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Foundations, Mathematical Concepts, and Applications in Molecular and Condensed Matter Physics |
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Book Description: Aimed
at graduate physics and chemistry students, this is the first
comprehensive monograph covering the concept of the geometric phase in
quantum physics from its mathematical foundations to its physical
applications and experimental manifestations. It contains all the
premises of the adiabatic Berry phase as well as the exact
Anandan-Aharonov phase. It discusses quantum systems in a classical
time-independent environment (time dependent Hamiltonians) and quantum
systems in a changing environment (gauge theory of molecular physics).
The mathematical methods used are a combination of differential geometry
and the theory of linear operators in Hilbert Space. As a result, the
monograph demonstrates how non-trivial gauge theories naturally arise
and how the consequences can be experimentally observed. Readers benefit
by gaining a deep understanding of the long-ignored gauge theoretic
effects of quantum mechanics and how to measure them. |