(Part 3) Top products from r/Physics

(Former) theoretical physicist here, with a few years of college teaching experience.

A lot of the recommendations provided so far by other people here emphasise a mathematical background, which is definitely important and necessary if you're going to pursue physics in the long term. However, when starting, it's easy to get sidetracked by the math and lose sight of your stated goal, thereby getting discouraged.

Therefore, my best advice is to start with a solid conceptual book and build up from there, depending on your interests and knowledge. As for the math, learn as you go until you feel that you want to dive deep into a particular subject in physics, at which point you'll know what math you'll need to learn in depth.

An excellent conceptual start is Hewitt's Conceptual Physics.

Other good starting point books are Feynman's Six Easy Pieces and Six Not-So-Easy Pieces.

Hewitt's book is a more traditional textbook-style text while Feynman's books are more free-style.

From there, the Feynman Lectures in Physics are challenging but extremely rewarding reading.

Once you've gone through those, you'll be in great shape to decide on your own what you want to read/learn next.

Also, as already suggested, online resources such as MIT's Open Course are highly recommended.

Best of luck!

First off, read this book! Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! Richard Feynman made some really important discoveries in the particle physics world and I think it's cool (and hilarious) to look at the way he thinks about everything, not physics alone.

Secondly, make sure you understand math. Don't kill yourself over it, just remember "physics is to mathematics as sex is to masturbation."

Third, enjoy what you're doing. It's hard to get a lot out of a class or a book if you are just struggling to get through each assignment. Try to make it fun for yourself.
Also, making friends in the field and study groups help a lot. I firmly believe that the classroom is not the ideal place to learn physics. It is a science about discovery and understanding the world around you. Even though other people have done so before, it really helps to sit around with a few people at about the same level as you and help each other find solutions. There's a good reason these guys smoked pipes. It's simply the perfect thing to do while sitting around with others thinking.

Overall, be sure to enjoy yourself. Being a physics major is tough, no doubt, but it's also super interesting and a ton of fun!

I heard good things about it, but honestly as an applied mathematician I found its table of contents too lackluster. Its coverage appears to be in a weird spot between "for physicists" and "for mathematicians" and I don't know who its target audience is. I think the standard recommendation for classical mechanics from the physics side is Goldstein, which is a perfectly good book with plenty of math!

For an actual mathematicians' take on classical mechanics, you'll have to wait until you take more advanced math, namely real analysis and differential geometry. Common references are Spivak and Tu. When you have that background, I think Arnold has the best mathematical treatment of classical mechanics.

I would assume that if you're a music major and "been good at math", you might be referring to the math of high school. In any case, it would help if you spend some time doing/reviewing calculus in parallel while you go through some introductory physics book. So here's what you could do:

• math: grab a copy of one of the following (or some similar textbook) and go through the text as well as the problems
  
  • Thomas and Finney
    
  • Stewart (older editions of this are okay since they are cheaper. I have fourth edition which is good enough).
    
• physics:
  
  • for mostly conceptual discussion of physics, Feynman lectures
    
  • for beginner level problems sets in various branches of physics, any one of the following (older editions are okay):
    
    • Halliday and Resnick
      
    • Young and Freedman
      
    • Serway and Jewett
      
    • Giancoli
      
  • for intermediate level discussion (actually you can jump right into this if your calculus is good) on mechanics , the core branch of physics, Kleppner and Kolenkow
    
    
    Other than that, feel free to google your question. You'll find good info on websites like physicsforums.com, physics.stackexchange.com, as well as past threads on this subreddit where others have asked similar questions.
    
    Once you're past the intro (i.e., solid grasp of calculus, and solid grasp of mechanics, which could take up to a year), you are ready to venture further into math and physics territory. In that regard, I recommend you look at posts by Gerard 't Hooft and John Baez.

