List of STEM Masterworks in Physics, Mechanics, Electrodynamics...

[vanhees71]

It's only you who thinks Ballentine's book is garbage. It's standard QT explained in a modern way. There's a bit too much "interpretation" in the book to my taste, but it also doesn't hurt to have some.

 

[atyy]

It's only you who thinks Ballentine's book is garbage. It's standard QT explained in a modern way. There's a bit too much "interpretation" in the book to my taste, but it also doesn't hurt to have some.

Ballentine fundamentally contradicts at least 4 of the other books (Dirac, Weinberg, Sakurai, Messiah) you listed as QM bibles.

 

[vanhees71]

Where? You claim this from time to time, so please give a clear reference!

 

[atyy]

Where? You claim this from time to time, so please give a clear reference!

All of those 4 have collapse, which Ballentine mischaracterizes and repudiates.

Ballentine's error is not an incidental error (eg. the Feynman lectures have errors, but they are incidental, and can be corrected without disturbing the main thrust), but deep in his book, and explains why he also gets the result of the watched pot effect wrong.

 

[vanhees71]

Well, that's an interpretational issue. As you well know, I'm also a proponent of the minimal interpretation and I also think that there's no need for a collapse. If some filter is used for preparation (e.g., in the Stern-Gerlach experiment taking only one partial beam with determined magnetic quantum number $m$) it's working is well explained within the realm of local interactions of the Standard model, where by construction for sure is no instantaneous collapse. It's a sloppy description of a filter-preparation procedure which works FAPP in many cases, but it's contradicting the very construction of local relatistic QFTs.

All there is really physical about QM, i.e., the probabilistic description based on Born's rule is the very same in Ballentine as in any other standard QT textbook. The main point, why I recommend Ballentine is his use of the rigged-Hilbert space formalism in a physicist's way, avoiding much confusion about continuous spectra.

 

[atyy]

It's really not my expertise, but isn't Guyton the bible of medical physiology too?

Not mine either, but I've heard that Guyton is especially good for the heart.

 

[atyy]

Polchinski, String Theory

Hinman, Fundamentals of Mathematical Logic

Henry Gray, Anatomy

Kardar, Statistical Physics of Particles
Kardar, Statistical Physics of Fields

 

[Dragon27]

SICP

 

[Marc Rindermann]

If Halliday and Resnick can be included, than a book that is a something like a grad-level Halliday and Resnick also can be included, the amazing 1400+ page "Modern Classical Physics: Optics, Fluids, Plasmas, Elasticity, Relativity, and Statistical Physics" by (Nobel laureate) Thorne and Blandford

personally I wouldn't include Halliday and Resnick. In my opinion the only criterium this book matches is its volume.

 

[rootone]

Newton's principia wins as candidate for the old testament.

 

[sweet springs]

Panofsky Phillips Classical Electricity and Magnetism
Landau Lifsitz Classical Theory of Field
P.A.M. Dirac Theory of Relativity & Principles of Quantum Mechamics
Kubo Ichimura Statistical Mechanics

Those are my memorable texts ever.

 

[sweet springs]

A classic of mechanics,
Galileo Galilei, Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences [1638] http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/galilei-dialogues-concerning-two-new-sciences

As for STEM, STEAM is also used with Art added.

 

[jedishrfu]

You guys have left Lev Landau in the dust. He had several concise books on all areas of physics most notably:

English editions
Note that reprints and revised editions are not listed.

Volume 1

• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1960). Mechanics. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ASIN B0006AWV88.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1969). Mechanics. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-201-04146-0.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1976). Mechanics. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2896-9.

Covers classical mechanics without special or general relativity, in the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms.

Volume 2

• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1951). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (1st ed.). Addison-Wesley. ASIN B0007G5B42.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1959). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1971). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (3rd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-016019-1.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1975). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (4th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2768-9.

Covers relativistic mechanics of particles, and classical field theory for fields, specifically special relativity and electromagnetism, general relativity and gravitation.

Volume 3

• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1958). Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory. Vol. 3 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1965). Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1977). Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory. Vol. 3 (3rd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-020940-1.

Covers quantum mechanics without special relativity.

Volume 4

• https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vladimir_Berestetskii&action=edit&redlink=1, E. M. Lifshitz, L. P. Pitaevskii (1971). Relativistic Quantum Theory. Vol. 4 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-017175-3.
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vladimir_Berestetskii&action=edit&redlink=1, E. M. Lifshitz, L. P. Pitaevskii (1982). Quantum Electrodynamics. Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-3371-0.

