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Emphasizing physics over mathematics, this popular, classroom-tested text helps advanced undergraduates acquire a sound physical understanding of wave phenomena. This second edition of Oscillations and Waves: An Introduction contains new widgets, animations in Python, and exercises, as well as updated chapter content throughout; continuing to ease the difficult transition for students between lower-division courses that mostly encompass algebraic equations and upper-division courses that rely on differential equations.
Assuming familiarity with the laws of physics and college-level mathematics, the author covers aspects of optics that crucially depend on the wave-like nature of light, such as wave optics. Examples explore discrete mechanical, optical, and quantum mechanical systems; continuous gases, fluids, and elastic solids; electronic circuits; and electromagnetic waves. The text also introduces the conventional complex representation of oscillations and waves during the discussion of quantum mechanical waves.
Features:
Fully updated throughout and featuring new widgets, animations, and end of chapter exercises to enhance understanding
Offers complete coverage of advanced topics in waves, such as electromagnetic wave propagation through the ionosphere
Includes examples from mechanical systems, elastic solids, electronic circuits, optical systems, and other areas
List of contents
1. Simple Harmonic Oscillation 2. Damped and Driven Harmonic Oscillation 3. Coupled Oscillations 4. Transverse Standing Waves 5. Longitudinal Standing Waves 6. Travelling Waves 7. Multi-Dimensional Waves 8. Wave Pulses 9. Dispersive Waves 10. Wave Optics 11. Wave Mechanics
About the author
Richard Fitzpatrick is a professor of physics at the University of Texas at Austin, where he has been a faculty member since 1994. He is a member of the Royal Astronomical Society, a fellow of the American Physical Society, and the author of Maxwell's Equations and the Principles of Electromagnetism (2008), An Introduction to Celestial Mechanics (2012), Plasma Physics: An Introduction (2014), and Quantum Mechanics (2015).
Summary
Emphasizing physics over mathematics, this popular, classroom-tested text helps advanced undergraduates acquire a sound physical understanding of wave phenomena. This second edition contains new widgets, animations in Python, and exercises, as well as updated chapter content throughout.
