John Pain is a graduate of the United States Naval Aviation Academy, Florida, and of the Universities of St Andrews, London, and Aix Marseilles. He taught physics at Imperial College, London where his research interests were in shock waves and magnetohydrodynamics.
The transmission of energy by wave propagation is fundamental to almost every branch of physics. Using a practical, applied approach, this book gives a solid grounding in the theory of waves, vibrations and optics, together with demonstrating the pattern and unity of a large part of physics. To aid comprehension a large number of problems at varying degrees of difficulty are given together with hints for solution. The 5th edition of The Physics of Vibrations and Waves features:
- new material on matrix applications to coupled oscillations, optical systems and multi–layer dielectric films;
- new sections on electromagnetic waves in the ionosphere and other plasmas, the laser cavity, and optical wave guides;
- extensive treatment of solitons, including their role in optical transmission lines, in collisionless shocks in space, in non–periodic lattices and their connection with Schrödinger?s equation.
The Physics of Vibrations and Waves should be read by students taking a first full course in vibration and waves across a variety of disciplines, especially physics, engineering and mathematics.