I would recommend Introduction to "Elementary Particle Physics" by David Griffiths

Its generally considered a higher-level undergrad book, but as a PhD student I still look at it from time to time, especially if I want to teach a specific subject. He will review the SR and Quantum for you, but at a level that you'd want to have seen it before. There's calc and a little bit of linear algebra, but at such a level that you could learn them for the first time through this text (assuming you've had SOME Calc before)

From there, the next level is sort of "Quarks and Leptons" by Halzen and Martin, which people are generally less excited about, but I enjoyed it.

After that, the top standard that even theorists seem to love is "High Energy Hadron Physics" by Martin Perl, where there are parts of that text that I still struggle with.

I don't know of any decent online particle physics resources. But there are two good books at the undergraduate level I can think of Griffiths and Halzen and Martin

For superconductivity you want to learn many body quantum mechanics, ie non-relativistic quantum field theory. The most common recommendation is Fetter and Walecka, but I might consider Thouless to be superior on account of it being 1/3rd the length and probably only covers core topics. If you feel like dropping a lot of money, Mahan is very good, but also somewhat exhaustive. Might be worth having as a reference depending on how serious you get. I would get F&W and Thouless simply on account of how cheap they are.

I recommend Hewitt's classic Conceptual Physics or Giancoli's algebra-based text Physics: Principles with Applications (if you want to get into the swing of things, mathematically speaking).

If you really enjoy the material, calculus-based physics can come later. You run the very real risk of getting bogged down in one subject instead of making it through the major lessons of the other.

That being said, taking a course in calculus invariably introduces you to physics anyway since that's why it was created in the first place. You may be better off learning some calculus and leaving the physics for later. Even just a book on precalc could be helpful for you. There are tons of options out there — they're mostly the same in all honesty — but this one is very popular among universities in the states.

Go to a library and find some of these books and see what excites you. That will guide your decision.

I really love Probability Theory: The Logic of Science by Jaynes. While it is not a physics book, it was written by one. It is very well written, and is filled with common sense (which is a good thing). I really enjoy how probability theory is built up within it. It is also very interesting if you have read some of Jaynes' more famous works on applying maximum entropy to Statistical Mechanics.

What I would suggest:

Introduction to Modern Optics by Fowles. It's short and to the point.

The Oxford Solid State Basics by Simon. The author also has lectures posted on his website that are fantastic. Additionally, Roald Hoffmann has a series of papers that introduce solid state concepts that are useful for chemists. They're very worthwhile reads. Here, here, and here.

Computational Physics by Newman. I find this really easy to read and understand. A lot of people around here recommend it.

First of all, I'm delighted that you used to find science boring, and now you enjoy it. I also agree that Feynman lectures will cover almost everything you list. Since I'm an optical engineer, let me steer you to the Field Guide series for handy books on optics. If you just want one book in optics, I like Introduction to Modern Optics by Grant Fowles.
https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Modern-Optics-Dover-Physics/dp/0486659577/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Look honey if you don't understand any of this don't bother, you'll never make it.


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Hey just kidding, best of luck. You really have to practice and read and read and read, you'll get it someday. I want to do some research on light-matter interaction and I'm reading this book at the moment. I suggest you read chapters 2 and 4, they offer a nice discussion.

This is a pretty good reference for most conversions and it's great for double checking that you remembered that formula quickly without having to go through a whole text book.

But it might not be specific enough to nuclear physics.

Would the best approach to learning physics be, first reading conceptual physics by Hewitt, then reading fundamentals of physics by Halliday?

Would conceptual physics give me a good grounding and base in physics, which would help once I start reading fundamentals of physics?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conceptual-Physics-Paul-G-Hewitt/dp/0321568095

Sure no problem. These are the texts I used as an undergrad:

Classical Mechanics: Classical Dynamics of Particles and Systems, Thornton and Marion

Electrodynamics: Introduction to Electrodynamics, Griffiths

Statistical Mechanics: An Introduction to Thermal Physics, Schroeder

Quantum Mechanics: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Griffiths

For special relativity I never used a book strictly devoted to the subject. Thornton and Marion will cover it at the end, and so will Griffiths E&M. However my favorite source on special relativity is Landau's Classical Theory of Fields, the first few chapters.

