Books in the IOP Concise Physics series

Have you ever wondered what comets are and why astronomers spend so much time studying them? A comet expert and an astronomical historian have come together to produce this unique book. The authors concisely present the information you need to comprehend these majestic apparitions that grace our night skies.

Visual Astronomy introduces the basics of observational astronomy, a fundamentally limitless opportunity to learn about the universe with your unaided eyes or with tools such as binoculars, telescopes, or cameras. The book explains the essentials of time a

This book is designed to help the non-specialist user of spectroscopic measurements and electronic structure computations to achieve a basic understanding of the underlying concepts of quantum chemistry. It can be used to teach introductory quantum chemistry to second-or third-year undergraduates.

This book provides a set of theoretical and numerical tools useful for the study of wave propagation in metamaterials and photonic crystals. While concentrating on electromagnetic waves, most of the material can be used for acoustic (or quantum) waves. For each presented numerical method, numerical code written in MATLAB(R) is presented. The codes are limited to 2D problems and can be easily translated in Python or Scilab, and used directly with Octave as well.

This book describes the advanced stability theories for magnetically confined fusion plasmas, especially in tokamaks. As the fusion plasma sciences advance, the gap between the textbooks and cutting-edge researches gradually develops. This book fills in

This book provides a detailed overview of cancer theranostics applications of magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles. Their synthesis, characterization, multifunctionality, disease targeting, biodistribution, pharmacokinetics and toxicity are highlighted, along with current examples of clinical trials of magnetic nanoparticles in cancer theranostics, and their future scopes and challenges.

Pathogens such as viruses and bacteria are among the greatest threats to human health worldwide. In today's era of population growth and international travel, new technologies are desperately needed to combat the spread of known and emerging pathogens.This book presents a new concept for pathogen inactivation called selective photonic disinfection (SEPHODIS). The SEPHODIS technology inactivates pathogens by mechanical means, a total paradigm shift from traditional chemical and physical methods. The unique strength of SEPHODIS resides in its capability to inactivate pathogens while preserving desirable materials such as human cells and proteins. The technology also avoids the need to use chemicals, drastically reducing the risk of side effects. These properties make SEPHODIS ideal for important biomedical applications such as safeguarding blood products and therapeutics against pathogens, as well as producing effective and safe vaccines to combat infectious disease.Written in a style that is both technically informative and easy to comprehend for the layman reader, this book illustrates the story of SEPHODIS from its initial discovery and bench studies to its real-world applications.

After a review of thermodynamics, this book covers Brownian motion and the diffusion equation, diffusion in solids based on transition-state theory, spinodal decomposition, nucleation and growth, instabilities in solidification, and diffusionless transformations. Each chapter includes exercises whose solutions are available in a separate manual.

The focus of this volume is to give the reader an introduction, if not at least an appreciation, of the role that linear algebra techniques play in the practical application of quantum mechanical methods. It interlaces aspects of the classical and quantum picture, including a number of both worked and parallel applications.

Adapted from a set of lecture notes for a core first year lecture course in physical chemistry taught at the University of Oxford, this book offers a concise introduction to the gas phase at a level suitable for any undergraduate scientist.

This book describes modern focused ion beam microscopes and techniques and how they can be used to aid materials metrology and as tools for the fabrication of devices that in turn are used in many other aspects of fundamental metrology. Beginning with a description of the currently available instruments including the new addition to the field of plasma-based sources, it then gives an overview of ion solid interactions and how the different types of instrument can be applied. Chapters then describe how these machines can be applied to the field of materials science and device fabrication giving examples of recent and current activity in both these areas.

Offers an introduction to surface science. Surfaces are the external border of materials to the external world. By exploring surfaces one can investigate the material. In the last few decades exciting surface properties have been explored in nanomaterials, low-dimensional structures in electronic and photonic devices and other applications.

In the last years there have been great advances in the applications of topology and differential geometry to problems in condensed matter physics. Concepts drawn from topology and geometry have become essential to the understanding of several phenomena in the area. Physicists have been creative in producing models for actual physical phenomena which realize mathematically exotic concepts and new phases have been discovered in condensed matter in which topology plays a leading role. An important classification paradigm is the concept of topological order, where the state characterizing a system does not break any symmetry, but it defines a topological phase in the sense that certain fundamental properties change only when the system passes through a quantum phase transition.The main purpose of this book is to provide a brief, self-contained introduction to some mathematical ideas and methods from differential geometry and topology, and to show a few applications in condensed matter. It conveys to physicists the basis for many mathematical concepts, avoiding the detailed formality of most textbooks.

