Re: Books on Mathematical Methods
From: Bruce Scott TOK (Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header_at_[127.1)
Date: 10/20/04
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Date: Wed, 20 Oct 2004 18:09:43 +0200 (MEST)
Maleki wrote:
|> On 19 Oct 2004 06:54:50 -0700, puppet_sock@hotmail.com
|> wrote:
|>
|> > tomas@runway.sk (Tomas Selnekovic) wrote in message news:<1fb84fc6.0410190029.4c43745a@posting.google.com>...
|> >> So which one is better? ;]
|> >>
|> >> Mathematical Methods of Physics and Engineering
|> >> by K. F. Riley, M. P. Hobson, S. J. Bence
|> >>
|> >> or
|> >>
|> >> Mathematical Methods in the Physical Sciences, 2nd Edition - Mary L. Boas
|> >
|> > This is a topic that is sufficiently complicated you should try
|> > to read as many books as your time, money, and stamina allows.
|> > Certainly two is not over-many. Each book will have different
|> > explanations, different emphasis, probably even different topics.
|> > Socks
|>
|> Is Morse and Feschbach considered obsolete?
It is a compendium of results and methods. Good for a reference but not
really for learning, although I think it used to be used as a text. I
do think it is a bit dated as well. Its discussion of coordinate
systems, while having lots of engineering oriented examples, is very
pedestrian. It has a hard time with covariant and contravariant bases
when things have physical units (lots of obsession with unit vectors as
bases), and that section is only good for orthogonal systems. When I
had to learn about the mathematics of curved surface geometry (for
confined plasmas) I found it better to go to GR books.
The standard math methods text 20 yrs ago was Arfken, which has been
continuously updated. Bender and Orszag was widely thought to be better
(e.g., the asymptotic methods you need for QFT are well introduced
there) but it was very hard to get even then.
-- cu, Bruce drift wave turbulence: http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bds/
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