I've glanced through Taylor and it is a bit low, but I might give it a chance again. I was thinking of a book like http://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Classical-Mechanics-Graduate-Mathematics/dp/0387968903 but it's too mathematically sophisticated for me right now. Any other recommendations for a grad level book?

Yes, but at a grander scale than most perceive entanglement; everything is "entangled" This is a good place to read about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_decoherence, but if you want to really learn what the topic is about, mathematically and physically, start here: http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Processes-Information-Benjamin-Schumacher/dp/052187534X

Quantum

Easy: Zettili, Comprehensive reference: Cohen-Tannoudji

or if you want more foundational books

Easy: Schumacher and Westmoreland, Comprehensive: Ballentine

One of my favorite books is Surely Your Joking Mr. Feynman there is another version with an audio cd that is a great listen.

The Zitterbewegung interpretation of Quantum Mechanics takes a cue from here and works out the math. The result is that spin (and in general, momentum) is shown to be a property of a Quantum Field, not a feature of particles.

The best sources for this are:

http://geocalc.clas.asu.edu/html/GAinQM.html (David Hestene's personal website. The last few papers on this page are most relevant)

Geometric Algebra for Physicists by Doran and Lasenby The section on Quantum Mechanics is great for explaining the Math, but it doesn't do spin a great service

Almost no one pays attention to this work because it's not something new and amazing. It's contributed nothing to experimental knowledge aside from some explanations of corrections in energies and lifetimes. The calculations are also mostly done in a weird unification of vectors & division algebra that few people are familiar with.

IMO though, even though the work is hard to get through, it's worth it to understand spin.

Griffiths' Quantum Mechanics has a crash course in most of the linear algebra required to do a first course in quantum mechanics. It's not very complicated - you just need basic understanding of vector spaces, linear transformations and functionals, and inner products, with a little bit of practice using dual notation of vectors (not too much, just enough for the Dirac notation which the book explains). Griffiths' also has a good explanation of simple fourier series/transform.

The key thing is being able to do basic linear algebra without matrices since in most of the cases, the vector space is infinite dimensional. But spin is a good example where almost everything can be done with matrices.

Additionally, solving ordinary differential equations and using separation of variables for partial differential equations in 3-d quantum mechanics would help.

Group theory will be of help in more advanced classes. Dummit and Foote or Arton's books on algebra are decent introduction. They are a bit dense though. If you want a real challenge, try Lang's Algebra book. I don't know of any easier books though. My first algebra book was Dummit and Foote which can be done without any real prerequisites beyond matrix algebra, but isn't really well written.

Links to books: Griffiths, Dummit and Foote.

PS: I have ebooks of these two books in particular.

FYI, Jaynes actually wrote a whole probability textbook that essentially put together all his thoughts about probability theory. I haven't read it, but many people say it got some good stuff.

Aaronson's book on quantum computing is quite good as well.

The good thing about quantum information is that it's mostly linear algebra, once you're past the quantization itself. The good thing though is that you don't have to understand that in order to understand QI.

There are books written about quantum computing specifically for non-physicists. Mind you, they are written for engineers and computer scientists instead and they're supposed to know more maths and physics than you as well. Still, you could pick up one of those, e.g. the one by Mosca, or even better the one by David Mermin.

There are also two very new popular-science books on the topic, one by Jonathan Dowling, Schrödinger's Killer App, and one by Scott Aaronson, Quantum computing since Democritus.

My reason is because I've been teaching myself linear algebra during the summer and thought it might be a good idea to practice my new skills in physics.

Edit: I hadn't thought about re examining classical mechanics from a more advanced perspective. To confirm the textbooks you're talking about is this Morin and this Taylor?