Teaches readers how to solve physics problems; in other words, how to put maths and physics together to obtain a numerical or algebraic result and then interpret these results physically. These skills are important and are needed in more advanced science and engineering courses.

Teaches readers how to solve physics problems; in other words, how to put maths and physics together to obtain a numerical or algebraic result and then interpret these results physically. These skills are important and are needed in more advanced science and engineering courses.

Teaches readers how to solve physics problems; in other words, how to put maths and physics together to obtain a numerical or algebraic result and then interpret these results physically. These skills are important and are needed in more advanced science and engineering courses.

Provides an introduction to the core features of the Python (TM) programming language and Matplotlib plotting routings for scientists and engineers (or students of either discipline) who want to use Python (TM) to analyse data, simulate physical processes, and render publication-quality plots. No previous programming experience is needed before reading the first page.

Today we know that there are four states of matter: solids, liquids, gasses and plasma. The plasma state is beyond the scope of this book. Although on the microscopic level all matter is made from atoms or molecules, everyday experience tells us that the three states have very different properties. The aim of this book is to examine some of these properties and the underlying physics.

Provides a recipe for creating materials with a desired refraction coefficient, and the many-body wave scattering problem for many small impedance bodies is solved. The physical assumptions make the multiple scattering effects essential. On the basis of this theory, a recipe for creating materials with a desired refraction coefficient is given.

Offers a basic understanding of sound, musical instruments and music equipment, geared towards a general audience and non-science majors. The book begins with an introduction of the fundamental properties of sound waves, and the perception of the characteristics of sound. The relation between intensity and loudness, and the relation between frequency and pitch are discussed.

Reviews basic electromagnetic (EM) wave theory and applies it specifically to lasers in order to give the reader not only tangible examples of how the theory is manifested in real life, but also practical knowledge about lasers, and their operation and usage. This book offers a quick overview, which will allow the reader to gain a competent general understanding of EM waves and lasers.

Provides an introduction to the subject of fluid mechanics, essential for students and researchers in many branches of science. It illustrates its fundamental principles with a variety of examples drawn mainly from astrophysics and geophysics as well as from everyday experience. Prior familiarity with basic thermodynamics and vector calculus is assumed.

Discusses various aspects of wave dynamics from as many perspectives as possible. Going beyond the typical approach to learning science, this book discusses wave dynamics and related concepts at various levels of mathematics and physics, sometimes touching on profound physics behind them.

Narrows down the scope of physical biology by focusing on the microbial cell. It explores the physical phenomena of noise, feedback, and variability that arise in the cellular information-processing circuits used by bacteria. It also looks at the microbe from a physics perspective, to ask how the cell optimizes its function to live within the constraints of physics.

Provides non-specialists with a basic understanding of the underlying concepts of quantum chemistry. It is both a text for second or third-year undergraduates and a reference for researchers who need a quick introduction or refresher. The emphasis of Quantum Chemistry on explaining ideas rather than enumerating facts or presenting procedural details makes this an excellent foundation text.

The bicycle is a common, yet unique mechanical contraption in our world. In spite of this, the bike's physical and mechanical principles are understood by a select few. You do not have to be a genius to join this small group of people who understand the physics of cycling. This is your guide to fundamental principles, providing intuitive, basic explanations for the bicycle's behaviour.

This book is a new look at one of the hottest topics in contemporary science, Dark Matter. It is the pioneering text dedicated to sterile neutrinos as candidate particles for Dark Matter, challenging some of the standard assumptions which may be true for some Dark Matter candidates but not for all. So, this can be seen either as an introduction to a specialized topic or an out-of-the-box introduction to the field of Dark Matter in general. No matter if you are a theoretical particle physicist, an observational astronomer, or a ground based experimentalist, no matter if you are a grad student or an active researcher, you can benefit from this text, for a simple reason: a non-standard candidate for Dark Matter can teach you a lot about what we truly know about our standard picture of how the Universe works.