Road to Sexy Physics

A story (possibly apocryphal) relates that when Euclid tried to teach geometry to a king, the king wondered if easier methods could be used to learn the subject. Euclid replied that, unlike the case for some actual roads, there is no royal road to geometry. Similarly, there is no royal road to Sexy Physics; substantial time and effort is required. Some roads, however, are smoother than others.


Below, I outline paths through Sexy Physics for physics majors and others to follow. I list examples of books that, in my opinon, are pedagogically good (or at least reasonable), and with which I am somewhat familiar, i.e., they are on my shelf. With the exception of the first book, none of these books would be out of place as texts for physics courses, but, since many physics programmes don't offer courses in all the areas listed, I have tried to choose books that also can be used for self-study, and, for each book, I state the background assumed. Most of the paths start with books that assume only some familiarity with early university physics and mathematics, and proceed to books at the graduate/research level. This should allow some non-physics majors, e.g., people with backgrounds in mathematics, biology, chemistry, or engineering, to pick up and pursue a path.


Reading only one book on one path should provide a wealth of exotics sights, so come and join the fun!

 

The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (2004) by Roger Penrose

A truly amazing book. This ambitious book attempts to give an overview to everyone, from mathphobes to researchers, of all of fundamental physics and of all the math (and more) underlying fundamental physics. Even though Penrose advises readers to skip over any and all math not to their liking, I think that readers who don't have math backgrounds will find it heavy going. My biggest complaint is that, at 1100 pages, the book is too short! My desert island book.

 

Cosmology

Introduction to Cosmology (2003) by Barbara Ryden

Assuming second- or third-year physics and math as input, this nice book gives a detailed quantitative treatment of the expansion of the universe, dark matter, dark energy, inflation, big bang nucleosynthesis, and structure formation (galaxies and superclusters of galaxies). Knowledge of general relativity is not a prerequisite.

 

Modern Cosmology (2003) by Scott Dodelson

This book is intended for advanced graduate students and researchers, but, almost uniquely at this level, this book gives solutions (not just answers) to many of its end-of-chapter exercises. The pedagogical level of this book could be greatly increased by making it 20% longer, but then the book might not be as useful for training budding researchers. Although this book develops the necessary general relativity from scratch, previous exposure to general relativity is helpful. Requires a thorough knowledge of undergraduate (and possibly some graduate) physics and math as input.

 

Relativistic Cosmology (2012) by George F. R. Ellis, Roy Maartens, and Malcom A. H. MacCullum

This book for graduate students and researchers uses a relavistic geometrical approach to explore cosmology. Like many books, this book has both exercises and more difficult problems. Its exercises, however, are like problems in other texts, and its problems are open research questions. At times, somewhat philosophical.

 

Cosmology (2008) by Steven Weinberg

This comprehensive and authorative book gives, in true Weinberg style, a systemic development of cosmology for graduate students and researchers. Knowledge of general relativity and graduate physics is assumed, but skipping the math and just reading the prose for any given topic often gives enlightenment. I am glad that: 1) this book is on my shelf; 2) I am not taking a course that uses this book as the text; 3) I am not teaching a course that uses this book as the text.

Relativity

A Traveler's Guide to Spacetime: An Introduction to the Special Theory of Relativity (1995) by Thomas A. Moore

I recommend this book as a thorough introduction to special relativity, as it emphasizes foundations and is more detailed than typical treatments in physics courses. Some parts of the book require calculus, but someone comfortable with high school physics and math can understand most of the book.

 

Spacetime Physics (1963) by Edwin F. Taylor and John A. Wheeler

My comments about Moore's book also apply to this book. This book has a wonderful set of problems and solutions. The book that I used to teach myself special relativity while in high school.

 

Exploring Black Holes (2000) by Edwin F. Taylor, John A. Wheeler

This book explains in quantitative detail what explorers see and experience in and around black holes, and has only first-year physics and calculus as prerequisites. I used the first edition of this book as the text for a course that I taught at West Virginia University. A second edition (with Edmund Bertschinger) has been "just around the corner" for quite some time, i.e., Amazon let me pre-order the second edition in January 2009.

