Mathematical Physics: Applications and Problems

This textbook is aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning the fundamental mathematical concepts and tools widely used in different areas of physics. The author draws on a vast teaching experience, and presents a comprehensive and self-contained text which explains how mathematics intertwines with and forms an integral part of physics in numerous instances. Rather than emphasizing rigorous proofs of theorems, specific examples and physical applications (such as fluid dynamics, electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, etc.) are invoked to illustrate and elaborate upon the relevant mathematical techniques. The early chapters of the book introduce different types of functions, vectors and tensors, vector calculus, and matrices. In the subsequent chapters, more advanced topics like linear spaces, operator algebras, special functions, probability distributions, stochastic processes, analytic functions, Fourier series and integrals, Laplace transforms, Green's functions and integral equations are discussed. The book also features about 400 exercises and solved problems interspersed throughout the text at appropriate junctures, to facilitate the logical flow and to test the key concepts. Overall this book will be a valuable resource for a wide spectrum of students and instructors of mathematical physics.