Book Review: Advanced University Physics

Time for another book review, this time Mircea Rogalski and Stuart Palmer, Advanced University Physics. This book is for sale in the book store below.

This is the second edition of a book that I long found useful as a reference, but not as a textbook as there were no practice problems. In the second edition, this has been fixed and there are now ample problems, so I can recommend it as a textbook.


This book is almost a thousand pages, not counting the index. It has 47 chapters, five appendices, and sections on problem hints, and answers.

The first chapter is pretty introductory, but very important for that; it begins by discussing the SI system of units then dimensional analysis; one of the more important tools for a theoretical physicist. The chapter ends with a presentation of fundamental physical constants.

The next subject covered is calssical mecahnics. There are three chapters on classical mechanics: 2, 3, and 24. I recommend saving chapter 24 for after you complete the chapters on relativity. Some of the practive problems should not be done until you complete chapter 14 on Maxwell's equations, but the reading only requires chapter 3. Chapter 2 begins with an overview of kinematics and dynamics, an example on planar motion that establishes the idea of rotational components of vectors, an example on constant forces, and a lengthy example that discusses the one-dimensional harmonic oscillatory in a fairly complete way. This is followed by sections on the conservation of momentum, and the conservation of energy. The chapter ends with 14 practice problems, for which 7 have complete and detailed solutions; the remainder having hints and solutions (true for all problems in the book). Chapter 3 picks up with the conservation of angular momentum. The main theme of chapter 3 is celestial mechanics beginning with motion under a central force, then Kepler's problem, and ending with Kepler's laws. Chapter 3 has 12 practice problems, seven having complete and detailed solutions. Chapter 24 begins with D'Alembert's principle and a discussion of constraints and virtual displacements. This is followed by Hamilton's principle, also called the principle of least action. Then Lagrange's equations are presented. Then Hamilton's equations are discussed along with a connection to the previous discussion of linear oscillators. The authors then present Poisson brackets. The chapter ends with the Hamilton-Jacobi equation and its extension to systems of particles. There are 11 practice problems of which 5 have complete and detailed solutions.

There are two chapters on relativity: 4 and 5. You might want to wait until you have finished chapter 15 on wave equations before starting these. Chapter 4 begins with the postulates of special relativity. My only objection to this chapter is that if you are not familiar with electromagnetic waves you will not be able to follow the justification given for the principles of relativity and the constancy of the speed of light. These postulates are then employed in the section of Lorentz transformations, where the transformations are derived from the point of view of general linear transformations; several side issues of great important are then discussed: Simultaneity, length contraction, time dilation, and the transformation of velocities. Then there is a nice discussion of spacetime diagrams and how to represent kinematics on a spacetime diagram. Chapter 4 ends with a very important presentation of the invariance of the spacetime interval, including an example calculation of the covariant electromagnetic wave equation. There are 7 practive problems of which 5 have complete and detailed solutions. Chapter 5 begins with relativistic momentum and energy including the notion of rest mass, there is an example of the photon as a particle of zero rest mass.  Relativistic dynamics is the subject of the next section, introducing 4-vectors in the process, and using the mass-energy equivalence (E=m c^2) as an example. The chapter ends with a change towards gravitation with the equivalence principle where gravitational red shift is an example. There are 10 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions.

The next five chapters are on bulk matter: 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. You can start these as soon as you finish chapter 3. You should be completely comfortable with partial derivatives and matrices before starting chapter 6. The chapter begins by defining strain as a tensor, and establishing volume expansions and the equation of continuity. The second section defines the stress tensor. The third section describe elasticity and introduces waves on a string. The final section of the chapter is a nice introduction to fluid mechanics. The chapter has thirteen practice problems of which 5 have complete and detailed solutions. Chapter 7 begins with the zeroth law of thermodynamics and the temperature scale. Then the first law of thermodynamics is presented along with a calculation of the heat capacity of a hystrostatic system. The chapter ends with the second law of thermodynamics and the Carnot cycle. Chapter 7 has ten practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions.  Chapter 8 begins with Clausius' theorem then moves on to entropy. This is followed by a discussion of thermodynamic potentials, including internal energy, the Helmholtz function, and the Gibbs function. These ideas are then applied to hydrostatic systems through the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation, the Maxwell relations, the reciprocity theorem, and the relation between the entropy and temperature. The chapter ends with a discussion of heat capacity. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 9 begins with the ideal gas laws, including the equation of state and the polytropic equation (of great use in astrophysics). The results of chapter 8 are then extended to ideal gases including the temperature-entropy diagram, energy transfer in polytropic processes (including adiabatic, isobaric, and isochoric processes), the internal energy, the enthalpy, and the Helholtz and Gibbs functions. The chapter ends with some "real" gases, the van der Waals and Dieterici gases, the equation of corresponding states, and the entropy of a van der Waals gas. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 with complete and detailed solutions.

