Kinks and domain walls are the simplest kind of solitons and are invaluable for testing various ideas and for learning about non-perturbative aspects of field theories. They are the subject of research in essentially every branch of physics, ranging from condensed matter to cosmology. This 2006 book is an introduction to kinks and domain walls and their principal classical and quantum properties. The book examines classical solitons, building from examples in elementary systems to more complicated settings. The formation of solitons in phase transitions, their dynamics and their cosmological consequences are further discussed. The book closes with an explicit description of a few laboratory systems containing solitons. Kinks and Domain Walls includes several state-of-the-art results, some previously unpublished. Each chapter closes with open questions and research problems and will be of great interest to both graduate students and academic researchers in theoretical physics, particle physics, cosmology and condensed matter physics.
【作者简介】
Daniel J. Velleman received his B.A. at Dartmouth College in 1976 summa cum laude, the highest distinction in mathematics. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1980 and was an instructor at the University of Texas-Austin, 1980-1983. His other books include Which Way Did the Bicycle Go? (with Stan Wagon and Joe Konhauser), 1996; Philosophies of Mathematics (with Alexander George), 2002. Among his awards and distinctions are the Lester R. Ford Award for the paper Versatile Coins (with Istvan Szalkai), 1994, the Carl B. Allendoerfer Award for the paper 'Permutations and Combination Locks' (with Greg Call), 1996. He's been a member of the editorial board for American Mathematical Monthly from 1997 to today and was Editor of Dolciani Mathematical Expositions from 1999-2004. He published papers in Journal of Symbolic Logic, Annals of Pure and Applied Logic, Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, American Mathematical Monthly, Mathematics Magazine, Mathematical Intelligencer, Philosophical Review, American Journal of Physics.
以下为对购买帮助不大的评价