Overview
- Explains the use of probability in physics motivated by real physics examples throughout
- Presents a modern approach to statistics, with a harmonised and simplified view of traditional and Bayesian approaches
- Emerges from a one-semester twenty-lecture course taught to junior honours students
- Aims to cover the role of probability anywhere in physics
- Offers exercises and solutions
Part of the book series: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics (ULNP)
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Table of contents (14 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Basics
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Front Matter
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Frequency Distributions in the Physical World
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Front Matter
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Probabilistic Inference: Reasoning in the Presence of Uncertainty
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Front Matter
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Selected Topics
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Keywords
About this book
This textbook presents an introduction to the use of probability in physics, treating introductory ideas of both statistical physics and of statistical inference, as well the importance of probability in information theory, quantum mechanics, and stochastic processes, in a unified manner. The book also presents a harmonised view of frequentist and Bayesian approaches to inference, emphasising their complementary value. The aim is to steer a middle course between the "cookbook" style and an overly dry mathematical statistics style. The treatment is driven by real physics examples throughout, but developed with a level of mathematical clarity and rigour appropriate to mid-career physics undergraduates. Exercises and solutions are included.
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Andy Lawrence is the Regius Professor of Astronomy at the University of Edinburgh. His research interests are in Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), observational cosmology, survey astronomy, and e-science (the Virtual Observatory). He has been teaching an undergraduate course on Probability in Physics with a new angle. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and author of the Springer book Astronomical Measurement.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Probability in Physics
Book Subtitle: An Introductory Guide
Authors: Andy Lawrence
Series Title: Undergraduate Lecture Notes in Physics
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-04544-9
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Physics and Astronomy, Physics and Astronomy (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-04542-5Published: 11 September 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-04544-9Published: 01 September 2019
Series ISSN: 2192-4791
Series E-ISSN: 2192-4805
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXIV, 347
Number of Illustrations: 66 b/w illustrations, 13 illustrations in colour
Topics: Mathematical Methods in Physics, Probability Theory and Stochastic Processes, Statistics for Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Chemistry and Earth Sciences, Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Complex Systems, Statistical Physics and Dynamical Systems