The next four chapters form a nice introduction to electrodynamics. Chapter 11 begins with the electric field and it begins, reasonably enough, with Coulomb's law then moves on to Gauss' law. The next section introduces several important concepts beginning with the electrostatic potential, then the electric dipole, and then Laplace's equation. The authors then present a section on polarization leading to the permittivity. The chapter ends with a section on electrostatic energy. This chapter has 10 problems, 6 of which have complete and detailed solutions. Chapter 12 begins with the flow of current, Ohm's law, dielectrics and conductors, and Kirchhoff's rules for circuits. The next section covers magnetic induction and uniform magnetic fields, the magnetic induction is defined as what most authors call the magnetic field. The chapter ends with a discussion of the magnetic vector potential. The chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which have complete and detailed solutions. Chapter 13 begins its exploration of magnetic fields with magnetization and includes the Biot-Savart law, the magnetic dipole moment, and the magnetic field. The emphasis shifts to Faraday's law and inductance, introducing the Lorentz force (important for relativity). The chapter ends with energy in magnetic fields. The chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 solved in detail. Chapter 14 begins with Maxwell's equations both in vacuum and inside matter, along with a significant example of their application to circuit theory, and the introduction to the electromagnetic wave equation (thus forming the basis for the chapters on special relativity). The next section is on electromagnetic energy and culminates in the Poynting vector and a discussion of the momentum and energy of a charge in an electromagnetic field. The chapter ends with a section entitled Potential Equations that introduces the Coulomb and Lorentz Gauges. The chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in complete detail.

The next nine chapters form a unit on waves and optics. Chapter 15 begins with the wave equation, then applies that to elastic waves on a string, acoustical waves in fluids, and electromagnetic waves in isotropoc dielectrics. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 solved in complete detail. Chapter 16 begins with a discussion of harmonic waves deriving d'Alembert's formula and introducing such concepts as the local phase constant and the complex amplitude, then it tackles wave propagation in three dimensions, a derivation of Snell's law, stationary waves as an exercise in separation of variable solutions to differential equations, Fourier analysis is introduced and applied to the problem of continuous waves, and the chapter ends with dispersion. The chapter has 12 practice problems, 6 have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 17 begins by studying the energy density of waves, the flow rate and characteristic impedences, the intensity of electromagnetic waves, the momentum of waves, electromagnetic radiation pressure, wave attenuation, and it ends with transmission and reflection at boundaries. This chapter has 10 problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 18 begins with the interference of two monochromatic waves, Young's experiment, Newton's rings, and ends with interference with multiple beams. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 19 begins with Fresnel and Faunhofer diffraction of scalar waves, the superposition of spherical waves, the linear approximation of diffraction, single-slit diffraction, and the diffraction grating. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 20 begins with a treatment of the transverse nature of electromagnetic waves, then it goes into the intensity of electromagnetic waves, then polarization, the Jones vectors, and it ends with the Poincaré sphere and Pauli spin matrices. This chapter has 11 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 21 begins with electromagnetic waves at an interface culminating in Snell's law, then Fresnel's equation, polarization by reflection, and ending in total internal reflection. This chapter has 12 problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 22 begins with a presentation of plane waves in anisotropic media, then the dielectric tensor for optical anisotropic media is presented, and the chapter ends with the ray direction, phase and ray velocities, and then the ray-velocity surface. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. The final chapter of this group begins with the optical properties of conducting media, then the skin effect, the origin of the complex constutive parameters, ending with the optical properties of a plasma. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions.

The next set of three chapters form a good introduction to classical statistical mechanics and a good preview to quantum mechanics. Chapter 25 begins with Liouville's theorem, then motion in phase space, some statistical notions of dynamics in phase space, Boltzmann's principle, the microcanonical ensemble, the canonical ensemble, and then the grand canonical ensemble. This chapter has 11 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 26 begins with a presentation on the equipartition theorem and heat capacities from a statistical point of view, then it goes into the statistical ensembles for ideal gases, then the Maxwell-Boltzmann law, the barometric equation, and molecular speeds, and the chapter ends with Gibb's paradox. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions. Chapter 27 begins with the thermodynamics of blackbody radiation, the spectral energy density, and Wein's law, this is extended into the statistics of radiation, and then the Planck radiation formula. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which have detailed and complete solutions.

