Functional differential geometry / Gerald Jay Sussman and Jack Wisdom with Will Farr.
By: Sussman, Gerald Jay [author.]
.
Contributor(s): Wisdom, Jack | Farr, Will | IEEE Xplore (Online Service) [distributor.] | MIT Press [publisher.].
Material type: 
BookPublisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : MIT Press, [2013]Distributor: [Piscataqay, New Jersey] : IEEE Xplore, [2013]Description: 1 PDF (xx, 228 pages).Content type: text Media type: electronic Carrier type: online resourceISBN: 9780262315609.Subject(s): Geometry, Differential | Functional differential equations | Mathematical physicsGenre/Form: Electronic books.Additional physical formats: Print version: No titleDDC classification: 516.3/6 Online resources: Abstract with links to resource Also available in print.Summary: Physics is naturally expressed in mathematical language. Students new to the subject must simultaneously learn an idiomatic mathematical language and the content that is expressed in that language. It is as if they were asked to read Les Mis�rables while struggling with French grammar. This book offers an innovative way to learn the differential geometry needed as a foundation for a deep understanding of general relativity or quantum field theory as taught at the college level.The approach taken by the authors (and used in their classes at MIT for many years) differs from the conventional one in several ways, including an emphasis on the development of the covariant derivative and an avoidance of the use of traditional index notation for tensors in favor of a semantically richer language of vector fields and differential forms. But the biggest single difference is the authors' integration of computer programming into their explanations. By programming a computer to interpret a formula, the student soon learns whether or not a formula is correct. Students are led to improve their program, and as a result improve their understanding.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Restricted to subscribers or individual electronic text purchasers.
Physics is naturally expressed in mathematical language. Students new to the subject must simultaneously learn an idiomatic mathematical language and the content that is expressed in that language. It is as if they were asked to read Les Mis�rables while struggling with French grammar. This book offers an innovative way to learn the differential geometry needed as a foundation for a deep understanding of general relativity or quantum field theory as taught at the college level.The approach taken by the authors (and used in their classes at MIT for many years) differs from the conventional one in several ways, including an emphasis on the development of the covariant derivative and an avoidance of the use of traditional index notation for tensors in favor of a semantically richer language of vector fields and differential forms. But the biggest single difference is the authors' integration of computer programming into their explanations. By programming a computer to interpret a formula, the student soon learns whether or not a formula is correct. Students are led to improve their program, and as a result improve their understanding.
Also available in print.
Mode of access: World Wide Web
Description based on PDF viewed 12/23/2015.
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