Theoretical Acoustics Morse

The interaction between geometry and theoretical physics has often been very fruitful. A highlight in this century was Einstein's creation of the theory of general relativity. Equally impressive was the recognition, starting from the work of Yang and Mills and culminating in the Weinberg-Salam theory of the electroweak interaction and quantum chromodynamics, that the fundamental interactions of elementary particles are governed by gauge fields, which in ma­ thematical terms are connections in principal fibre bundles. Theoretical physi­ cists became increasingly aware of the fact that the use of modern mathematical methods may be necessary in the treatment of problems of physical interest. Since some of these topics are covered at most summarily in the usual curricu­ lum, there is a need for extra-curricular efforts to provide an opportunity for learning these techniques and their physical applications. In this context we arranged a meeting at the Physikzentrum Bad Ronnef 12-16 February 1990 on the subject "Geometry and Theoretical Physics", in the series of physics schools organized by the German Physical Society. The participants were graduate students from German universities and research institutes. Since the meeting occurred only a short time after freedom of travel between East and West Germany became a reality, this was for many from the East the first opportunity to attend a scientific meeting in the West, and for many from the West the first chance to become personally acquainted with colleagues from the East.

This concise treatment embraces, in four parts, all the main aspects of theoretical physics. Recent topics such as holography and quantum cryptography are included. The book summarizes what a graduate student, physicist working in industry, or a physics teacher should master during his or her degree course. It will also be useful for deepening one’s insight and it adds new dimensions to understanding of these elemental concepts.

The interaction between geometry and theoretical physics has often been very fruitful. A highlight in this century was Einstein's creation of the theory of general relativity. Equally impressive was the recognition, starting from the work of Yang and Mills and culminating in the Weinberg-Salam theory of the electroweak interaction and quantum chromodynamics, that the fundamental interactions of elementary particles are governed by gauge fields, which in ma­ thematical terms are connections in principal fibre bundles. Theoretical physi­ cists became increasingly aware of the fact that the use of modern mathematical methods may be necessary in the treatment of problems of physical interest. Since some of these topics are covered at most summarily in the usual curricu­ lum, there is a need for extra-curricular efforts to provide an opportunity for learning these techniques and their physical applications. In this context we arranged a meeting at the Physikzentrum Bad Ronnef 12-16 February 1990 on the subject "Geometry and Theoretical Physics", in the series of physics schools organized by the German Physical Society. The participants were graduate students from German universities and research institutes. Since the meeting occurred only a short time after freedom of travel between East and West Germany became a reality, this was for many from the East the first opportunity to attend a scientific meeting in the West, and for many from the West the first chance to become personally acquainted with colleagues from the East.

The recent most impressive developments in theoretical physics, i.e. gauge and string theories with their far- reaching relations to basic concepts of present day mathematics brought a renewed and intense exchange between mathematicians and physicists. In a way the past few years might be compared to the great period of the mid-twenties with its really decisive mathematical contributions to the foundations of both quantum theory as well as general relativity .. Among others, this far-reaching exchange led H.Weyl in 1929 to the formulation of his (second) gauge principle (concerning the phase of the quantum mechanical wave function) which led, in turn (through the most natural generalization by C.N.Yang and R.Mills in 1954) to present day gauge theory which brought, first of all, a real breakthrough with respect to a theoretical inter- pretation of an enormous realm of data in modern particle physics. It led, in fact, to the well-known unification of electromagnetism with weak interactions (Weinberg-Salam theory) and, at the same time, to a most natural unifica- tion of particle and nuclear physics through QCD which deals with the basic quark-gluon structure of heavy matter, e.g. hadrons.

The recent most impressive developments in theoretical physics, i.e. gauge and string theories with their far- reaching relations to basic concepts of present day mathematics brought a renewed and intense exchange between mathematicians and physicists. In a way the past few years might be compared to the great period of the mid-twenties with its really decisive mathematical contributions to the foundations of both quantum theory as well as general relativity .. Among others, this far-reaching exchange led H.Weyl in 1929 to the formulation of his (second) gauge principle (concerning the phase of the quantum mechanical wave function) which led, in turn (through the most natural generalization by C.N.Yang and R.Mills in 1954) to present day gauge theory which brought, first of all, a real breakthrough with respect to a theoretical inter- pretation of an enormous realm of data in modern particle physics. It led, in fact, to the well-known unification of electromagnetism with weak interactions (Weinberg-Salam theory) and, at the same time, to a most natural unifica- tion of particle and nuclear physics through QCD which deals with the basic quark-gluon structure of heavy matter, e.g. hadrons.