theory for the gravitational field alone, string theory assumes that a quantum theory of gravity will be achieved only through a unification of all the interactions. However, both employ the general method of quantization of constrained systems, which is described together with illustrative examples relevant for quantum gravity. There is a detailed presentation of the main approaches employed in quantum general relativity: path-integral quantization, the background-field method and canonical quantum gravity in the metric, connection and loop formulations. The discussion of string theory centres around its quantum-gravitational aspects and the comparison with quantum general relativity. Physical applications discussed at length include the quantization of black holes, quantum cosmology, the indications of a discrete structure of spacetime, and the origin of irreversibility. This third edition contains new chapters or sections on quantum gravity phenomenology, Horava-Lifshitz quantum gravity, analogue gravity, the holographic principle, and affine quantum gravity. It will present updates on loop quantum cosmology, the LTB model, asymptotic safety, and various discrete approaches. The third edition also contains pedagogical extensions throughout the text. This book will be of interest to researchers and students working in relativity and gravitation, cosmology, quantum field theory and related topics. It will also be of interest to mathematicians and philosophers of science.
Download or read book Approximate Models of Mechanics of Composites written by Igor V. Andrianov and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2024-06-20 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Approximate Models of Mechanics of Composites: An Asymptotic Approach is an essential guide to constructing asymptotic models and mathematical methods to correctly identify the mechanical behavior of composites. It provides methodology for predicting and evaluating composite behavior in various structures, leading to accurate mathematical and physical assessments. The book estimates the error of approximations through comparing asymptotic solutions with the results of numerical and analytical solutions to gain a holistic view of the data. The authors have developed asymptotic models based on mathematical and physical rigorous approaches, which include three-phase models of fibrous composites, a modernized three-phase composite model with cylindrical inclusions, and models of two-dimensional composites of hexagonal structure. Also covered are two-phase models of composites related to the Maxwell formula and a percolation transition model for elastic problems based on the self-consistency method and Padé approximations. By obtaining analytical expressions to effectively characterize composite materials, their physical and geometric parameters can be accurately assessed. This book suits engineers and students working in material science, mechanical engineering, physics, and mathematics, as well as composite materials in industries such as construction, transport, aerospace, and chemical engineering.
Download or read book Idealization VII Structuralism Idealization and Approximation written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2023-03-13 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Matter of Consciousness written by Torin Alter and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-03-02 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Torin Alter presents a compelling defence of the 'knowledge argument' against physicalism, pioneered by Frank Jackson. According to physicalism, consciousness is a physical phenomenon. The knowledge argument stars Mary, who learns all objective, physical information through black-and-white media and yet acquires new information when she first sees colors for herself: information about what it is like to see in color. Based partly on that case, Jackson concludes that not all information is physical. Alter argues that the knowledge argument succeeds in refuting all standard versions of physicalism: versions on which consciousness is grounded by what objective science reveals. Alter also argues that given further, plausible assumptions, the knowledge argument leads to Russellian monism, according to which there are intrinsic properties that both constitute consciousness and underlie properties described by physics, such as mass and charge. Alter explains how the knowledge argument establishes those two conclusions and defend it against numerous objections.
Download or read book Topics in Mathematical Physics General Relativity and Cosmology in Honor of Jerzy Pleba ski written by Hugo Garc¡a-Compe n and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2006 with total page 528 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of modern science's most famous and controversial figures, Jerzy Plebanski was an outstanding theoretical physicist and an author of many intriguing discoveries in general relativity and quantum theory. Known for his exceptional analytic talents, explosive character, inexhaustible energy, and bohemian nights with brandy, coffee, and enormous amounts of cigarettes, he was dedicated to both science and art, producing innumerable handwritten articles - resembling monk's calligraphy - as well as a collection of oil paintings. As a collaborator but also an antagonist of Leopold Infeld's (a coauthor of Albert Einstein's), Plebanski is recognized for designing the "heavenly" and "hyper-heavenly" equations, for introducing new variables to describe the gravitational field, for the exact solutions in Einstein's gravity and in quantum theory, for his classification of the tensor of matter, for some outstanding results in nonlinear electrodynamics, and for analyzing general relativity with continuous sources long before Chandrasekhar et al. A tribute to Plebaski's contributions and the variety of his interests, this is a unique and wide-ranging collection of invited papers, covering gravity quantization, strings, branes, supersymmetry, ideas on the deformation quantization, and lesser known results on the continuous Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff problem.
Download or read book Quantum Mechanics written by Gregory L. Naber and published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. This book was released on 2021-09-20 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work covers quantum mechanics by answering questions such as where did the Planck constant and Heisenberg algebra come from, what motivated Feynman to introduce his path integral and why does one distinguish two types of particles, the bosons and fermions. The author addresses all these topics with utter mathematical rigor. The high number of instructive Appendices and numerous Remark sections supply the necessary background knowledge.