High School Physics Teacher here:

Conceptual Physics by Paul Hewitt.

I own an old copy and leave it in my classroom. This book will get you perfectly prepared for your class, as it has wonderful cartoons to explain a wide variety of topics and also includes all of the necessary formulas.

Pro Tip: Look for an old, used version. I wouldn't pay full price for the latest edition. The physics hasn't changed over the years.

EDIT: You can totally find a used version for $15-$20. At first search, I found them for $17.99 here. I'm sure you can do better, but there's no need to buy the latest, newest edition.

Morin is the way to go. https://www.amazon.com/Problems-Solutions-Introductory-Mechanics-David/dp/1482086921 It has a lot of very good problems of nice difficulty (but not too difficult). Detailed solutions are given to all problems. I highly recommend this book to any physics student. Every single person I recommended this too ended up loving the book and learning a lot.
If you are interested in very difficult, sadistic problems, then the other Morin book is nice: https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Classical-Mechanics-Problems-Solutions/dp/0521876222/ This contains theory too and detailed soolutions to half the problems.

Ah, Leonard Susskind is a boss.
I'd recommend giving The Black Hole War a read if you haven't already.

Incidentally for those for whom this has peaked an interest in this amazing man read his book 'Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman' (link goes to Amazon), among others.

Universities tend to accommodate not having dedicated the summer before first year to preparation: don't worry. They're not going to drop you in at the deep end and watch you struggle.

Being good with maths will never hurt in a physics degree, though. If you're desperate to do something, in your position I'd skim parts of the PH300 course in a book like RHB if you have one available. I wouldn't buy a copy just for that, personally, but your mileage my vary.

If computing is a large part of the course and you've never programmed before, another option would be to get ahead on that. I've never dealt with FORTRAN but a quick Google pointed out a lot of tutorials that might help.

Beyond that I'm not sure what to say: unless something else on (or off) the course really stands out to you, I'd peek at the maths and/or programming.

I would consider Jaynes to be one exception. His book Probability Theory: the Logic of Science is excellent.

Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering is an excellent book that covers most topics you will ever need for your undergrad degree.

wasn't that after you had already had an introductory physics course that covered some electricity and magnetism though? that's how it normally occurs.

there's also a new book that i haven't read or looked through that is supposed to be excellent. it's modern electrodynamics by zangwill.

Textbook: http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computation-Information-Anniversary-Edition/dp/1107002176


YouTube: http://michaelnielsen.org/blog/quantum-computing-for-the-determined/

Free lecture notes: https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/%7Ewatrous/LectureNotes.html

More causal reading (but still difficult):http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Computing-since-Democritus-Aaronson/dp/0521199565

Hawking admitted he was wrong and paid off the bet, Len Susskind wrote a book on 'The Black Hole War' that covers it all pretty well, slightly iffy quality vid of a talk on the subject from himself here.

I don't think you could really call it settled necessarily, as far as I understand it there is currently another (continuing?) debate surrounding the 'firewall paradox'. I guess this article sums it up ok.

I feel the need to plug Mathematical Methods for Physics and Engineering by Riley, Hobson, and Bence. It covers a vast range of everything you're going to need with good examples.

Like this?

http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Quantum-Mechanics-David-Griffiths/dp/0131244051/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1376761334&sr=8-2&keywords=griffiths+quantum+mechanics

Can anyone recommend this book?

In the book The Trouble with Physics the author presents several alternative theories/modifications to GR that try to account for observations without the use of dark matter. I don't think any have a super strong following at the moment, but there are people working on this.

These videos are incredible.

Extremely clear undergraduate quantum text which emphasis on quantum information.

With a little google-fu you can find the book in pdf format.

I used Modern Optics by Grant Fowels. It's decent.

