Physics for Mathematicians: Mechanics I (Digital Edition)

Physics for Mathematicians, Mechanics I by Michael Spivak, in its official digital edition: a rigorous introduction to classical mechanics written for readers trained in modern mathematics, delivered as a secure PDF eBook directly from the publisher, Publish or Perish, Inc. This digital edition is available only from mathpop.com.

About the Book

In this volume Spivak brings the rigor and clarity of his Calculus to classical mechanics. Written for someone who thinks in precise definitions and honest proofs, the book uses the language of differential geometry to work from Newton's laws through the full arc of the subject to Lagrangian and Hamiltonian mechanics — and it takes seriously the elementary problems, wheels, levers, ropes and pulleys, that physics texts treat as obvious and mathematicians have always found hard to fathom.

The prerequisite Spivak names is the first two volumes of his A Comprehensive Introduction to Differential Geometry, or an equivalent grounding in manifolds and differential forms. No prior physics is assumed. For a fuller picture of who the book is for and how it compares to Arnold, see our guide to Physics for Mathematicians. See also the full table of contents and index.

What the Book Covers

• Part I — The Foundations of Mechanics: Newtonian mechanics from first principles, central forces, conservation laws, the one- and two-body problems, rigid bodies, constraints, and the historical questions behind them.
• Part II — Building on the Foundations: oscillations, rigid-body motion, non-inertial systems and fictitious forces, friction, the Painlevé paradoxes, billiards and tippe tops.
• Part III — Lagrangian Mechanics: variational principles, Hamilton's principle, Noether's theorem, small oscillations.
• Part IV — Hamiltonian Mechanics: the cotangent bundle, Hamilton–Jacobi theory, canonical transformations, symplectic manifolds, Liouville integrability, action-angle variables, adiabatic invariants and the Hannay angle.
• Interlude — Light, and a Supplement — A PDE Primer.

Digital Edition Details

• Format: PDF, secured with Readium LCP. Opens in free LCP-compatible readers such as Thorium Reader (desktop) and Aldiko Next (mobile).
• Delivery: instant, by email, after purchase. Your LCP passphrase is your order number.
• Digital Edition ISBN: 978-0-914098-06-5
• Publisher: Publish or Perish, Inc.

For the complete list of compatible readers and a step-by-step guide to opening your book, see the Ebook Access and Compatibility Guide. Adobe DRM is available on request via contact@mathpop.com.