The original edition was two books, labelled part 1 and part 2. The first had general aspects of relativistic quantum mechanics and relativistic quantum field theory, leading onto quantum electrodynamics. The second continued on with quantum electrodynamics and what was then known about the strong and weak interactions. These books were published in the early 1970s, at a time when the strong and weak forces were still not well understood. In the second edition, the corresponding sections were scrapped and replaced with more topics in the well-established quantum electrodynamics, and the two parts were unified into one, thus providing a one-volume exposition on relativistic quantum field theory with the electromagnetic interaction as the prototype of a quantum field theory.

Volume 5

• Statistical Physics. Vol. 5 (1st ed.). 1951.
  • Early version: L. D. Landau (1938). Statistical Physics. Clarendon Press. ASIN B00085BKZG.
  • Statistical Physics. Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). 1968.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1980). Statistical Physics. Vol. 5 (3rd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-3372-7.

Covers general statistical mechanics and thermodynamics and applications, including chemical reactions, phase transitions, and condensed matter physics.

Volume 6

• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1959). Fluid Mechanics. Vol. 6 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-009104-4.
  • L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1987). Fluid Mechanics. Vol. 6 (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-08-033933-7.

Covers fluid mechanics in a condensed but varied exposition, from ideal to viscous fluids, includes a chapter on relativistic fluid mechanics, and another on superfluids.

Volume 7

• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1959). Theory of Elasticity. Vol. 7 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press.
• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1970). Theory of Elasticity. Vol. 7 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-006465-9.
• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1986). Theory of Elasticity. Vol. 7 (3rd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2633-0.

Covers elasticity theory of solids, including viscous solids, vibrations and waves in cystals with dislocations, and a chapter on the mechanics of liquid crystals.

Volume 8

• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz (1960). Electrodynamics of Continuous Media. Vol. 8 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-009105-1.
• L. D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz, L.P. Pitaevskii (1984). Electrodynamics of Continuous Media. Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2634-7.

Covers electromagnetism in materials, includes a variety of topics in condensed matter physics, a chapter on magnetohydrodynamics, and another on nonlinear optics.

Volume 9

• E. M. Lifshitz, L. P. Pitaevskii (1980). Statistical Physics, Part 2: Theory of the Condensed State. Vol. 9 (1st ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2636-1.

Builds from the original statistical physics book; more applications to condensed matter theory.

Volume 10

• E. M. Lifshitz, L. P. Pitaevskii (1981). Physical Kinetics. Vol. 10 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-7506-2635-4.

Presents various applications of kinetic theory to condensed matter theory, on metals, insulators, and phase transitions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_of_Theoretical_Physics

 

[sweet springs]

W. Pauli, Principles of Wave Mechanics

I like this book two. A small defect I found in the first chapter is that he mistreats momentum of particle in infinite potential well.

 

[atyy]

You guys have left Lev Landau in the dust.

vanhees71 got that in post #18.

 

[jedishrfu]

Sorry, I missed that.

 

[Fred Wright]

You guys have left Lev Landau in the dust. He had several concise books on all areas of physics most notably:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_of_Theoretical_Physics

Many years ago I attempted to work through the entire course but after a few months I realized that at my pace it would take about 200 years for me to work through all the problems. At any rate, I am a big fan of the Russian school so my first choice for QFT is "Methods of Quantum Field Theory in Statistical Physics", Abrikosov, Gorkov and Dyaloshinski.

 

[jedishrfu]

Many years ago I attempted to work through the entire course but after a few months I realized that at my pace it would take about 200 years for me to work through all the problems. At any rate, I am a big fan of the Russian school so my first choice for QFT is "Methods of Quantum Field Theory in Statistical Physics", Abrikosov, Gorkov and Dyaloshinski.

Me too. I couldn’t get past his first book. He was a brilliant physicist but not one for undergrads.

 

[gmax137]

On the mechanical engineering - fluid flow side, how about Crane 410? Complemented by Idel'chik.

 

[jasonRF]

Gelfand, Generalized Functions, in 6 volumes.

 

[Astronuc]

L.D. Landau, E. M. Lifshitz, Course on Theoretical Physics (10 vols)
W. Greiner et al Theoretical Physics (13 vols)

Landau and Lifshitz first came to mind when I saw the thread title. I didn't know about the series by Greiner et al.

I have the Feynman lectures (3 volumes).

 

[dextercioby]

Gelfand, Generalized Functions, in 6 volumes.

