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Titles in the Student's Guide series tackle important and challenging topics in physics by adopting a plain language approach to explain fundamental ideas in a clear and accessible way. Written and designed specifically for students, numerous exercises and worked examples are presented throughout the text to enhance the reader's understanding of the key concepts. The books in this series cover a wide range of subjects within the university physics curriculum. Many of the titles offer supplementary online resources such as podcasts, worked solutions, and simulations.

  • General Editors: Daniel Fleisch, Wittenberg University, Ohio

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18 results in Student's Guides

A Student's Guide to Rotational Motion
  • Effrosyni Seitaridou, Alfred C. K. Farris
  • Published online:
    07 August 2023
    Print publication:
    03 August 2023
  • Rotational motion is of fundamental importance in physics and engineering, and an essential topic for undergraduates to master. This accessible yet rigorous Student's Guide focuses on the underlying principles of rotational dynamics, providing the reader with an intuitive understanding of the physical concepts, and a firm grasp of the mathematics. Key concepts covered include torque, moment of inertia, angular momentum, work and energy, and the combination of translational and rotational motion. Each chapter presents one important aspect of the topic, with derivations and analysis of the fundamental equations supported by step-by-step examples and exercises demonstrating important applications. Much of the book is focused on scenarios in which point masses and rigid bodies rotate around fixed axes, while more advanced examples of rotational motion, including gyroscopic motion, are introduced in a final chapter.

A Student's Guide to the Ising Model
  • James S. Walker
  • Published online:
    11 May 2023
    Print publication:
    25 May 2023
  • The Ising model provides a detailed mathematical description of ferromagnetism and is widely used in statistical physics and condensed matter physics. In this Student's Guide, the author demystifies the mathematical framework of the Ising model and provides students with a clear understanding of both its physical significance, and how to apply it successfully in their calculations. Key topics related to the Ising model are covered, including exact solutions of both finite and infinite systems, series expansions about high and low temperatures, mean-field approximation methods, and renormalization-group calculations. The book also incorporates plots, figures, and tables to highlight the significance of the results. Designed as a supplementary resource for undergraduate and graduate students, each chapter includes a selection of exercises intended to reinforce and extend important concepts, and solutions are also available for all exercises.

A Student's Guide to the Navier-Stokes Equations
  • Justin W. Garvin
  • Published online:
    10 March 2023
    Print publication:
    09 February 2023
  • The Navier-Stokes equations describe the motion of fluids and are an invaluable addition to the toolbox of every physicist, applied mathematician, and engineer. The equations arise from applying Newton's laws of motion to a moving fluid and are considered, when used in combination with mass and energy conservation rules, to be the fundamental governing equations of fluid motion. They are relevant across many disciplines, from astrophysics and oceanic sciences to aerospace engineering and materials science. This Student's Guide provides a clear and focused presentation of the derivation, significance and applications of the Navier-Stokes equations, along with the associated continuity and energy equations. Designed as a useful supplementary resource for undergraduate and graduate students, each chapter concludes with a selection of exercises intended to reinforce and extend important concepts. Video podcasts demonstrating the solutions in full are provided online, along with written solutions and other additional resources.

A Student's Guide to Special Relativity
  • Norman Gray
  • Published online:
    26 January 2022
    Print publication:
    03 February 2022
  • This compact yet informative Guide presents an accessible route through Special Relativity, taking a modern axiomatic and geometrical approach. It begins by explaining key concepts and introducing Einstein's postulates. The consequences of the postulates – length contraction and time dilation – are unravelled qualitatively and then quantitatively. These strands are then tied together using the mathematical framework of the Lorentz transformation, before applying these ideas to kinematics and dynamics. This volume demonstrates the essential simplicity of the core ideas of Special Relativity, while acknowledging the challenges of developing new intuitions and dealing with the apparent paradoxes that arise. A valuable supplementary resource for intermediate undergraduates, as well as independent learners with some technical background, the Guide includes numerous exercises with hints and notes provided online. It lays the foundations for further study in General Relativity, which is introduced briefly in an appendix.

A Student's Guide to Laplace Transforms
  • Daniel Fleisch
  • Published online:
    11 January 2022
    Print publication:
    13 January 2022
  • The Laplace transform is a useful mathematical tool encountered by students of physics, engineering, and applied mathematics, within a wide variety of important applications in mechanics, electronics, thermodynamics and more. However, students often struggle with the rationale behind these transforms, and the physical meaning of the transform results. Using the same approach that has proven highly popular in his other Student's Guides, Professor Fleisch addresses the topics that his students have found most troublesome; providing a detailed and accessible description of Laplace transforms and how they relate to Fourier and Z-transforms. Written in plain language and including numerous, fully worked examples. The book is accompanied by a website containing a rich set of freely available supporting materials, including interactive solutions for every problem in the text, and a series of podcasts in which the author explains the important concepts, equations, and graphs of every section of the book.

A Student's Guide to the Schrödinger Equation
  • Daniel A. Fleisch
  • Published online:
    08 September 2021
    Print publication:
    20 February 2020
  • Quantum mechanics is a hugely important topic in science and engineering, but many students struggle to understand the abstract mathematical techniques used to solve the Schrödinger equation and to analyze the resulting wave functions. Retaining the popular approach used in Fleisch's other Student's Guides, this friendly resource uses plain language to provide detailed explanations of the fundamental concepts and mathematical techniques underlying the Schrödinger equation in quantum mechanics. It addresses in a clear and intuitive way the problems students find most troublesome. Each chapter includes several homework problems with fully worked solutions. A companion website hosts additional resources, including a helpful glossary, Matlab code for creating key simulations, revision quizzes and a series of videos in which the author explains the most important concepts from each section of the book.

A Student's Guide to General Relativity
  • Norman Gray
  • Published online:
    24 May 2019
    Print publication:
    03 January 2019
  • This compact guide presents the key features of general relativity, to support and supplement the presentation in mainstream, more comprehensive undergraduate textbooks, or as a re-cap of essentials for graduate students pursuing more advanced studies. It helps students plot a careful path to understanding the core ideas and basics of differential geometry, as applied to general relativity, without overwhelming them. While the guide doesn't shy away from necessary technicalities, it emphasises the essential simplicity of the main physical arguments. Presuming a familiarity with special relativity (with a brief account in an appendix), it describes how general covariance and the equivalence principle motivate Einstein's theory of gravitation. It then introduces differential geometry and the covariant derivative as the mathematical technology which allows us to understand Einstein's equations of general relativity. The book is supported by numerous worked exampled and problems, and important applications of general relativity are described in an appendix.

A Student's Guide to Atomic Physics
  • Mark Fox
  • Published online:
    21 June 2018
    Print publication:
    14 June 2018
  • This concise and accessible book provides a detailed introduction to the fundamental principles of atomic physics at an undergraduate level. Concepts are explained in an intuitive way and the book assumes only a basic knowledge of quantum mechanics and electromagnetism. With a compact format specifically designed for students, the first part of the book covers the key principles of the subject, including the quantum theory of the hydrogen atom, radiative transitions, the shell model of multi-electron atoms, spin-orbit coupling, and the effects of external fields. The second part provides an introduction to the four key applications of atomic physics: lasers, cold atoms, solid-state spectroscopy and astrophysics. This highly pedagogical text includes worked examples and end of chapter problems to allow students to test their knowledge, as well as numerous diagrams of key concepts, making it perfect for undergraduate students looking for a succinct primer on the concepts and applications of atomic physics.

A Student's Guide to Dimensional Analysis
  • Don S. Lemons
  • Published online:
    31 March 2017
    Print publication:
    16 March 2017
  • This introduction to dimensional analysis covers the methods, history and formalisation of the field, and provides physics and engineering applications. Covering topics from mechanics, hydro- and electrodynamics to thermal and quantum physics, it illustrates the possibilities and limitations of dimensional analysis. Introducing basic physics and fluid engineering topics through the mathematical methods of dimensional analysis, this book is perfect for students in physics, engineering and mathematics. Explaining potentially unfamiliar concepts such as viscosity and diffusivity, the text includes worked examples and end-of-chapter problems with answers provided in an accompanying appendix, which help make it ideal for self-study. Long-standing methodological problems arising in popular presentations of dimensional analysis are also identified and solved, making the book a useful text for advanced students and professionals.

A Student's Guide to Numerical Methods
  • Ian H. Hutchinson
  • Published online:
    05 May 2015
    Print publication:
    30 April 2015
  • This concise, plain-language guide for senior undergraduates and graduate students aims to develop intuition, practical skills and an understanding of the framework of numerical methods for the physical sciences and engineering. It provides accessible self-contained explanations of mathematical principles, avoiding intimidating formal proofs. Worked examples and targeted exercises enable the student to master the realities of using numerical techniques for common needs such as solution of ordinary and partial differential equations, fitting experimental data, and simulation using particle and Monte Carlo methods. Topics are carefully selected and structured to build understanding, and illustrate key principles such as: accuracy, stability, order of convergence, iterative refinement, and computational effort estimation. Enrichment sections and in-depth footnotes form a springboard to more advanced material and provide additional background. Whether used for self-study, or as the basis of an accelerated introductory class, this compact textbook provides a thorough grounding in computational physics and engineering.

A Student's Guide to Waves
  • Daniel Fleisch, Laura Kinnaman
  • Published online:
    05 April 2015
    Print publication:
    09 April 2015
  • Waves are an important topic in the fields of mechanics, electromagnetism, and quantum theory, but many students struggle with the mathematical aspects. Written to complement course textbooks, this book focuses on the topics that students find most difficult. Retaining the highly popular approach used in Fleisch's other Student's Guides, the book uses plain language to explain fundamental ideas in a simple and clear way. Exercises and fully-worked examples help readers test their understanding of the concepts, making this an ideal book for undergraduates in physics and engineering trying to get to grips with this challenging subject. The book is supported by a suite of online resources available at www.cambridge.org/9781107643260. These include interactive solutions for every exercise and problem in the text and a series of video podcasts in which the authors explain the important concepts of every section of the book.

A Student's Guide to Entropy
  • Don S. Lemons
  • Published online:
    05 September 2014
    Print publication:
    29 August 2013
  • Striving to explore the subject in as simple a manner as possible, this book helps readers understand the elusive concept of entropy. Innovative aspects of the book include the construction of statistical entropy from desired properties, the derivation of the entropy of classical systems from purely classical assumptions, and a statistical thermodynamics approach to the ideal Fermi and ideal Bose gases. Derivations are worked through step-by-step and important applications are highlighted in over 20 worked examples. Around 50 end-of-chapter exercises test readers' understanding. The book also features a glossary giving definitions for all essential terms, a time line showing important developments, and list of books for further study. It is an ideal supplement to undergraduate courses in physics, engineering, chemistry and mathematics.

A Student's Guide to the Mathematics of Astronomy
  • Daniel Fleisch, Julia Kregenow
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    29 August 2013
  • The study of astronomy offers an unlimited opportunity for us to gain a deeper understanding of our planet, the Solar System, the Milky Way Galaxy and the known Universe. Using the plain-language approach that has proven highly popular in Fleisch's other Student's Guides, this book is ideal for non-science majors taking introductory astronomy courses. The authors address topics that students find most troublesome, on subjects ranging from stars and light to gravity and black holes. Dozens of fully worked examples and over 150 exercises and homework problems help readers get to grips with the concepts in each chapter. An accompanying website features a host of supporting materials, including interactive solutions for every exercise and problem in the text and a series of video podcasts in which the authors explain the important concepts of every section of the book.

