Author : Jean-Louis Basdevant
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 191 pages
File Size : 51,8 Mb
Release : 2007-03-12
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780387377483
Variational Principles in Physics by Jean-Louis Basdevant Pdf
Variational principles have proven to be surprisingly fertile. For example, Fermat used variational methods to demonstrate that light follows the fastest route from one point to another, an idea which came to be a cornerstone of geometrical optics. This book explains variational principles and charts their use throughout modern physics. It examines the analytical mechanics of Lagrange and Hamilton, the basic tools of any physicist. The book also offers simple but rich first impressions of Einstein’s General Relativity, Feynman’s Quantum Mechanics, and more that reveal amazing interconnections between various fields of physics.