To say that this is the best book on the quantum theory of fields is no praise, since to my knowledge it is the only book on this subject But it is a very good and most useful book The original was written in German and appeared in 1942 This is a translation with some minor changes A few remarks have been added, concerning meson theory and nuclear forces, also footnotes referring to modern work in this field, and finally an appendix on the symmetrization of the energy momentum tensor according to Belinfante Quantum Theory of Fields Prof Gregor Wentzel Translated from the German by Charlotte Houtermans and J M Jauch Pp ix + 224, (New York and London: Interscience Publishers, Inc, 1949) 36s

Quantum Theory of Fields

Criticism and the Growth of Knowledge. Edited by I. Lakatos and A. Musgrave. Pp. viii, 282. £3·50, paperback £1. 1970. (Cambridge University Press.)

The theory of large deviations is concerned with the exponential decay of probabilities of large fluctuations in random systems. These probabilities are important in many fields of study, including statistics, finance, and engineering, as they often yield valuable information about the large fluctuations of a random system around its most probable state or trajectory. In the context of equilibrium statistical mechanics, the theory of large deviations provides exponential-order estimates of probabilities that refine and generalize Einstein's theory of fluctuations. This review explores this and other connections between large deviation theory and statistical mechanics, in an effort to show that the mathematical language of statistical mechanics is the language of large deviation theory. The first part of the review presents the basics of large deviation theory, and works out many of its classical applications related to sums of random variables and Markov processes. The second part goes through many problems and results of statistical mechanics, and shows how these can be formulated and derived within the context of large deviation theory. The problems and results treated cover a wide range of physical systems, including equilibrium many-particle systems, noise-perturbed dynamics, nonequilibrium systems, as well as multifractals, disordered systems, and chaotic systems. This review also covers many fundamental aspects of statistical mechanics, such as the derivation of variational principles characterizing equilibrium and nonequilibrium states, the breaking of the Legendre transform for nonconcave entropies, and the characterization of nonequilibrium fluctuations through fluctuation relations.

The large deviation approach to statistical mechanics

accademiche [38]. Ada [45]. Adrian [45]. African [56]. Age [39, 49, 61]. Al [23]. Al-Rawi [23]. Aldous [68]. Alex [15]. Allure [46]. America [60, 66]. American [49, 69, 61, 52]. ancienne [25]. Andreas [28]. Angela [42]. Animals [16]. Ann [26]. Anna [19, 47]. Annotated [46]. Annotations [28]. Anti [37]. Anti-Copernican [37]. Antibiotic [64]. Anxiety [51]. Apocalyptic [61]. Archaeology [26]. Ark [36]. Artisan [32]. Asylum [48]. Atri [54]. Audra [65]. Australia [41]. Authorship [15]. Axelle [29].

/pdf/a-complete-bibliography-of-publications-in-isis-2000-2009-1nklqbzyfs.pdf

A Complete Bibliography of Publications in Isis, 2000{2009

Annalen der Physik

List of Texts xiii List of Illustrations xxxiii INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL Introduction to Volume 14 xxxv Editorial Method of the Series lxxxv Acknowledgments xciii Note on the Translation xcv List of Abbreviations xcvi Location Symbols xcvii Descriptive Symbols c TEXTS 1 Alphabetical List of Correspondence 783 Chronology 805 Calendar of Abstracts 821 Appendixes 905 Literature Cited 1007 Index 1031 Index of Citations 1097

The collected papers of Albert Einstein

In this critical notice we argue against William Craig's recent attempt to reconcile presentism (roughly, the view that only the present is real) with relativity theory. Craig's defense of his position boils down to endorsing a neo-Lorentzian interpretation of special relativity. We contend that his reconstruction of Lorentz's theory and its historical development is fatally flawed and that his arguments for reviving this theory fail on many counts.

/pdf/presentism-and-relativity-4t2t8vyfzq.pdf

Presentism and relativity

In his book, Physical Relativity, Harvey Brown challenges the orthodox view that special relativity is preferable to those parts of Lorentz’s classical ether theory it replaced because it revealed various phenomena that were given a dynamical explanation in Lorentz’s theory to be purely kinematical. I want to defend this orthodoxy. The phenomena most commonly discussed in this context in the philosophical literature are length contraction and time dilation. I consider three other phenomena of this kind that played a role in the early reception of special relativity in the physics literature: the Fresnel drag eect in the Fizeau experiment, the velocity dependence of electron mass in -ray deflection experiments by Kaufmann and others, and the delicately balanced torques on a moving charged capacitor in the Trouton-Noble experiment. I oer historical sketches of how Lorentz’s dynamical explanations of

/pdf/drawing-the-line-between-kinematics-and-dynamics-in-special-32tp5zhym6.pdf

Drawing the line between kinematics and dynamics in special relativity

The relationship between Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity and Hendrik A. Lorentz's ether theory is best understood in terms of competing interpretations of Lorentz invariance. In the 1890s, Lorentz proved and exploited the Lorentz invariance of Maxwell's equations, the laws governing electromagnetic fields in the ether, with what he called the theorem of corresponding states. To account for the negative results of attempts to detect the earth's motion through the ether, Lorentz, in effect, had to assume that the laws governing the matter interacting with the fields are Lorentz invariant as well. This additional assumption can be seen as a generalization of the well-known contraction hypothesis. In Lorentz's theory, it remained an unexplained coincidence that both the laws governing fields and the laws governing matter should be Lorentz invariant. In special relativity, by contrast, the Lorentz invariance of all physical laws directly reflects the Minkowski space-time structure posited by the theory. One can use this observation to produce a common-cause argument to show that the relativistic interpretation of Lorentz invariance is preferable to Lorentz's interpretation.

Reconsidering a scientific revolution: The case of Einstein versus Lorentz

This paper takes as its point of departure two striking incongruities between scientific practice and trends in modern history and philosophy of science. (1) Many modern historians of science are so preoccupied with local scientific practices that they fail to recognize important non-local elements. (2) Many modern philosophers of science make a sharp distinction between explanation and evidence, whereas in scientific practice explanatory power is routinely used as evidence for scientific claims. I draw attention to one specific way in

Michel Janssen

Papers

The collected papers of Albert Einstein

Presentism and relativity

Drawing the line between kinematics and dynamics in special relativity

Reconsidering a scientific revolution: The case of Einstein versus Lorentz

COI Stories: Explanation and Evidence in the History of Science