Norbert Dragon Ordine dei libri

Focusing on advanced concepts in physics, this second edition introduces a new chapter on four-velocities and hyperbolic geometry. It explores quantum properties of relativistic particles through Poincaré group representations, linking massless representations to the Hopf bundle. Scattering theory parallels non-relativistic approaches, underpinned by symmetry postulates. Additional chapters delve into quantum fields, charge reflections, and gauge symmetry, providing a comprehensive framework for analyzing Feynman graphs. An extensive appendix further enriches the content with various topics.

In this concise primer it is shown that, with simple diagrams, the phenomena of time dilatation, length contraction and Lorentz transformations can be deduced from the fact that in a vacuum one cannot distinguish physically straight and uniform motion from rest, and that the speed of light does not depend on the speed of either the source or the observer. The text proceeds to derive the important results of relativistic physics and to resolve its apparent paradoxes. A short introduction into the covariant formulation of electrodynamics is also given. This publication addresses, in particular, students of physics and mathematics in their final undergraduate year.