I like two books that I used often:

1. http://www.amazon.com/Quantum-Theory-Oxford-Science-Publications/dp/0198501765/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348848313&sr=1-1&keywords=loudon+quantum
   
   
2. http://www.amazon.com/Introductory-Quantum-Optics-Christopher-Gerry/dp/052152735X

You're definitely asking the right question. It doesn't explain. To be fair, it's difficult to explain without some math (it's in Kleppner and Kolenkow, if you have a copy available to you).

But I think it is a deficiency in the blog write-up. Presumably the author wants this kind of feedback.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!

Never met a physicist who doesn't idolize him.

Late, but here are undergrad books on the subject: geometric algebra, geometric calculus.

A grad-type book that has both and their applications to physics would be this one

I'm currently learning the geometric algebra undergrad book. It's a good read so far, and the author keeps up with book errors.

Hecht is the landmark. If you want a bargain Grant Fowles modern optics is hard to beat.

In addition to the other recommendations that have been made: Halzen and Martin goes through electroweak symmetry breaking and the Higgs mechanism in chapter 14, and the Weinberg-Salam model (this is the real deal) in chapter 15. Depending on how much QFT you're familiar with, you can probably skip lots of the content preceding those chapters.

This is the kind of book that's going to be difficult to work through, but in my experience, it's worth the effort.

These authors seem to think so:
http://www.amazon.com/Geometric-Algebra-Physicists-Chris-Doran/dp/0521715954

This

Riley Hobson and Bence similarly has intro chapters on mostly all of that.

Probably some combination of Griffiths, Jackson, and Zangwill

Author of two widely used undergratuate physics texts: one for Electricity and Magnetism and one for Quantum Mechanics. He also authored the somewhat-less-widely used (perhaps mainly because it's a specialist subject in most undergrad programs) Introduction to Elementary Particles.

Conceptual Physics, by Paul G Hewitt

Most of these are a little above the $15 but you get the general idea,

• Arduino UNO
  
• Rare earth magnets
  
• Newton's Cradle
  
• The Cambridge Handbook of Physics Formulas
  

Are you talking about the green book?

My favourite is Kleppner-Kolenkow.

So's literally anything else. Hell, I imagine wikipedia would make a better textbook than L&L Classical Field Theory. (Though I must say, I used their mechanics book for my undergrad mechanics course and really liked it. The class textbook was Marion and thornton, which I really didn't like. L&L was much clearer.)

Shit yeah, Introductory Quantum Optics.

Physicist turned mathematician here. Pretty much any sort of physics can be done from a pure-mathematical perspective. The only difference is the sort of problems you try to solve and the sort of questions you want to answer. For example, in fluid dynamics the existence and smoothness of solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations is one of the Millennium problems. In QFT, the Yang-Mills existence and mass gap is also a Millennium problem.

There are a lot of texts on physics from a mathematician's perspective that you can have a look at. For classical mechanics, check out Arnol'd or Spivak. For quantum mechanics, see Hall or Takhtajan. For relativity, check out O'Neill. For QFT, check out Folland.

For those who haven't read this, there's quite a bit of insight into various arguments between Hawking, Susskind and others surrounding the nature of black holes. Great read!

The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics https://smile.amazon.com/dp/0316016411/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ba6IDbV4BJ2DK

Introduction to Classical Mechanics: With Problems and Solutions is one of the best books when it comes to problems in classical mechanics.

Problems in General Physics is pretty famous as well for general physics. This one is russian, perhaps the one you're looking for.


Though, I have to warn you... these books have some very difficult problems, and these take a lot of time and effort to solve.

Don't feel as if you're inadequate because you can't solve them immediately, or that you needed help to do so. The patience you gain from trying to solve these problems is also part of the learning experience. Some problems you might take one day, some you might take one week... There are books (not these) with problems that takes years to solve.

(of course, I'm not assuming you're going to completely devote yourself to a single problem. You'll also learn to skip the problem if you can't immediately solve it)