A. S. Kompaneyets – A Course Of Theoretical Physics (Vols. 1 and 2)

Volume 1 of this course of theoretical physics deals with the fundamental laws of physics. The text lucidly presents for students and workers in theoretical physics the fundamental principles underlying the findings of experimental physics. It gives a unified presentation of classical mechanics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics and provides an excellent foundation for the study of more advanced topics in atomic, molecular, and solid-state physics. Fundamental laws can be read by students who have had courses in introductory physics, electricity, and magnetism.

Volume 2 of this course of theoretical physics deals with statistical laws, the basic structure remains essentially the same. The author has selected those topics he felt to be of general interest. The book includes, for instance, sections on fluctuations, Gibbs statistics, detonation waves, ferromagnetism, and the theory of semiconductors. Statistical laws can be read by a student who has had courses in classical mechanics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics. Numerous exercises combine with the masterly coverage of the subject to make statistical laws an essential text for university and college students.

 

Alexander S. Kompaneyets (1914-1974)
Professor Alexander Solomonovich Kompaneyets was a leading Soviet theoretical physicist from 1946 Until his untimely death he worked at the Institute of Chemical Physics of the USSR Academy of Sciences, contributing, among other things, to the development of nuclear energy in the Soviet Union in all its aspects.

 

The book was translated from the Russian by V. Talmy and was published by Mir in 1978.

You can get the Volume 1 here and here

You can get the Volume 2 here and here

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CONTENTS

Volume 1

Preface — 5

PART I. MECHANICS

  • General Remarks — 9
  • Lagrange Equations — 13
  • Examples of Constructing the Lagrange Equations — 27
  • Conservation Laws — 36
  • Motion in a Central Field — 49
  • Collision of Particles — 58
  • Small Oscillations — 70
  • Noninertial Frames of Reference — 81
  • Dynamics of Rigid Bodies — 89
  • Hamilton’s Equations and the Hamilton–Jacobi Equation — 108
  • PART II. ELECTRODYNAMICS

  • Vector Analysis — 125
  • Maxwell’s Equations — 142
  • Einstein’s Relativity Principle — 157
  • Relativistic Mechanics — 177
  • Action of an Electromagnetic Field — 194
  • Electrostatics of Point Charges — 208
  • Magnetostatics of Point Charges — 219
  • Plane Electromagnetic Waves — 229
  • Transmission of Signals. Almost Plane Waves — 239
  • The Emission of Electromagnetic Waves — 248
  • PART III. QUANTUM MECHANICS

  • The Inadequacy of Classical Mechanics. The Analogy Between Classical Mechanics and Geometrical Optics — 269
  • Electron Diffraction — 278
  • The Wave Equation — 285
  • Operators in Quantum Mechanics — 293
  • Expansions in Wave Functions — 306
  • Transformation of Independent Variables — 318
  • Operators in Matrix Representation — 331
  • Some Problems in Coordinate Representation — 342
  • Motion in a Central Potential — 365
  • Electron Spin — 383
  • The Quasi-Classical Approximation — 401
  • Perturbation Theory — 424
  • Many-Electron Systems. The Atom — 436
  • Diatomic Molecules — 480
  • The Quantum Theory of Scattering — 491
  • The Quantum Theory of Radiation — 508
  • The Dirac Equation — 528
  • Supplementary Exercises — 547

    Index — 557

    Volume 2

    Preface — 5

    PART I. STATISTICAL PHYSICS

  • Equilibrium Distribution of Molecules in Ideal Gas — 9
  • Boltzmann Statistics: Translational Motion of Molecules; Gas in an External Field — 27
  • Boltzmann Statistics: Vibrational and Rotational Molecular Motion — 41
  • Applications of Statistics to Electromagnetic Fields in Vacuum and to Crystalline Bodies — 51
  • The Bose Distribution — 69
  • The Fermi Distribution — 73
  • Gibbs Statistics — 82
  • Thermodynamic Quantities — 95
  • The Thermodynamic Properties of Ideal Gas in Boltzmann Statistics — 120
  • Fluctuations — 132
  • Phase Equilibria — 143
  • Dilute Solutions — 158
  • Chemical Equilibria — 164
  • Surface Phenomena — 170
  • PART II. HYDRODYNAMICS AND GAS DYNAMICS

  • The General Equations of Hydrodynamics — 176
  • Some Problems on the Motion of an Ideal Fluid — 192
  • Mechanics of a Viscous Incompressible Fluid — 201
  • Motion of Bodies in an Incompressible Fluid — 213
  • Superfluidity — 226
  • One-Dimensional Steady Flow of a Compressible Gas — 236
  • Quasi-One-Dimensional Flow of a Gas — 241
  • Characteristics of One-Dimensional Nonsteady Isentropic Flow — 246
  • Simple Waves — 251
  • One-Dimensional Nonsteady Isentropic Flow: Interaction of Simple Waves — 258
  • Shock Waves — 267
  • Applications of the Theory of Shock Waves — 277
  • Detonation Waves — 284
  • PART III. ELECTRODYNAMICS OF CONTINUOUS MEDIA

  • General Equations — 290
  • Electrostatics of Conductors — 299
  • Electrostatics of Dielectrics — 312
  • Direct Current — 321
  • Magnetic Properties of Nonferromagnetic Media — 332
  • Ferromagnetism — 342
  • The Magnetic Field of Direct Current — 352
  • Quasi-Stationary Currents — 363
  • Rapidly Variable Fields — 376
  • Theory of Dispersion — 386
  • Electromagnetic Waves — 397
  • Some Applications of the Electrodynamics of Rapidly Variable Fields — 411
  • PART IV. PHYSICAL KINETICS

  • General Relationships — 423
  • The Transport Equation — 440
  • Electrons in Crystals — 465
  • Semiconductors and Metals — 480
  • Index — 502

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