Variational Principles in Physics

Variational Principles in Physics
ISBN-10
0387377484
ISBN-13
9780387377483
Category
Science
Pages
186
Language
English
Published
2007-03-12
Publisher
Springer Science & Business Media
Author
Jean-Louis Basdevant

Description

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.

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