 

A General Relativity Workbook (2013) by Thomas A. Moore

 

Gravity: An Introduction to Einstein's General Relativity (2003) by James B. Hartle

I would use this book as a text if I were to teach a fourth-year course on general relativity (a very personal choice; different instructors would probably make different choices). Multivariable calculus, linear algebra, and a good grasp of special relativity (such as provided by Moore or Spacetiem Physics) are prerequisites. For me, Hartle makes the connection between general relativity and the physical universe better than any other book. Tensors are not introduced until page 427, and, when introduced, they are presented in "modern" style as multilinear maps.

 

General Relativity: An Introduction for Physicists (2006) by M. P. Hobson, G. P. Efstathiou, and A. N. Lasenby

 

Einstein Gravity in a Nutshell (2013) by A. Zee

At over 800 pages, a very large nutshell.

 

Spacetime and Geometry: An Introduction to General Relativity (2004) by Sean M. Carroll

This book, which contains the best quantitative introduction to Hawking radiation in print, is a common choice for graduate courses in general relativity.

 

A Relativist's Toolkit: The Mathematics of Black-Hole Mechanics (2004) by Eric Poisson

This book communicates in fine pedagogical style a collection of important "tricks of the trade" for beginning and seasoned researchers alike that before this book's publication were only available in technical papers. Assumes Hartle, Carroll, or equivalent as input.

 

Quantum Theory

Modern Physics (2012, 6th edition) by Paul A. Tipler and Ralph A. Llewellyn

Like most modern physics texts, this book contains several chapters that introduce quantum mecahnics and its applications, as well as chapters on other stuff. I used this book for courses that I taught at two universities.

 

Introduction to Quantum Mechanics (2005, 2nd edition) by David J. Griffiths

A standard upper-level undergraduate physics text. Strong on some of the concepts, but weak on Dirac notation.

 

A Modern Approach to Quantum Mechanics (2012, 2nd edition) by John S. Towmsend

An upper-level undergraduate physics text that introduces and extensively uses Dirac notation.

 

Quantum Mechanics: Conepts and Applications (2009, 2nd edition) by Nouredine Zettili

A valuable resource with many worked examples and problems.

 

Lectures on Quantum Theory: Mathematical and Structural Foundations (1995) by Chris J. Isham

This short, readable, interesting book discusses, at the level of upper-level undergraduate or beginning graduate students, conceptual issues such as the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox, Bell's inequalities, quantum entanglement, the measurement problem, the Kochen-Specker theorem, etc.

 

Modern Quantum Mechanics, (2010, 2nd edition) by J. J. Sakurai and Jim J. Napolitano

The standard graduate-level text.

 

Lectures on Quantum Mechanics (2013) by Steven Weinberg

This comprehensive and authorative book gives, in true Weinberg style, a systemic development of non-relativistic quantum mechanics for graduate students and researchers. Skipping the math and just reading the prose for any given topic often gives enlightenment. I am glad that: 1) this book is on my shelf; 2) I am not taking a course that uses this book as the text; 3) I am not teaching a course that uses this book as the text.

 

Elementary Particles and Quantum Field Theory

Introduction to Elementary Particles (2009, 2nd edition) by David J. Griffiths

 

Gauge Theories in Particle Physics (2004, two volumes) by I.J.R. Aitchison and A.J.G. Hey

 

Quantum Field Theory: A Tourist Guide for Mathematicians (2008) by Gerald B. Folland

 

Quantum Field Theory and the Standard Model (2014) by Matthew D. Schwartz

Hopefully, this graduate-level text becomes a strong competitor for the standard text "An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory" by Peskin and Schroeder

 

String Theory

A First Course in String Theory (2009, 2nd edition) by Barton Zwiebach

At the level of beginning graduate students. Good pedagogy. The first three chapters are great fun, and should be read by all physcists.

 

String Theory and M-Theory: A Modern Introduction (2007) by Katrin Becker, Melanie Becker, and John H. Schwartz

 

Background

Mathematical Methods in the Physicical Sciences ( 2005, 3rd edition) by Mary L. Boas

 

An Introduction to Thermal Physics (2000) by Daniel V. Schroeder

 

A Student's Guide to Maxwell's Equations (2008) by Daniel Fleisch