The next ten chapters form a logical group on quantum mechanics and atomic physics. Chapter 28 begins with a presentation of the Einstein theory of electromagnetic radiation and establishes the photon, then it presents the Bohr theory of the atom, the deBroglie wave, and then the uncertainty principle. This chapter has 12 practice problems, 6 with detailed solutions. Chapter 29 begins with the wave function and Dirac notation, then it presents operator notation, then eigenvalues, and it ends with commutation relations.  This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 30 begins with the time-dependent Schroedinger equation, then the time-independent case, then unbound states and the probability current density, quantum tunneling, and it ends with bound states and the quantum harmonic oscillator.  This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 31 begins by extending the discussion of operators to include orbital angular momentum, then it presents the eigenvalue equations for a central field and introduces spherical harmonics, this is then extended to the quantization of angular momentum through the example of spatial quantization, a very important concept for doing quantum mechanics. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 32 begins to apply quantum mechanics to hydrogen-like atoms with a radial equation, thorughout the discussion fo quantum mechanics new special functions like the associeted Laguerre polynomial are presented,  then the ground state and excited states of hydrogen are prented, then the focus switches to atoms in a magnetic field and Zeeman splitting. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 33 introduces Heisenberg's matrix mechanics, then it presents the angular momentum representation with the example of orbital angular momentum matrices, the focus then changes to spin and explicitly presents the expectation values of spin components. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 34 begins with adding angular momenta, including the Clebsch-Gordon coefficients, then spin-orbit coupling, the chapter ends with the anomalous Zeeman effects and the Paschen-Back effect. Once again, this chapter has 10 practice problem and 5 solved in detail. Chapter 35 begins by extending the quantum mechanics so far presented to systems of particles, then to identical particles in the form of fermions and bosons through the application of the Pauli principle, it then presents the actual Fermi-Dirac and Bose-Einstein statistics following a discussion of distribution functions; this is another point of the book I am not wild about, the presentation of the Pauli principle before discussing the distribution functions. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 36 introduces perturbation theory with the time-independent version, then there is a discussion of the Helium atom, and finally the Hartree equations and LS couping. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 37 deals with emission and absorption of radiation by atoms and begins with time-dependent perturbation theory, then how the notion of a constant perturbation leads to Fermi's golden rule, then the emission and absorption of electromagnetic radiation, there is a detailed discussion of the selection rules for electric dipole transitions, and the chapter ends with a discussion of spontaneous emissions. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail.

The next eight chapters form a logical unit on molecular and condensed matter physics. Chapter 38 begins by considering large systems of atoms that collectively exhibit the properties of bulk matter—this leads to the adiabatic approximation, this is then extended to treating systems as linear lattices undergoing vibrations, this leads to the continuum approximation (also known as the Debye approximation), the quanta of energy within each normal mode of oscillation is a phonon—these are next introduced, the chapter ends with a calculation of the heat capacity of a lattice. This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 39 begins with a nice treatment of the crystal lattice, then applies this to simple crystal structures, it then discusses the process of defining a lattice with a reciprocal basis like you would get from experimental data—called the reciprocal lattice, this leads into a discussion of structure determination, ending with X-ray diffraction.  This chapter has 11 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 40 begins with the one- and free-electron approximations, the electron gas model and the density of states, the Fermi energy and the Fermi temperature, the thermodynamics of the free-electron model, then it turns to paramgnetism and the chapter ends with electron conduction.  This chapter also has 11 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 41 begins with the theory of Bloch waves which are then applied to a one-dimensional periodic potential, then the authors present the weak-binding approximation (also known as the nearly-free-electron model), this is then applied to the effective mass of the electron, the chapter ends with the tight-binding approximation which is then applied the determine the energy bands in a cubic lattice. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 42 is an introduction to semiconductor physics and begins with free charge carriers and applies that to the effective mass of such carriers, the authors then present both intrinsic and impurity semiconductors. This chapter has 9 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 43 extends semiconductor physics to sold state electronics beggining with carrier transposrt by diffusion, energy-band diagrams, steady-state diffusion, then the authors turn to the pn junction, and they end with the junction transistor.  This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 44 switches topics a bit beginning with diamagnetism and paramagnetism, then ferromagnetism with the exchange interaction in a two-electron system, then the authors present antiferromagnetism, the chapter ends with ferrimagnetism. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 45 deals with superconductivity beginning with the Meissner effect and the London theory (or two-fluid model), then it presents Cooper pairs, ending with high-temperature superconductivity. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail.

The final two chapters are about nuclear physics. Chapter 46 deals with nuclear structure beginning with the binding fraction, then the liquid drop model, the gas model, then nuclear fission are presented as semi-classical theories, the chapter ends with the shell model.  This chapter has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail. Chapter 47 deals with nuclear dynamics, beginning with radiative decay, this is then applied to nuclear resonance, then the chapter covers alpha decay, then the chapter ends with beta decay. This chapter also has 10 practice problems, 5 of which are solved in detail.

The book ends with an appendix containing several matheamtical articles and a list of symbols. Appendix I covers vector calculus, Appendix II covers matrices, Appendix III gives some results for partial derviatives, and Appendix IV covers Gaussian integrals, evaluating integrals using the Riemann zeta function, and Stilring's approximation.

I personally think that this huge book is very good, though it is lacking in any true introduction to either general relativity or to particle physics.