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Elsevier

Books in Physics

Physics titles offer comprehensive research and advancements across the fundamental and applied areas of physical science. From quantum mechanics and particle physics to astrophysics and materials science, these titles drive innovation and deepen understanding of the principles governing the universe. Essential for researchers, educators, and students, this collection supports scientific progress and practical applications across a diverse range of physics disciplines.

  • Fluctuation Phenomena

    • 1st Edition
    • E Montroll
    • English
    Studies in Statistical Mechanics, Volume VII: Fluctuation Phenomena Fluctuation explores different aspects of fluctuation behavior and their relation to microscopic processes and other phenomena, including the nucleation of a new phase following the quenching of a system into the coexistence region. It looks at phenomenological fluctuation theories, stochastic processes such as Markoff and momentless processes, and stochastic geometric aspects of amorphous solids. Comprised of five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of fluctuations and the Ehrenfest dog-flea model. It then turns to a discussion of density fluctuations in dilute gases, the Langevin theory of Brownian motion, and classical diffusion and random walks. It also systematically introduces the reader to the statistical mechanical theory of the kinetics of phase transitions, the molecular theory of metastability, and multidimensional continuous time random walks, along with the effect of boundaries and defects onf stochastic processes. In addition, it describes the phenomenological theory of the kinetics of nucleation and its application to nucleation, spinodal decomposition, and condensation. Other chapters focus on a stochastic model for the kinetics of phase transitions, the physical ideas used in theories of metastability, and the importance of dynamics in the study of metastability. The book explains how to estimate the escape rate and describes the statistical mechanics of clusters before concluding with a discussion of slowly-varying ensembles. This book is a valuable resource for students, physicists, and researchers who want to gain more knowledge and learn about statistical mechanics in general and fluctuation phenomena in particular.

  • Large-Order Behaviour of Perturbation Theory

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 7
    • J.C. Le Guillou + 1 more
    • English
    This volume is concerned with the determination of the behaviour of perturbation theory at large orders in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory, and its application to the problem of summation of perturbation series.Perturbation series in quantum field theory and in many quantum mechanics models are only asymptotic and thus diverge for all values of the expansion parameter. Their behaviour at large orders provides information about whether they define the theory uniquely (the problem of Borel summability). It suggests methods to extract numerical information from the series when the expansion parameter is not small.The articles reprinted here deal with the explicit evaluation of large-order behaviour in many quantum mechanics and field theory models. The large-order behaviour is related to barrier penetration effects for unphysical values of the expansion parameter, which can be calculated by WKB or instanton methods. The calculation of critical exponents of &fgr;4 field theory is presented as a practical application.

  • Elastic Waves in the Earth

    • 1st Edition
    • Walter L. Pilant
    • English
    Elastic Waves in the Earth provides information on the relationship between seismology and geophysics and their general aspects. The book offers elastodynamic equations and derivative equations that can be used in the propagation of elastic waves. It also covers major topics in detail, such as the fundamentals of elastodynamics; the Lamb's problem, which includes the Cagniard-de Hoop theory; rays and modes in a radially inhomogeneous earth and in multilayered media, which includes the Thomson-Haskell theory; the elastic wave dissipation; the seismic source and noise; and the seismographs. The book consists of 33 chapters. The first 16 chapters include basic material related to the propagation of elastic waves. Topics covered by these chapters include scalars, vectors, and tensors in cartesian coordinates, stress and strain analysis, equations of elasticity and motion, plane waves, Rayleigh waves, plane-wave theory, and fluid-fluid and solid-solid interfaces. The second half of the book covers various ray and mode theories, elastic wave dissipation, and the observations and theories of seismic source and seismic noise. It concludes by discussing earthquake seismology and different seismographs, like the pendulum seismometer and the strain seismometer.

  • Thin Film Processes II

    • 1st Edition
    • Werner Kern
    • John L. Vossen
    • English
    This sequel to the 1978 classic, Thin Film Processes, gives a clear, practical exposition of important thin film deposition and etching processes that have not yet been adequately reviewed. It discusses selected processes in tutorial overviews with implementation guide lines and an introduction to the literature. Though edited to stand alone, when taken together, Thin Film Processes II and its predecessor present a thorough grounding in modern thin film techniques.

  • Semiconducting Ore Minerals

    • 1st Edition
    • R Shuey
    • English
    Developments in Economic Geology, 4: Semiconducting Ore Minerals provides a comprehensive discussion of the semiconductor physics of ore minerals, which is a specialized field that is interdisciplinary to materials science and earth science. The book is organized into four parts. Part I deals with basic principles such as the electronic structure of solids; electrical conduction in semiconductors; and various crystal properties which, like conductivity, depend primarily upon the electronic structure. It also discusses theoretical and experimental investigations pertinent to complex electrical inhomogeneity. Part 2 examines the properties of elements such as bismuth, copper, and graphite. Part 3 deals with sulfides including arsenopyrite, bornite, chalcocite, chalcopyrite, covellite, molybdenite, pyrrhotite, and sphalerite. Part 4 covers oxides, including cassiterite, cuprite, hematite, magnetite, pyrolusite, and rutile. This book may be a useful reference for those involved with research on ore minerals, including geophysicists, geochemists, or extractive metallurgists.

  • Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films 1992

    • 1st Edition
    • G.E. McGuire + 2 more
    • English
    One of the increasingly important requirements for high technology materials is that they possess near-surface properties different to their bulk properties. Specific surface properties are generally achieved through the use of these films or coatings or by modifying the structure or composition of the near surface. This two-volume work contains 157 papers covering a wide range of topics involving films, coatings, and modified surfaces. All aspects of the development of deposition technologies are addressed including basic research, applied research, applications development and full scale industrial production. The work will be of interest to materials scientists, physicists, electronic, chemical and mechanical engineers, and chemists.

  • Optical Properties of Mixed Crystals

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 23
    • R.J. Elliott + 1 more
    • English
    ``Optical Properties of Mixed Crystals'' is concerned with the description of optical processes in substitutionally disordered semiconductors and insulators which can be basically described through their elementary excitations. Two of the chapters relate to the phonon response including the effect of side bands on electron transitions. Two relate to electronic spectra, one on photoelectron spectroscopy and the other on excitons. A further chapter deals with magnons in magnetic crystals and a final chapter is related to fluctuations and band edge effects.Each chapter deals with a specific class of excitation, but the book makes it clear that the fundamental structure of the excitation spectra, including band formation, band tailing and localisation is common to every type of excitation. The volume shows how some basic concepts and ideas can be widely applied to bring coherence and understanding to a diverse area of solid state physics. It therefore provides an up-to-date summary of the experimental and theoretical situation in an important and rapidly developing field and brings together for the first time a discussion of the many different types of spectra which appear in mixed crystals.

  • Methods of Surface Analysis

    • 1st Edition
    • Volume 1
    • A.W. Czanderna
    • English
    Methods of Surface Analysis deals with the determination of the composition of surfaces and the identification of species attached to the surface. The text applies methods of surface analysis to obtain a composition depth profile after various stages of ion etching or sputtering. The composition at the solid—solid interface is revealed by systematically removing atomic planes until the interface of interest is reached, in which the investigator can then determine its composition. The book reviews the effect of ion etching on the results obtained by any method of surface analysis including the effect of the rate of etching, incident energy of the bombarding ion, the properties of the solid, the effect of the ion etching on generating an output signal of electrons, ions, or neutrals. The text also describes the effect of the residual gases in the vacuum environment. The book considers the influence of the sample geometry, of the type (metal, insulator, semiconductor, organic), and of the atomic number can have on surface analysis. The text describes in detail low energy ion scattering spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Auger electron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and infrared reflection-absorptio... spectroscopy. The book can prove useful for researchers, technicians, and scientists whose works involve organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, and other related fields of chemistry, such as physical chemistry or inorganic chemistry.

  • Principles of Laser Dynamics

    • 1st Edition
    • Y.I. Khanin
    • English
    This monograph summarizes major achievements in laser dynamics over the past three decades. The book begins with two introductory Chapters. Chapter 1 offers general considerations on quantum oscillators, formulates the requirements for the laser key elements and shows how these requirements are met in different laser systems. The second Chapter proposes the mathematical models used in semiclassical laser theory, discusses the approximations and simplifications in particular cases, and specifies the range of applicability of these models. In Chapters 3-5 attention is given primarily to the steady states and their stability, the laser behavior in the instability domain, the characteristics of regular and chaotic pulsations and the nature of their mechanisms.Chapter 6 deals with the processes in a laser, accompanying the time variance of laser parameters. Considerable attention is given to a laser response to weak, low-frequency modulation of the parameters. The problems addressed therein are resonant modulation enhancement, transition to the nonlinear regime, chaotic response to periodic impact, spike-like generation due to variation of the cavity geometry and a laser rod temperature drift.Laser behavior is subject to qualitative changes if its optical elements exhibit nonlinear properties. The action of a saturable absorber, which leads to a loss of laser stability and provides passive Q-modulation, is investigated. To a much lesser degree the researchers' attention has been attracted by other nonlinear effects such as self-focusing, e.g., which may have a strong influence on laser dynamics. All of these issues are covered in Chapter 7.The book is intended for researchers, engineers, graduate and post-graduate students majoring in quantum electronics.

  • Metallurgical Coatings and Thin Films 1991

    • 1st Edition
    • G.E. McGuire + 2 more
    • English
    The contributions in this two-volume set represent the work of over two hundred international researchers from universities, government laboratories and industry, with diverse backgrounds and interests in a wide range of coatings and thin film processes. The two hundred and six papers attest to the fact that Metallurgical Coatings is a rapidly growing field attracting experts from the large materials, scientific and technical community. The papers will be a useful and dynamic tool for those wishing to increase their knowledge on metallurgical coatings, as well as providing a guide to recent literature in this field.

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