Gerardo F. Torres del Castillo - Böcker

This systematic and self-contained treatment of the theory of three-dimensional spinors and their applications fills an important gap in the literature. Without using the customary Clifford algebras frequently studied in connection with the representations of orthogonal groups, spinors are developed in this work for three-dimensional spaces in a language analogous to the spinor formalism used in relativistic spacetime.This work will serve graduate students and researchers in mathematics and mathematical and theoretical physics; it is suitable as a course or seminar text, as a reference text, and may also be used for self-study.

Without using the customary Clifford algebras frequently studied in connection with the representations of orthogonal groups, this book gives an elementary introduction to the two-component spinor formalism for four-dimensional spaces with any signature. Some of the useful applications of four-dimensional spinors, such as Yang-Mills theory, are derived in detail using illustrative examples. Spinors in Four-Dimensional Spaces is aimed at graduate students and researchers in mathematical and theoretical physics interested in the applications of the two-component spinor formalism in any four-dimensional vector space or Riemannian manifold with a definite or indefinite metric tensor. This systematic and self-contained book is suitable as a seminar text, a reference book, and a self-study guide.

The spinor calculus employed in general relativity is a very useful tool; many expressions and computations are considerably simplified if one makes use of spinors instead of tensors. Some advantages of the spinor formalism applied in the four-dimensional space-time of general relativity come from the fact that each spinor index takes two values only, which simplifies the algebraic manipulations. Spinors for spaces of any dimension can be defined in connection with rep­ resentations of orthogonal groups and in the case of spaces of dimension three, the spinor indices also take two values only, which allows us to apply some of the results found in the two-component spinor formalism of four-dimensional space-time. The spinor formalism for three-dimensional spaces has been partially developed, mainly for spaces with a definite metric, also in connection with gen­ eral relativity (e.g., in space-plus-time decompositions of space-time), defining the spinors of three-dimensional space from those corresponding to four-dimensional space-time, but the spinor formalism for three-dimensional spaces considered on their own is not widely known or employed. One of the aims of this book is to give an account of the spinor formalism for three-dimensional spaces, with definite or indefinite metric, and its applications in physics and differential geometry. Another is to give an elementary treatment of the spin-weighted functions and their various applications in mathematical physics.

This textbook examines the Hamiltonian formulation in classical mechanics with the basic mathematical tools of multivariate calculus. Graduate and advanced undergraduate students in physics or mathematics who are interested in mechanics and applied math will benefit from this treatment of analytical mechanics.

This textbook gives a concise introduction to the theory of differentiable manifolds, focusing on their applications to differential equations, differential geometry, and Hamiltonian mechanics.The first three chapters introduce the basic concepts of the theory, such as differentiable maps, tangent vectors, vector and tensor fields, differential forms, local one-parameter groups of diffeomorphisms, and Lie derivatives. These tools are subsequently employed in the study of differential equations, connections, Riemannian manifolds, Lie groups, and Hamiltonian mechanics. Throughout, the book contains examples, worked out in detail, as well as exercises intended to show how the formalism is applied to actual computations and to emphasize the connections among various areas of mathematics.This second edition greatly expands upon the first by including more examples, additional exercises, and new topics, such as the moment map and fiber bundles. Detailed solutions to every exercise are also provided.Differentiable Manifolds is addressed to advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students in mathematics or physics. Prerequisites include multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and a basic knowledge of analytical mechanicsReview of the first edition:This book presents an introduction to differential geometry and the calculus on manifolds with a view on some of its applications in physics. … The present author has succeeded in writing a book which has its own flavor and its own emphasis, which makes it certainly a valuable addition to the literature on the subject. Frans Cantrijn, Mathematical Reviews

This textbook gives a concise introduction to the theory of differentiable manifolds, focusing on their applications to differential equations, differential geometry, and Hamiltonian mechanics.The first three chapters introduce the basic concepts of the theory, such as differentiable maps, tangent vectors, vector and tensor fields, differential forms, local one-parameter groups of diffeomorphisms, and Lie derivatives. These tools are subsequently employed in the study of differential equations, connections, Riemannian manifolds, Lie groups, and Hamiltonian mechanics. Throughout, the book contains examples, worked out in detail, as well as exercises intended to show how the formalism is applied to actual computations and to emphasize the connections among various areas of mathematics.This second edition greatly expands upon the first by including more examples, additional exercises, and new topics, such as the moment map and fiber bundles. Detailed solutions to every exercise are also provided.Differentiable Manifolds is addressed to advanced undergraduate or beginning graduate students in mathematics or physics. Prerequisites include multivariable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and a basic knowledge of analytical mechanicsReview of the first edition:This book presents an introduction to differential geometry and the calculus on manifolds with a view on some of its applications in physics. … The present author has succeeded in writing a book which has its own flavor and its own emphasis, which makes it certainly a valuable addition to the literature on the subject. Frans Cantrijn, Mathematical Reviews