Variational Principles in Physics
Variational Principles in Physics

Author: Jean-Louis Basdevant

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-03-12

Total Pages: 191

ISBN-13: 0387377484

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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.

Variational Principles in Classical Mechanics
Variational Principles in Classical Mechanics

Author: Douglas Cline

Publisher:

Published: 2018-08

Total Pages:

ISBN-13: 9780998837277

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Two dramatically different philosophical approaches to classical mechanics were proposed during the 17th - 18th centuries. Newton developed his vectorial formulation that uses time-dependent differential equations of motion to relate vector observables like force and rate of change of momentum. Euler, Lagrange, Hamilton, and Jacobi, developed powerful alternative variational formulations based on the assumption that nature follows the principle of least action. These variational formulations now play a pivotal role in science and engineering.This book introduces variational principles and their application to classical mechanics. The relative merits of the intuitive Newtonian vectorial formulation, and the more powerful variational formulations are compared. Applications to a wide variety of topics illustrate the intellectual beauty, remarkable power, and broad scope provided by use of variational principles in physics.The second edition adds discussion of the use of variational principles applied to the following topics:(1) Systems subject to initial boundary conditions(2) The hierarchy of related formulations based on action, Lagrangian, Hamiltonian, and equations of motion, to systems that involve symmetries.(3) Non-conservative systems.(4) Variable-mass systems.(5) The General Theory of Relativity.Douglas Cline is a Professor of Physics in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York.

Gauge Theory and Variational Principles
Gauge Theory and Variational Principles

Author: David Bleecker

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2005-12-10

Total Pages: 202

ISBN-13: 0486445461

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This text provides a framework for describing and organizing the basic forces of nature and the interactions of subatomic particles. A detailed and self-contained mathematical account of gauge theory, it is geared toward beginning graduate students and advanced undergraduates in mathematics and physics. This well-organized treatment supplements its rigor with intuitive ideas. Starting with an examination of principal fiber bundles and connections, the text explores curvature; particle fields, Lagrangians, and gauge invariance; Lagrange's equation for particle fields; and the inhomogeneous field equation. Additional topics include free Dirac electron fields; interactions; calculus on frame bundle; and unification of gauge fields and gravitation. The text concludes with references, a selected bibliography, an index of notation, and a general index.

Variational Principles of Continuum Mechanics
Variational Principles of Continuum Mechanics

Author: Victor Berdichevsky

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2009-09-18

Total Pages: 590

ISBN-13: 354088467X

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Thereareabout500booksonvariationalprinciples. Theyareconcernedmostlywith the mathematical aspects of the topic. The major goal of this book is to discuss the physical origin of the variational principles and the intrinsic interrelations between them. For example, the Gibbs principles appear not as the rst principles of the theory of thermodynamic equilibrium but as a consequence of the Einstein formula for thermodynamic uctuations. The mathematical issues are considered as long as they shed light on the physical outcomes and/or provide a useful technique for direct study of variational problems. Thebookisacompletelyrewrittenversionoftheauthor’smonographVariational Principles of Continuum Mechanics which appeared in Russian in 1983. I have been postponing the English translation because I wished to include the variational pr- ciples of irreversible processes in the new edition. Reaching an understanding of this subject took longer than I expected. In its nal form, this book covers all aspects of the story. The part concerned with irreversible processes is tiny, but it determines the accents put on all the results presented. The other new issues included in the book are: entropy of microstructure, variational principles of vortex line dynamics, va- ational principles and integration in functional spaces, some stochastic variational problems, variational principle for probability densities of local elds in composites with random structure, variational theory of turbulence; these topics have not been covered previously in monographic literature.

Variational Principles
Variational Principles

Author: B. L. Moiseiwitsch

Publisher: Courier Corporation

Published: 2013-02-20

Total Pages: 534

ISBN-13: 0486150496

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This graduate-level text's primary objective is to demonstrate the expression of the equations of the various branches of mathematical physics in the succinct and elegant form of variational principles (and thereby illuminate their interrelationship). Its related intentions are to show how variational principles may be employed to determine the discrete eigenvalues for stationary state problems and to illustrate how to find the values of quantities (such as the phase shifts) that arise in the theory of scattering. Chapter-by-chapter treatment consists of analytical dynamics; optics, wave mechanics, and quantum mechanics; field equations; eigenvalue problems; and scattering theory. 1966 edition. Bibliography. Index.

Variational Methods in Theoretical Mechanics
Variational Methods in Theoretical Mechanics

Author: J.T. Oden

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 3642963129

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This is a textbook written for use in a graduate-level course for students of mechanics and engineering science. It is designed to cover the essential features of modern variational methods and to demonstrate how a number of basic mathematical concepts can be used to produce a unified theory of variational mechanics. As prerequisite to using this text, we assume that the student is equipped with an introductory course in functional analysis at a level roughly equal to that covered, for example, in Kolmogorov and Fomin (Functional Analysis, Vol. I, Graylock, Rochester, 1957) and possibly a graduate-level course in continuum mechanics. Numerous references to supplementary material are listed throughout the book. We are indebted to Professor Jim Douglas of the University of Chicago, who read an earlier version of the manuscript and whose detailed suggestions were extremely helpful in preparing the final draft. He also gratefully acknowledge that much of our own research work on variational theory was supported by the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research. He are indebted to Mr. Ming-Goei Sheu for help in proofreading. Finally, we wish to express thanks to Mrs. Marilyn Gude for her excellent and pains taking job of typing the manuscript. J. T. ODEN J. N. REDDY Table of Contents PREFACE 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Role of Variational Theory in Mechanics. 1 1.2 Some Historical Comments ......... . 2 1.3 Plan of Study ............... . 5 7 2. MATHEMATICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CLASSICAL VARIATIONAL THEORY 7 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . .