Introduction to the Classical Theory of Particles and Fields

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Springer Science & Business Media, Jul 11, 2007 - Science - 479 pages

This volume is intended as a systematic introduction to gauge field theory for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in high energy physics. The discussion is restricted to the classical (non-quantum) theory in Minkowski spacetime. Particular attention has been given to conceptual aspects of field theory, accurate definitions of basic physical notions, and thorough analysis of exact solutions to the equations of motion for interacting systems.

 

Contents

Geometry of Minkowski Space
1
Relativistic Mechanics
51
Electromagnetic Field 123
122
Solutions to Maxwells Equations
141
Lagrangian Formalism in Electrodynamics
195
SelfInteraction in Electrodynamics
249
Lagrangian Formalism for Gauge Theories
285
Solutions to the YangMills Equations
307
SelfInteraction in Gauge Theories 353
352
Generalizations
367
Mathematical Appendices
411
References 449
448
Index
469
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Page 1 - THE views of space and time which I wish to lay before you have sprung from the soil of experimental physics, and therein lies their strength. They are radical. Henceforth space by itself, and time by itself, are doomed to fade away into mere shadows, and only a kind of union of the two will preserve an independent reality.
Page 2 - According to the principle of relativity, the laws of physical phenomena must be the same for a fixed observer as for an observer who has a uniform motion of translation relative to him, so that we have not, nor can we possibly have, any means of discerning whether or not we are carried along in such a motion.
Page 2 - the laws of physical phenomena must be the same for a 'fixed' observer as for an observer who has a uniform motion of translation relative to him : so that we have not, and cannot possibly have, any means of discerning whether we are, or are not, carried along in such a motion.
Page 3 - From this principle he concluded that "there must arise an entirely new kind of dynamics, which will be characterized above all by the rule that no velocity can exceed the velocity of light".

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