No label defined (Q4038524)

The contents of this book is accurately and succinctly stated by the author in the first sentence of the preface when he says ``Ce livre a pour ambition d'exposer les bases algébriques des calculs tensoriels et spinoriels et d'en indiquer quelques applications.'' It contains the following chapters: I -- Introduction, Nature des grandeurs physique, Bibliographie; II -- Algèbre tensorielle: variance des composantes des tenseurs affines et produit tensoriel d'espaces vectoriels; III -- Algèbre tensorielle: les espaces tensoriels, les tenseurs affines et les pseudotenseurs associés à un espace vectoriel de dimension finie; IV -- Algèbre extérieure et Algèbre symétrique d'un espace vectoriel de dimension finie ou infinie; V -- les tenseurs restraints par un produit scalaire symétrique; VI -- Algèbres de Clifford, Spineurs; VII -- Tenseurs euclidiens et pseudoeuclidiens; VIII -- Espaces symplectiques; and IX -- Analyse tensorielle sur la variété; with each chapter being accompanied by a good set of exercises. The author's approach is gentle and lucid, and -- as promised -- the algebraic bases of the material are meticulously presented. Moreover, his treatment contains some unusual features: the inclusion of symmetric products in Chapter IV, and an especially clear introduction to Clifford algebras (and how they naturally lead to spinors) in Chapter VI. Unfortunately, the author's lavish attention to detail is such that his exposition often ends where many practitioner's interest in the subject begins. For example, Chapter VI is brief and essentially ends with the definition of a spinor and a physical example. This is not a criticism of what the author has done, which is truly excellent (for much of the material the reviewer cannot cite a single reference in which the subject is developed with such care and detail!), but rather as a warning to potential readers not to expect a comprehensive treatment of tensors and spinors. In effect, what the author offers is nothing more, and nothing less, than what he promised in the sentence quoted at the beginning of this review. As such it can be warmly recommended, and many readers -- especially physicists -- could greatly enhance their knowledge of what tensors and spinors are really about by studying this book.