Kristjan Kannike

Physics Textbooks

NEW! Differential geometry for physicists introduces manifolds, fiber bundles, sections, tensor fields, Lie groups and connections, and their application in classical mechanics, field theory and gravity.

Feynman Lectures on Physics is the famous physics textbook by Richard Feynman.

Light and Matter by Ben Crowell is a free series of textbooks on general physics.

Applications of Classical Physics by Roger Blandford and Kip Thorne is a grand tour of statistical mechanics, optics, waves, hydrodynamics, plasma physics, and cosmology from a relativistic, geometrical point of view.

In his list of knowledge needed by a good theoretical physicist, the Nobel laureate Gerard ’t Hooft gives links to mathematics and physics textbooks on the Net.

Mathematical physicist John Baez suggests textbooks on the five cornerstones of physics, on general relativity and quantum field theory; and mathematics textbooks for physicists.

TASI (Theoretical Advanced Study Institute) lectures on particle physics and cosmology are good reviews of the subjects.

A list of review articles on cosmology, gravitation, including black holes, on particle physics, supersymmetry and string theory was compiled by Sean Carroll.

The NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty treats fundamental physical constants, the international system of units, and calculation of uncertainty in measurements.

Classical Mechanics

David Tong: Lectures on Classical Dynamics are lecture notes with many parallels drawn with quantum theory.

Classical Mechanics by John Baez and Derek Wise is a mathematically inclined set of lecture notes.

Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics by Gerald Jay Sussman and Jack Wisdom with Meinhard E. Mayer presents analytic mechanics from a computational point of view, including Scheme code.

The Theory of Relativity

The course by N. David Mermin gives an elementary overview of special relativity by means of thought experiments.

Sean Carroll’s Lecture Notes on General Relativity begins with traditional review of special relativity, considers manifolds, Riemann spacetime geometry, and Einstein equations, applying them to gravitational waves, black holes, and cosmology.

In General Relativity Lectures by Gerard ’t Hooft, a notable application of general relativity is the deduction of the properties of gravitational radiation with Lagrangian method.

In deducing general relativity from first principles in his lecture notes, Matthias Blau takes example by Weinberg, highlighting the principle of equivalence of gravitational and inertial mass. Besides black holes, cosmology and gravitational waves, he treats Kaluza-Klein theories (where the electromagnetic force is reduced to spatial curvature by analogy to gravitation — in fifth dimension).

Quantum Mechanics

David Mermin describes on quantum computers for computer scientists who have not studied quantum mechanics and for physicists with no education in computer science.

Quantum computing can be learnt from John Preskill’s lecture notes where the whole of quantum mechanics is treated from an information theory point of view.

Thermodynamics & Statistical Physics

The article “Statistical Mechanics in a Nutshell” by Jochen Rau summarises the gist of statistical mechanics on twenty-some pages.

Lecture notes on Statistical Physics and Simulation by Franz J. Vesely treat the Monte Carlo method as used in molecular dynamics both for equilibrium and nonequilibrium systems.

Statistical Mechanics of NonEquilibrium Liquids by Denis J. Evans and Gary P. Morriss, first gives an overview of irreversible thermodynamics, classical statistical mechanics, and the Liouville equation. Systems out of equilibrium are treated as perturbed equilibrium systems. Main simulation algorithms are described.

Quantum Field Theory & Particle Physics

Quantum Field Theory by Mark Srednicki is a lucid modern introduction with focus on renormalization and effective field theory.

The excellent lecture notes Phenomenology of Particle Physics by professor Stephen P. Martin summarize in 250 pages almost all of particle physics, from quantum electrodynamics to quantum chromodynamics, spontaneous symmetry breaking and the Standard Model.

His “Supersymmetry Primer” continues with supersymmetry (breaking), and especially the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM).

The encyclopaedic textbook Fields by Warren Siegel, ending with supersymmetry, supergravity and string theory, is not a good place to start learning quantum field theory, but the advanced student finds it an invaluable reference.

Superspace, or One thousand and one lessons in supersymmetry by S.J. Gates Jr et al. treats supersymmetry and supergravitation in detail.

Cosmology

TASI Lectures: Introduction to Cosmology” by Sean Carroll treats standard cosmology, generation of ordinary and dark matter, and inflation with stress on particle physics.