Only 5, I believe, unless you know something I don't. :)

 

[Demystifier]

@Demystifier did you read all the books you recommend here? ;-)

I didn't recommend Bourbaki, I just said that it is a bible for pure math.
But yes, I tried to read Bourbaki, just to experience what it feels like.

 

[Demystifier]

why I recommend Ballentine is his use of the rigged-Hilbert space formalism in a physicist's way

Ballentine indeed explains rigged Hilbert space very well, in a physics friendly language, but I wouldn't say that he really uses it.

 

[Demystifier]

All of those 4 have collapse, which Ballentine mischaracterizes and repudiates.

Ballentine's error is not an incidental error (eg. the Feynman lectures have errors, but they are incidental, and can be corrected without disturbing the main thrust), but deep in his book, and explains why he also gets the result of the watched pot effect wrong.

From a modern perspective, the Ballentine's main problem is that he doesn't understand the importance of decoherence: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10701-008-9242-0.pdf
If he understood decoherence, he would also understand the illusion of collapse.

 

[jedishrfu]

Flanders - Differential Forms with Applications to the Physical Sciences

 

[jasonRF]

Only 5, I believe, unless you know something I don't. :)

I haven't read it but volume 6 seems to exist:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1470426641/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[Auto-Didact]

I want to say:

Thorne & Blandford - Modern Classical Physics: Optics, Fluids, Plasmas, Elasticity, Relativity, and Statistical Physics

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691159025/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Anyone read this or is this really as new as it seems to be? Having read MTW, I'm dying to get my hands on this.

Edit: just saw that this was actually mentioned already, any thoughts from anyone who has read it? The suspense is killing me!

 

[jedishrfu]

I read the first chapter and looked at it at Barnes Noble. It was behind the counter at the local BN.

It’s high quality printing at its best. It’s a tome and not something you’d carry around a lot. The illustrations are very good.

I was considering buying it but just couldn’t decide. I felt that maybe Arfken and Weber was more approachable. I couldn’t find that one topic in the book where the book spoke to me and would cause me to buy it.

You might be able to find the book preprints online as Thorne and Bland had them posted to get early feedback of what they wrote.

 

[atyy]

I want to say:

Thorne & Blandford - Modern Classical Physics: Optics, Fluids, Plasmas, Elasticity, Relativity, and Statistical Physics

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691159025/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Anyone read this or is this really as new as it seems to be? Having read MTW, I'm dying to get my hands on this.

Edit: just saw that this was actually mentioned already, any thoughts from anyone who has read it? The suspense is killing me!

I haven't read it, but I've read the relativity portions of http://www.pmaweb.caltech.edu/Courses/ph136/yr2012/, which I think turned into the book. The discussion of the equivalence principle is nice.

 

[analogdesign]

This list has been Physics heavy. How about some Electrical Engineering? These are some bibles if you're interested in microelectronics.

Sze -- Physics of Semiconductor Devices
Oppenheim and Shaefer -- Discrete-Time Signal Processing
Mead and Conway -- Introduction to VLSI Systems
Gray, Meyer, Hurst, and Lewis -- Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits
Rabaey -- Digital Integrated Circuit Design
Patterson and Hennessy -- Computer Organization and Design
Hennessy and Patterson -- Computer Architecture, A Quantitative Approach

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

This list has been Physics heavy. How about some Electrical Engineering? These are some bibles if you're interested in microelectronics.

Sze -- Physics of Semiconductor Devices
Oppenheim and Shaefer -- Discrete-Time Signal Processing
Mead and Conway -- Introduction to VLSI Systems
Gray, Meyer, Hurst, and Lewis -- Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits
Rabaey -- Digital Integrated Circuit Design
Patterson and Hennessy -- Computer Organization and Design
Hennessy and Patterson -- Computer Architecture, A Quantitative Approach

Without mentioning Sedra and Smith?

 

[analogdesign]

Without mentioning Sedra and Smith?

Sedra and Smith is good for a student, but it is way too basic to be considered a "bible" of circuit design. I haven't cracked my copy in probably 15 years.

The OP defined bible in this case as "more-or-less everything one need to know about the subject." Sedra and Smith does not reach that level.

The other books, however, do. If you read Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits, for instance, you could successfully design an analog integrated circuit.

 

[Demystifier]

Flanders - Differential Forms with Applications to the Physical Sciences

Great book, but not a bible.

 

[Demystifier]

I haven't read it but volume 6 seems to exist:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1470426641/?tag=pfamazon01-20

Yes, it exists, but to get it, I had to search for Gelfand instead of Gel'fand.