Stephen Nettel
Wave Physics
Oscillations – Solitons – Chaos
Fourth Edition
123
Professor Stephen Nettel
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Department of Physics
Troy, NY 12180-3590, USA
Contributors to Chapter 8:
Professor Dr. Andrei V. Gaponov-Grekhov Professor Dr. Martin Gutzwiller
Professor Dr. Mikhail I. Rabinovich IBM T.J. Watson Research Center
Institute of Applied Physics P.O. Box 218
Russian Academy of Sciences Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA
ul. Ulyanova 46
603 600 Nizhnii Novgorod, Russia
DOI 10.1007/978-3-540-87908-4
Library of Congress Control Number: 2008940575
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Preface to the Third Edition
This is a text for the third semester of undergraduate physics for students
in accelerated programs, who typically are preparing for advanced degrees
in science or engineering. The third semester is often the only opportunity
for physics departments to present to students who are not physics majors
a coherent background in the physics of waves, required later for confident
handling of applied problems, especially applications based on quantum
mechanics.
Physics is a coherent subject. It is often found that the going gets easier
as one goes deeper, learning the mathematical connections tying together
the various phenomena. Even so, the steps that took us from classical wave
physics to Heisenberg's "Physical Principles of Quantum Theory" were, as
a matter of history, harder to take than later steps dealing with detailed
applications. With these considerations in mind, the classical physics of os-
cillations and waves is developed here at a more advanced mathematical
level than is customary in second year courses. This is done to explain the
classical phenomena, but also to provide background for the introductory
wave mechanics, leading to a logical integration of the latter subject into
the presentation. Concurrently, detailed applications of quantum mechanics
are beyond the mission of the text. The concluding chapters on nonlinear
waves, solitons, and chaos broaden the previously established concepts of
wave behavior, while introducing the reader to important topics in current
wave physics.
Experience teaching the course has led in this third edition to the author's
fully presenting material dealing with Green's functions, rather than trying
to save course time by burying the material in problems and an appendix,
as heretofore. This extension has led, in turn, to a broadening of Chap. 6
on wave mechanics, with a treatment of the Green's function for harmonic
oscillators. In this way, along with additions to examples and problems, the
integration of wave mechanics with classical wave physics has been reinforced.
The text begins with a full chapter of mathematics that develops Fourier
analysis in the context of generalized functions. The idea is to expose students
to the new concepts while there is yet a minimum of "pressure" , and then al-
low them to assimilate the concepts through the chapters on classical physics.
In this way, when it comes to the wave mechanics in Chap. 6, students should
VI Preface
1 L. Roelofs, Book Reviews, D.J. Griffiths Ed., Am. J. Phys. 69, 922 (2001).
Preface to the Second Edition
This is a text for the third semester of undergraduate physics for students
in accelerated programs who typically are preparing for advanced degrees
in science or engineering. The third semester is often the only opportunity
for physics departments to present to students who are not physics majors
a coherent background in the physics of waves required later for confident
handling of applied problems, especially applications based on quantum
mechanics.
Physics is an integrated subject. It is often found that the going gets easier
as one goes deeper, learning the mathematical connections tying together
the various phenomena. Even so, the steps that took us from classical wave
physics to Heisenberg's "Physical Principles of Quantum Theory" were, as
a matter of history, harder to take than later steps dealing with detailed
applications. With these considerations in mind, the classical physics of os-
cillations and waves is developed here at a more advanced mathematical
level than is customary in second year courses. This is done to explain the
classical phenomena, but also to provide background for the introductory
wave mechanics, leading to a logical integration of the latter subject into
the presentation. The concluding chapters on nonlinear waves, solitons, and
chaos broaden the previously established concepts of wave behavior, while
introducing the reader to important topics in current wave physics.
The text begins with a full chapter of mathematics that develops Fourier
analysis in the context of generalized functions. The idea is to expose students
to the new concepts while there is yet a minimum of "pressure" , and then al-
low them to assimilate the concepts through the chapters on classical physics.
In this way, when it comes to the wave mechanics in Chap. 6, students should
be able to distinguish the new physics from mathematics. M. J. Lighthill, in
his monograph "Fourier Analysis and Generalized Functions" , says that "The
theory of generalized functions ... greatly curtails the labor of understanding
Fourier transforms". Application of generalized functions (Schwartz' "theorie
des distributions") avoids undefined integrals like J~oo eikx dk still prevalent in
texts on quantum mechanics. Chapter 2, on oscillations, may seem somewhat
in the nature of a review. The physics material thus starts at the point where
the first exposure in the freshman year has been made, but may have led to
only a partial grasp.
X Preface
4. Electromagnetic Waves 87
4.1 Maxwell's Equations in Integral Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 87
4.2 Maxwell's Equations in Differential Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 88
4.3 Plane Electromagnetic Waves in Free Space. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 92
4.4 Distributed Electromagnetic Systems - Cavities . . . . . . . . . . .. 98
XIV Contents
Index 285