The best parts of physics are the last topics that our students ever
see. These are the exciting new frontiers of nonlinear and complex
systems that are at the forefront of university research and are the
basis of many high-tech businesses. Topics such as traffic on the
World Wide Web, the spread of epidemics through globally-mobile
populations, or the synchronization of global economies are governed
by universal principles just as profound as Newton's laws.
Nonetheless, the conventional university physics curriculum reserves
most of these topics for advanced graduate study. Two justifications
are given for this situation: first, that the mathematical tools
needed to understand these topics are beyond the skill set of
undergraduate students, and second, that these are speciality topics
with no common theme and little overlap. Introduction to Modern
Dynamics dispels these myths. The structure of this book combines the
three main topics of modern dynamics - chaos theory, dynamics on
complex networks, and general relativity - into a coherent framework.
By taking a geometric view of physics, concentrating on the time
evolution of physical systems as trajectories through abstract spaces,
these topics share a common and simple mathematical language through
which any student can gain a unified physical intuition. Given the
growing importance of complex dynamical systems in many areas of
science and technology, this text provides students with an up-to-date
foundation for their future careers.
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Chaos, Networks, Space and Time
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191631450
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter