Author: Annick LESNE
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364215123X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 406
Book Description
During a century, from the Van der Waals mean field description (1874) of gases to the introduction of renormalization group (RG techniques 1970), thermodynamics and statistical physics were just unable to account for the incredible universality which was observed in numerous critical phenomena. The great success of RG techniques is not only to solve perfectly this challenge of critical behaviour in thermal transitions but to introduce extremely useful tools in a wide field of daily situations where a system exhibits scale invariance. The introduction of scaling, scale invariance and universality concepts has been a significant turn in modern physics and more generally in natural sciences. Since then, a new "physics of scaling laws and critical exponents", rooted in scaling approaches, allows quantitative descriptions of numerous phenomena, ranging from phase transitions to earthquakes, polymer conformations, heartbeat rhythm, diffusion, interface growth and roughening, DNA sequence, dynamical systems, chaos and turbulence. The chapters are jointly written by an experimentalist and a theorist. This book aims at a pedagogical overview, offering to the students and researchers a thorough conceptual background and a simple account of a wide range of applications. It presents a complete tour of both the formal advances and experimental results associated with the notion of scaling, in physics, chemistry and biology.
Scale Invariance
Author: Annick LESNE
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364215123X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 406
Book Description
During a century, from the Van der Waals mean field description (1874) of gases to the introduction of renormalization group (RG techniques 1970), thermodynamics and statistical physics were just unable to account for the incredible universality which was observed in numerous critical phenomena. The great success of RG techniques is not only to solve perfectly this challenge of critical behaviour in thermal transitions but to introduce extremely useful tools in a wide field of daily situations where a system exhibits scale invariance. The introduction of scaling, scale invariance and universality concepts has been a significant turn in modern physics and more generally in natural sciences. Since then, a new "physics of scaling laws and critical exponents", rooted in scaling approaches, allows quantitative descriptions of numerous phenomena, ranging from phase transitions to earthquakes, polymer conformations, heartbeat rhythm, diffusion, interface growth and roughening, DNA sequence, dynamical systems, chaos and turbulence. The chapters are jointly written by an experimentalist and a theorist. This book aims at a pedagogical overview, offering to the students and researchers a thorough conceptual background and a simple account of a wide range of applications. It presents a complete tour of both the formal advances and experimental results associated with the notion of scaling, in physics, chemistry and biology.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 364215123X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 406
Book Description
During a century, from the Van der Waals mean field description (1874) of gases to the introduction of renormalization group (RG techniques 1970), thermodynamics and statistical physics were just unable to account for the incredible universality which was observed in numerous critical phenomena. The great success of RG techniques is not only to solve perfectly this challenge of critical behaviour in thermal transitions but to introduce extremely useful tools in a wide field of daily situations where a system exhibits scale invariance. The introduction of scaling, scale invariance and universality concepts has been a significant turn in modern physics and more generally in natural sciences. Since then, a new "physics of scaling laws and critical exponents", rooted in scaling approaches, allows quantitative descriptions of numerous phenomena, ranging from phase transitions to earthquakes, polymer conformations, heartbeat rhythm, diffusion, interface growth and roughening, DNA sequence, dynamical systems, chaos and turbulence. The chapters are jointly written by an experimentalist and a theorist. This book aims at a pedagogical overview, offering to the students and researchers a thorough conceptual background and a simple account of a wide range of applications. It presents a complete tour of both the formal advances and experimental results associated with the notion of scaling, in physics, chemistry and biology.
Scale Invariance, Interfaces, and Non-Equilibrium Dynamics
Author: Alan McKane
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1489914218
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344
Book Description
The NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Scale Invariance, Interfaces and Non Equilibrium Dynamics" was held at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, UK from 20-30 June 1994. The topics discussed at the Institute were all concerned with the origin and nature of complex structures found far from equilibrium. Examples ranged from reaction diffusion systems and hydrodynamics through to surface growth due to deposition. A common theme was that of scale invariance due to the self-similarity of the underly ing structures. The topics that were covered can be broadly classified as pattern for mation (theoretical, computational and experimental aspects), the non-equilibrium dynamics of the growth of interfaces and other manifolds, coarsening phenomena, generic scale invariance in driven systems and the concept of self-organized critical ity. The main feature of the Institute was the four one-hour-Iong lectures given each day by invited speakers. In addition to thirty-seven of these lectures, two contributed lectures were also given. The many questions that were asked after the lectures attested to the excitement and interest that the lecturers succeeded in generating amongst the students. In addition to the discussions initiated by lectures, an im portant component of the meeting were the poster sessions, where participants were able to present their own work, which took place on three of the afternoons. The list of titles given at the end of these proceedings gives some idea of the range and scope of these posters.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1489914218
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 344
Book Description
The NATO Advanced Study Institute on "Scale Invariance, Interfaces and Non Equilibrium Dynamics" was held at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, UK from 20-30 June 1994. The topics discussed at the Institute were all concerned with the origin and nature of complex structures found far from equilibrium. Examples ranged from reaction diffusion systems and hydrodynamics through to surface growth due to deposition. A common theme was that of scale invariance due to the self-similarity of the underly ing structures. The topics that were covered can be broadly classified as pattern for mation (theoretical, computational and experimental aspects), the non-equilibrium dynamics of the growth of interfaces and other manifolds, coarsening phenomena, generic scale invariance in driven systems and the concept of self-organized critical ity. The main feature of the Institute was the four one-hour-Iong lectures given each day by invited speakers. In addition to thirty-seven of these lectures, two contributed lectures were also given. The many questions that were asked after the lectures attested to the excitement and interest that the lecturers succeeded in generating amongst the students. In addition to the discussions initiated by lectures, an im portant component of the meeting were the poster sessions, where participants were able to present their own work, which took place on three of the afternoons. The list of titles given at the end of these proceedings gives some idea of the range and scope of these posters.
Scale Invariance and Beyond
Author: B. Dubrulle
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662097990
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291
Book Description
This book is an excellent introduction to the concept of scale invariance, which is a growing field of research with wide applications. It describes where and how symmetry under scale transformation (and its various forms of partial breakdown) can be used to analyze solutions of a problem without the need to explicitly solve it. The first part gives descriptions of tools and concepts; the second is devoted to recent attempts to go beyond the invariance or symmetry breaking, to discuss causes and consequences, and to extract useful information about the system. Examples are carefully worked out in fields as diverse as condensed matter physics, population dynamics, earthquake physics, turbulence, cosmology and finance.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662097990
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 291
Book Description
This book is an excellent introduction to the concept of scale invariance, which is a growing field of research with wide applications. It describes where and how symmetry under scale transformation (and its various forms of partial breakdown) can be used to analyze solutions of a problem without the need to explicitly solve it. The first part gives descriptions of tools and concepts; the second is devoted to recent attempts to go beyond the invariance or symmetry breaking, to discuss causes and consequences, and to extract useful information about the system. Examples are carefully worked out in fields as diverse as condensed matter physics, population dynamics, earthquake physics, turbulence, cosmology and finance.
Scale Dependence and Scale Invariance in Hydrology
Author: Garrison Sposito
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521571251
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 445
Book Description
Leading hydrologists present their views on the role of scale effects in hydrologic phenomena occurring in a range of field settings.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521571251
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 445
Book Description
Leading hydrologists present their views on the role of scale effects in hydrologic phenomena occurring in a range of field settings.
The Collected Works of Wassily Hoeffding
Author: Wassily Hoeffding
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461208653
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 653
Book Description
It has been a rare privilege to assemble this volume of Wassily Hoeffding's Collected Works. Wassily was, variously, a teacher, supervisor and colleague to us, and his work has had a profound influence on our own. Yet this would not be sufficient reason to publish his collected works. The additional and overwhelmingly compelling justification comes from the fun damental nature of his contributions to Statistics and Probability. Not only were his ideas original, and far-reaching in their implications; Wassily de veloped them so completely and elegantly in his papers that they are still cited as prime references up to half a century later. However, three of his earliest papers are cited rarely, if ever. These include material from his doctoral dissertation. They were written in German, and two of them were published in relatively obscure series. Rather than reprint the original articles, we have chosen to have them translated into English. These trans lations appear in this book, making Wassily's earliest research available to a wide audience for the first time. All other articles (including those of his contributions to Mathematical Reviews which go beyond a simple reporting of contents of articles) have been reproduced as they appeared, together with annotations and corrections made by Wassily on some private copies of his papers. Preceding these articles are three review papers which dis cuss the . impact of his work in some of the areas where he made major contributions.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461208653
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 653
Book Description
It has been a rare privilege to assemble this volume of Wassily Hoeffding's Collected Works. Wassily was, variously, a teacher, supervisor and colleague to us, and his work has had a profound influence on our own. Yet this would not be sufficient reason to publish his collected works. The additional and overwhelmingly compelling justification comes from the fun damental nature of his contributions to Statistics and Probability. Not only were his ideas original, and far-reaching in their implications; Wassily de veloped them so completely and elegantly in his papers that they are still cited as prime references up to half a century later. However, three of his earliest papers are cited rarely, if ever. These include material from his doctoral dissertation. They were written in German, and two of them were published in relatively obscure series. Rather than reprint the original articles, we have chosen to have them translated into English. These trans lations appear in this book, making Wassily's earliest research available to a wide audience for the first time. All other articles (including those of his contributions to Mathematical Reviews which go beyond a simple reporting of contents of articles) have been reproduced as they appeared, together with annotations and corrections made by Wassily on some private copies of his papers. Preceding these articles are three review papers which dis cuss the . impact of his work in some of the areas where he made major contributions.
Statistical Approaches to Measurement Invariance
Author: Roger E. Millsap
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136761128
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 359
Book Description
This book reviews the statistical procedures used to detect measurement bias. Measurement bias is examined from a general latent variable perspective so as to accommodate different forms of testing in a variety of contexts including cognitive or clinical variables, attitudes, personality dimensions, or emotional states. Measurement models that underlie psychometric practice are described, including their strengths and limitations. Practical strategies and examples for dealing with bias detection are provided throughout. The book begins with an introduction to the general topic, followed by a review of the measurement models used in psychometric theory. Emphasis is placed on latent variable models, with introductions to classical test theory, factor analysis, and item response theory, and the controversies associated with each, being provided. Measurement invariance and bias in the context of multiple populations is defined in chapter 3 followed by chapter 4 that describes the common factor model for continuous measures in multiple populations and its use in the investigation of factorial invariance. Identification problems in confirmatory factor analysis are examined along with estimation and fit evaluation and an example using WAIS-R data. The factor analysis model for discrete measures in multiple populations with an emphasis on the specification, identification, estimation, and fit evaluation issues is addressed in the next chapter. An MMPI item data example is provided. Chapter 6 reviews both dichotomous and polytomous item response scales emphasizing estimation methods and model fit evaluation. The use of models in item response theory in evaluating invariance across multiple populations is then described, including an example that uses data from a large-scale achievement test. Chapter 8 examines item bias evaluation methods that use observed scores to match individuals and provides an example that applies item response theory to data introduced earlier in the book. The book concludes with the implications of measurement bias for the use of tests in prediction in educational or employment settings. A valuable supplement for advanced courses on psychometrics, testing, measurement, assessment, latent variable modeling, and/or quantitative methods taught in departments of psychology and education, researchers faced with considering bias in measurement will also value this book.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136761128
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 359
Book Description
This book reviews the statistical procedures used to detect measurement bias. Measurement bias is examined from a general latent variable perspective so as to accommodate different forms of testing in a variety of contexts including cognitive or clinical variables, attitudes, personality dimensions, or emotional states. Measurement models that underlie psychometric practice are described, including their strengths and limitations. Practical strategies and examples for dealing with bias detection are provided throughout. The book begins with an introduction to the general topic, followed by a review of the measurement models used in psychometric theory. Emphasis is placed on latent variable models, with introductions to classical test theory, factor analysis, and item response theory, and the controversies associated with each, being provided. Measurement invariance and bias in the context of multiple populations is defined in chapter 3 followed by chapter 4 that describes the common factor model for continuous measures in multiple populations and its use in the investigation of factorial invariance. Identification problems in confirmatory factor analysis are examined along with estimation and fit evaluation and an example using WAIS-R data. The factor analysis model for discrete measures in multiple populations with an emphasis on the specification, identification, estimation, and fit evaluation issues is addressed in the next chapter. An MMPI item data example is provided. Chapter 6 reviews both dichotomous and polytomous item response scales emphasizing estimation methods and model fit evaluation. The use of models in item response theory in evaluating invariance across multiple populations is then described, including an example that uses data from a large-scale achievement test. Chapter 8 examines item bias evaluation methods that use observed scores to match individuals and provides an example that applies item response theory to data introduced earlier in the book. The book concludes with the implications of measurement bias for the use of tests in prediction in educational or employment settings. A valuable supplement for advanced courses on psychometrics, testing, measurement, assessment, latent variable modeling, and/or quantitative methods taught in departments of psychology and education, researchers faced with considering bias in measurement will also value this book.
Conformal Invariance and Critical Phenomena
Author: Malte Henkel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662039370
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
Critical phenomena arise in a wide variety of physical systems. Classi cal examples are the liquid-vapour critical point or the paramagnetic ferromagnetic transition. Further examples include multicomponent fluids and alloys, superfluids, superconductors, polymers and fully developed tur bulence and may even extend to the quark-gluon plasma and the early uni verse as a whole. Early theoretical investigators tried to reduce the problem to a very small number of degrees of freedom, such as the van der Waals equation and mean field approximations, culminating in Landau's general theory of critical phenomena. Nowadays, it is understood that the common ground for all these phenomena lies in the presence of strong fluctuations of infinitely many coupled variables. This was made explicit first through the exact solution of the two-dimensional Ising model by Onsager. Systematic subsequent developments have been leading to the scaling theories of critical phenomena and the renormalization group which allow a precise description of the close neighborhood of the critical point, often in good agreement with experiments. In contrast to the general understanding a century ago, the presence of fluctuations on all length scales at a critical point is emphasized today. This can be briefly summarized by saying that at a critical point a system is scale invariant. In addition, conformal invaTiance permits also a non-uniform, local rescal ing, provided only that angles remain unchanged.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662039370
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 433
Book Description
Critical phenomena arise in a wide variety of physical systems. Classi cal examples are the liquid-vapour critical point or the paramagnetic ferromagnetic transition. Further examples include multicomponent fluids and alloys, superfluids, superconductors, polymers and fully developed tur bulence and may even extend to the quark-gluon plasma and the early uni verse as a whole. Early theoretical investigators tried to reduce the problem to a very small number of degrees of freedom, such as the van der Waals equation and mean field approximations, culminating in Landau's general theory of critical phenomena. Nowadays, it is understood that the common ground for all these phenomena lies in the presence of strong fluctuations of infinitely many coupled variables. This was made explicit first through the exact solution of the two-dimensional Ising model by Onsager. Systematic subsequent developments have been leading to the scaling theories of critical phenomena and the renormalization group which allow a precise description of the close neighborhood of the critical point, often in good agreement with experiments. In contrast to the general understanding a century ago, the presence of fluctuations on all length scales at a critical point is emphasized today. This can be briefly summarized by saying that at a critical point a system is scale invariant. In addition, conformal invaTiance permits also a non-uniform, local rescal ing, provided only that angles remain unchanged.