A Student's Guide to Lagrangians and Hamiltonians
  • Patrick Hamill
  • Published online:
    05 June 2014
    Print publication:
    21 November 2013
  • A concise but rigorous treatment of variational techniques, focussing primarily on Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems, this book is ideal for physics, engineering and mathematics students. The book begins by applying Lagrange's equations to a number of mechanical systems. It introduces the concepts of generalized coordinates and generalized momentum. Following this the book turns to the calculus of variations to derive the Euler–Lagrange equations. It introduces Hamilton's principle and uses this throughout the book to derive further results. The Hamiltonian, Hamilton's equations, canonical transformations, Poisson brackets and Hamilton–Jacobi theory are considered next. The book concludes by discussing continuous Lagrangians and Hamiltonians and how they are related to field theory. Written in clear, simple language and featuring numerous worked examples and exercises to help students master the material, this book is a valuable supplement to courses in mechanics.

A Student's Guide to Vectors and Tensors
  • Daniel A. Fleisch
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    22 September 2011
  • Vectors and tensors are among the most powerful problem-solving tools available, with applications ranging from mechanics and electromagnetics to general relativity. Understanding the nature and application of vectors and tensors is critically important to students of physics and engineering. Adopting the same approach used in his highly popular A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations, Fleisch explains vectors and tensors in plain language. Written for undergraduate and beginning graduate students, the book provides a thorough grounding in vectors and vector calculus before transitioning through contra and covariant components to tensors and their applications. Matrices and their algebra are reviewed on the book's supporting website, which also features interactive solutions to every problem in the text where students can work through a series of hints or choose to see the entire solution at once. Audio podcasts give students the opportunity to hear important concepts in the book explained by the author.

A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations
  • Daniel Fleisch
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    10 January 2008
  • Gauss's law for electric fields, Gauss's law for magnetic fields, Faraday's law, and the Ampere–Maxwell law are four of the most influential equations in science. In this guide for students, each equation is the subject of an entire chapter, with detailed, plain-language explanations of the physical meaning of each symbol in the equation, for both the integral and differential forms. The final chapter shows how Maxwell's equations may be combined to produce the wave equation, the basis for the electromagnetic theory of light. This book is a wonderful resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in electromagnetism and electromagnetics. A website hosted by the author at www.cambridge.org/9780521701471 contains interactive solutions to every problem in the text as well as audio podcasts to walk students through each chapter.

A Student's Guide to Data and Error Analysis
  • Herman J. C. Berendsen
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    07 April 2011
  • All students taking laboratory courses within the physical sciences and engineering will benefit from this book, whilst researchers will find it an invaluable reference. This concise, practical guide brings the reader up-to-speed on the proper handling and presentation of scientific data and its inaccuracies. It covers all the vital topics with practical guidelines, computer programs (in Python), and recipes for handling experimental errors and reporting experimental data. In addition to the essentials, it also provides further background material for advanced readers who want to understand how the methods work. Plenty of examples, exercises and solutions are provided to aid and test understanding, whilst useful data, tables and formulas are compiled in a handy section for easy reference.

A Student's Guide to Fourier Transforms
  • With Applications in Physics and Engineering
  • 3rd edition
  • J. F. James
  • Published online:
    05 June 2012
    Print publication:
    31 March 2011
  • Fourier transform theory is of central importance in a vast range of applications in physical science, engineering and applied mathematics. Providing a concise introduction to the theory and practice of Fourier transforms, this book is invaluable to students of physics, electrical and electronic engineering, and computer science. After a brief description of the basic ideas and theorems, the power of the technique is illustrated through applications in optics, spectroscopy, electronics and telecommunications. The rarely discussed but important field of multi-dimensional Fourier theory is covered, including a description of Computer Axial Tomography (CAT scanning). The book concludes by discussing digital methods, with particular attention to the Fast Fourier Transform and its implementation. This new edition has been revised to include new and interesting material, such as convolution with a sinusoid, coherence, the Michelson stellar interferometer and the van Cittert–Zernike theorem, Babinet's principle and dipole arrays.