Name: Thermal physics
ISBN: 9780716710882

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BeetleBFeb 2024

I know many hated it, but thermodynamics never clicked for me until I read the book by Kittel/Kroemer.

(You probably should know basic QM first, though)

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Physics-2nd-Charles-Kittel/dp...

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antogniniMar 2020

My personal recommendations for an undergraduate course in physics (based in large part off of my own undergrad curriculum):

Foundations:

1. Newtonian Mechanics by A.P. French (https://archive.org/details/NewtonianMechanics/mode/2up). This will give you a good foundation for what is to come.

2. Spacetime Physics by Taylor & Wheeler --- first edition if you can find it! It is much, much better than the second! Special relativity is conceptually strange, but mathematically pretty easy, so you can jump right into it after learning Newtonian mechanics. Have a little fun!

3. Electricity & Magnetism by Purcell. This book is a little unusual in that it derives magnetism from the laws of special relativity. This is the more natural approach than just asserting the laws of magnetism since magnetism is fundamentally a relativistic phenomenon.

4. Waves by Crawford. (https://archive.org/details/Waves_371/mode/2up) A bit hard to find in print, but a really excellent textbook. Waves are a fascinating topic because they come up in every area of physics, so a course focused around them has a huge number of applications.

5. Introduction to Quantum Mechanics by Griffiths. The best introduction to the topic you will find!

6. Thermal Physics by Kittel & Kroemer. I haven't actually found an introductory book on statistical physics that I'm crazy about, but this one isn't too bad.

That should last you some time. But once you're through with those and are looking for more, then here are some advanced topics:

7. Analytical Mechanics by Hand & Finch. This will teach you advanced Newtonian mechanics --- in particular Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics. There is a chapter on chaotic dynamics towards the end, too. Another option here is Classical Mechanics by Goldstein.

8. Introduction to Electrodynamics by Griffiths. More advanced E&M than Purcell. If you want to go further, then there's always Classical Electrodynamics by Jackson.

9. Principles of Quantum Mechanics by Shankar. This spends more time on the mathematical foundations of QM than Griffiths does and goes into the path integral formalism and touches on relativistic QM towards the end of the book.

10. A First Course in General Relativity by Schutz. There are arbitrarily advanced texts on GR, but I'd recommend starting off with something friendly like Schutz.

11. An Introduction to Elementary Particles by Griffiths. Not super advanced mathematically, but it's a good thing to read over to prepare you for more advanced QFT texts. The first chapter is especially good as a history of the development of particle physics.

12. Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell by Zee.

13. Modern Classical Physics by Thorne & Blandford. This is a tour de force. It's an enormous book but it really touches on everything that is left out by the above books. It covers optics, fluid dynamics, statistical physics, plasma physics, and more. (I'm currently reading through it and have only gotten through 6 chapters, but it's really an incredible textbook.)

14. Statistical Mechanics: Entropy, Order Parameters, and Complexity by Sethna. This is a really fun book, but almost all the material is in the problems.

Finally, and most importantly --- remember that physics is not a spectator sport! You must do problems. A lot of them --- and hard ones, too!

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BalgairNov 2016

You may want to read 'Thermal Physics' by Kittel and Kromer. It is the BIBLE of statistical mechanics and should straighten you out on why a statistical law is just as good as all others. And yes, it goes into great detail about when and how the statistical laws 'emerge', so to speak. Physicists have been 'worried' about what you mention in you comment for about a century and the science is very mature these days. Used copies start at ~$25.

https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Physics-2nd-Charles-Kittel/dp...

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rg111May 2022

I was a Physics guy, a significant portion of my personality was centered around Physics.

When I started my Physics major, I had to complete two advanced Maths courses titled- Mathematical Methods I, II.

My love for Math took off from there. If you ask for books, then I would mention the MP book by Arfken, Weber, Harris. So minimal, yet straight to the point. Consistent and edifying.

I read a different Maths book in HS than what everyone else read. It was a local book, but very well written by prominent Mathematical intellectuals- the kind that write Math columns or act as mentors of syllabus advisory committee. This made a huge difference.

I liked Statistical Mechanics in college. I read Blundell and Blundell for it along with an unusual book as a reference- https://www.amazon.com/Thermal-Physics-Thermodynamics-Statis... .

How Math explains the physical world so prominently blew my mind. I loved it.

I also watched Calculus video from MIT-OCW when in HS.

I switched to Deep Learning after college. How I could actually use Math to build something extremely practical made me love Math even more. This was the true turning point.

I now want to spend three years- part-time, studying higher math by myself. I think it is worth it, and I want to do original, basic research in the Deep Learning space.

While I keep my eye out for resources, I follow these lists-

* https://www.susanrigetti.com/math

* https://marksaroufim.medium.com/technical-books-i-%EF%B8%8F-...

I can recommend this book for you to read right now-

1. The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Mathematics from Zero Infinity by Steven Strogatz. A truly remarkable book.

2. How Not to Be Wrong: The Hidden Maths of Everyday Life by Jordan Ellenberg.

YouTube videos from 3blue1brown and Numberphile also increased my love for Maths.

Edit: I read some chapters from Alex Bello's Alex's Adventures in The Numberland. It was fantastic. I can recommend it.

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selimthegrimJul 2018

A similar derivation is given in the first edition of Kittel’s Thermal Physics, as well as in the Quantum Mechanics book by Griffiths IIRC.

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