A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics, I.D. Lawrie,
Institute of Physics Publishing, 2002, pp: 554, ISBN 0-7503-06041; Price: £30.00 (pbk).
Seeing the unity in modern theoretical physics is no easy task. There are, of course, many excellent texts that cover all the individual pillars of theoretical physics, but Ian D. Lawrie is among the few authors that dare to detail it all in a single tome. Of course defining what all of theoretical physics is might be nothing short of controversial, but all the many pieces that Lawie's A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics touches on are well exposited and presented with careful pedagogy.
The title of Lawie's book alludes to the extended vacations that wealthy young Englishmen began taking in the 18th century. The Grand Tour of the cultural centres of the European continent was considered at that time an essential part of a gentleman's education. His book is offered as the physics analogue of such a cultural journey.
A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics, now in its second edition, has been greatly expanded and improved. The second edition is a whole 180 pages larger than the first. Along with numerous corrections, the additional pages have allowed for several rather comprehensive additions including new and amended discussions of string theory, supersymmetry, differential geometry, topological objects in quantum field theory, inflationary cosmology, and quantum field theory on curved spacetimes.
The book begins with some basic geometry to prepare the reader for a discussion of Galilean and Minkowski spacetime physics, both of which are developed from symmetry and the action principles. The discussion of classical mechanics is far too brief and even devoid of any advanced mechanics and non-linear or chaotic physics. The discussion of general relativity includes all the elements black and white holes as well as cosmology and the early universe.
Non-relativistic quantum theory is quickly motivated to prepare for quantum field theory. Notably absent are significant discussions of the interpretation problems of quantum mechanics as well as any serious atomic or molecular physics. The presentation of quantum field theory is illuminating and carefully argued, although it is occasionally antiquated or vague at points. The chapter on gauge fields includes Abelian and non-Abelian fields as well as a discussion of fibre bundles which is linked to the earlier analysis of the Galilean case.
Dr. Lawrie is a researcher in phase transitions with a particular interest in the early universe, so it is no surprise to find the chapters that deal with these topics eruditely written. The chapter on equilibrium statistical mechanics is detailed starting from the first principles of ergodic theory to field theories at finite temperatures and the relationships between field theory and statistical mechanics. Bose-Einstein condensate, the Ising model, symmetry breaking, superconducting and more are covered in the chapter on phase transitions. The conventional condensed matter physics is a bit thin in comparison to the field theory coverage.
The new-for-this-edition chapter on solitons and other topological objects pleasantly fills a noticeable omission from the first edition. The usual details on domain walls, sine-Gordon solitons, vertices, strings, and magnetic monopoles are all expounded in a suitably cursory 32 pages.
The largest monolithic addition to the second edition is the new final chapter on string theory. Discussing essentially only the bosonic string, Lawrie makes every effort to explain, as clearly as possible, the free bosonic string, its scattering theory, and all the requisite operator algebra and symmetry characteristics. The chapter is nearly self-contained and may in fact be a more accessible (albeit abridged) first introduction than the standard texts on the subject.
A Unified Grand Tour of Theoretical Physics gives an exceptional overview of the background material for many topics of current interest in theoretical physics. The text would be useful for advanced undergraduates or freshman graduate students looking for a supplement to their coursework or researchers looking for overviews of specific subjects that are not in their field of research. There are some omissions in the text, but that is likely more a matter of preference than of oversight. This book is certain to find a happy home on many bookshelves.
Benjamin J. Sussman
Ottawa