Conceptual Foundations of Modern Particle Physics
Author: Robert Eugene Marshak
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9789810211066
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 708
Book Description
For scientific, technological and organizational reasons, the end of World War II (in 1945) saw a rapid acceleration in the tempo of discovery and understanding in nuclear physics, cosmic rays and quantum field theory, which together triggered the birth of modern particle physics. The first fifteen years (1945-60) following the war's end ? the ?Startup Period? in modern particle physics -witnessed a series of major experimental and theoretical developments that began to define the conceptual contours (non-Abelian internal symmetries, Yang-Mills fields, renormalization group, chirality invariance, baryon-lepton symmetry in weak interactions, spontaneous symmetry breaking) of the quantum field theory of three of the basic interactions in nature (electromagnetic, strong and weak). But it took another fifteen years (1960-75) ? the ?Heroic Period? in modern particle physics ? to unravel the physical content and complete the mathematical formulation of the standard gauge theory of the strong and electroweak interactions among the three generations of quarks and leptons. The impressive accomplishments during the ?Heroic Period? were followed by what is called the ?period of consolidation and speculation (1975-1990)?, which includes the experimental consolidation of the standard model (SM) through precision tests, theoretical consolidation of SM through the search for more rigorous mathematical solutions to the Yang-Mills-Higgs equations, and speculative theoretical excursions ?beyond SM?.Within this historical-conceptual framework, the author ? himself a practicing particle theorist for the past fifty years ? attempts to trace the highlights in the conceptual evolution of modern particle physics from its early beginnings until the present time. Apart from the first chapter ? which sketches a broad overview of the entire field ? the remaining nine chapters of the book offer detailed discussions of the major concepts and principles that prevailed and were given wide currency during each of the fifteen-year periods that comprise the history of modern particle physics. Those concepts and principles that contributed only peripherally to the standard model are given less coverage but an attempt is made to inform the reader about such contributions (which may turn out to be significant at a future time) and to suggest references that supply more information. Chapters 2 and 3 of the book cover a range of topics that received dedicated attention during the ?Startup Period? although some of the results were not incorporated into the structure of the standard model. Chapters 4-6 constitute the core of the book and try to recapture much of the conceptual excitement of the ?Heroic Period?, when quantum flavordynamics (QFD) and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) received their definitive formulation. [It should be emphasized that, throughout the book, logical coherence takes precedence over historical chronology (e.g. some of the precision tests of QFD are discussed in Chapter 6)]. Chapter 7 provides a fairly complete discussion of the chiral gauge anomalies in four dimensions with special application to the standard model (although the larger unification models are also considered). The remaining three chapters of the book (Chapters 7-10) cover concepts and principles that originated primarily during the ?Period of Consolidation and Speculation? but, again, this is not a literal statement. Chapters 8 and 9 report on two of the main directions that were pursued to overcome acknowledged deficiencies of the standard model: unification models in Chapter 8 and attempts to account for the existence of precisely three generations of quarks and leptons, primarily by means of preon models, in Chapter 9. The most innovative of the final three chapters of the book is Chapter 10 on topological conservation laws. This last chapter tries to explain the significance of topologically non-trivial solutions in four-dimensional (space-time) particle physics (e.g. 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles, instantons, sphalerons, global SU(2) anomaly, Wess-Zumino term, etc.) and to reflect on some of the problems that have ensued (e.g. the ?strong CP problem? in QCD) from this effort. It turns out that the more felicitous topological applications of field theory are found ? as of now ? in condensed matter physics; these successful physical applications (to polyacetylene, quantized magnetic flux in type-II low temperature superconductivity, etc.) are discussed in Chapter 10, as a good illustration of the conceptual unity of modern physics.
