Mathematical methods of classical physics (Q528904)

The booklet under review is devoted to a more mathematical approach of classical physics adopting the usual mathematical style of presentation consisting in definitions, theorems and proofs. It is dedicated to ``a more mathematical inclined reader'' (as it is pointed out in Introduction) for which the deep background in physics, necessary for reading some advanced textbooks or papers, creates several difficulties. The second chapter deals with Lagrangian mechanics and important topics such as first integrals and Noether's Theorem are completely discussed. Several examples are carefully analyzed: the free particle, the harmonic oscillator, Newton theory of gravity with an emphasis on Kepler's law of planetary motion, the Coulomb electrostatic theory. The next chapter concerns with the Hamiltonian formalism expressed in a symplectic setting. The Legendre transformation is used to prove the equivalence between Lagrangian and Hamiltonian systems. The last part of this chapter is devoted to the linearization procedure and small oscillations near an equilibrium point. A fourth approach, besides the Newtonian, Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formulation, namely the Hamilton-Jacobi theory is presented in chapter 4. Its virtue to describe the entire multi-dimensional dynamics by a single equation is excellently expressed in Theorem 4.10. The last chapter is the largest part of the book and deals with classical field theory, formulated in the framework of jet bundles. The main examples are detailed in section 5.4: sigma models, pure Yang-Mills theory and the Einstein-Hilbert Lagrangian. Each chapter is complemented by a number of very interesting exercises, which are gathered in an useful Appendix. To conclude, this textbook describes main parts of classical physics in a very comprehensible and friendly manner. I strongly recommend it for large classes of readers.