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9789810211066
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 708
Book Description
For scientific, technological and organizational reasons, the end of World War II (in 1945) saw a rapid acceleration in the tempo of discovery and understanding in nuclear physics, cosmic rays and quantum field theory, which together triggered the birth of modern particle physics. The first fifteen years (1945-60) following the war's end ? the ?Startup Period? in modern particle physics -witnessed a series of major experimental and theoretical developments that began to define the conceptual contours (non-Abelian internal symmetries, Yang-Mills fields, renormalization group, chirality invariance, baryon-lepton symmetry in weak interactions, spontaneous symmetry breaking) of the quantum field theory of three of the basic interactions in nature (electromagnetic, strong and weak). But it took another fifteen years (1960-75) ? the ?Heroic Period? in modern particle physics ? to unravel the physical content and complete the mathematical formulation of the standard gauge theory of the strong and electroweak interactions among the three generations of quarks and leptons. The impressive accomplishments during the ?Heroic Period? were followed by what is called the ?period of consolidation and speculation (1975-1990)?, which includes the experimental consolidation of the standard model (SM) through precision tests, theoretical consolidation of SM through the search for more rigorous mathematical solutions to the Yang-Mills-Higgs equations, and speculative theoretical excursions ?beyond SM?.Within this historical-conceptual framework, the author ? himself a practicing particle theorist for the past fifty years ? attempts to trace the highlights in the conceptual evolution of modern particle physics from its early beginnings until the present time. Apart from the first chapter ? which sketches a broad overview of the entire field ? the remaining nine chapters of the book offer detailed discussions of the major concepts and principles that prevailed and were given wide currency during each of the fifteen-year periods that comprise the history of modern particle physics. Those concepts and principles that contributed only peripherally to the standard model are given less coverage but an attempt is made to inform the reader about such contributions (which may turn out to be significant at a future time) and to suggest references that supply more information. Chapters 2 and 3 of the book cover a range of topics that received dedicated attention during the ?Startup Period? although some of the results were not incorporated into the structure of the standard model. Chapters 4-6 constitute the core of the book and try to recapture much of the conceptual excitement of the ?Heroic Period?, when quantum flavordynamics (QFD) and quantum chromodynamics (QCD) received their definitive formulation. [It should be emphasized that, throughout the book, logical coherence takes precedence over historical chronology (e.g. some of the precision tests of QFD are discussed in Chapter 6)]. Chapter 7 provides a fairly complete discussion of the chiral gauge anomalies in four dimensions with special application to the standard model (although the larger unification models are also considered). The remaining three chapters of the book (Chapters 7-10) cover concepts and principles that originated primarily during the ?Period of Consolidation and Speculation? but, again, this is not a literal statement. Chapters 8 and 9 report on two of the main directions that were pursued to overcome acknowledged deficiencies of the standard model: unification models in Chapter 8 and attempts to account for the existence of precisely three generations of quarks and leptons, primarily by means of preon models, in Chapter 9. The most innovative of the final three chapters of the book is Chapter 10 on topological conservation laws. This last chapter tries to explain the significance of topologically non-trivial solutions in four-dimensional (space-time) particle physics (e.g. 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles, instantons, sphalerons, global SU(2) anomaly, Wess-Zumino term, etc.) and to reflect on some of the problems that have ensued (e.g. the ?strong CP problem? in QCD) from this effort. It turns out that the more felicitous topological applications of field theory are found ? as of now ? in condensed matter physics; these successful physical applications (to polyacetylene, quantized magnetic flux in type-II low temperature superconductivity, etc.) are discussed in Chapter 10, as a good illustration of the conceptual unity of modern physics.
Gauge Field Theories
Author: Stefan Pokorski
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521478168
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 636
Book Description
An expanded and up-dated book examining gauge theories and their symmetries.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521478168
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 636
Book Description
An expanded and up-dated book examining gauge theories and their symmetries.
Assessing Measurement Invariance for Applied Research
Author: Craig Wells
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108485227
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 417
Book Description
This user-friendly guide illustrates how to assess measurement invariance using computer programs, statistical methods, and real data.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108485227
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 417
Book Description
This user-friendly guide illustrates how to assess measurement invariance using computer programs, statistical methods, and real data.