A Course in Theoretical Physics, P. J. Shepherd, Wiley, 2013. $160.00 (465 pp.). ISBN 978-1-118-48134-9
P. J. Shepherd, author of A Course in Theoretical Physics, has been teaching at the UK’s Exeter University for more than 30 years. Shepherd sets out to provide full mathematical derivations for the theoretical topics covered in the latter years of a typical undergraduate major. He divides the book into five modules: nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, thermal and statistical physics, many-body theory, classical field theory and relativity, and relativistic quantum mechanics and gauge theories.
Some of the advanced topics—for example, the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory (chapter 16) and the basic standard model of high-energy physics (chapter 20)—may be attractive to advanced students and to experimenters as a desk reference. Even for senior academic physicists, the text can be useful either as a teaching aid or as a back-to-basics reference.
Compared with standard field-specific textbooks, the modules are rather small, about 90 pages each. Still, Shepherd addresses the crucial central concepts and provides enough detail in the derivations that students should be able to follow. The compact, thorough treatment makes the book rather unlike the many available textbooks on the subjects covered in the modules.
I was, however, disappointed by the lack of intuitive physical insights that would have helped to motivate and elaborate many of the concepts addressed. For instance, when obtaining the solution of the Schrödinger equation in a spherically symmetric potential, Shepherd eschews a discussion of the simplifications that can be deduced by appealing to the underlying symmetry. Rather, he jumps right in with a trial solution in which angular and radial variables are separated. Also, the scattering presentation in chapter 4 does not elaborate on important aspects of the potential, such as its range.
The section on temperature scales in chapter 5 is too detailed. Moreover, it involves the triple point, which is explained in detail only much later, in chapter 11. The advanced material in the last two modules goes at a pace that only an expert can follow. Perhaps the ambition to cover all the material in a short book necessitated the rapid pace of those final modules.
I appreciate A Course in Theoretical Physics for what it offers. Like a good classroom lecture, it provides a step-by-step understanding of the topics. Thus, it may capture the market segment of books that focus on vividly elucidating the underlying concepts. Although that feature may have particular appeal to students, for a typical course, it’s more suitable as a supplement than as a primary textbook.
R. V. Gavai is chair of the theoretical physics department of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India. He is a high-energy physicist with research interests in quantum field theory on spacetime lattices, quantum chromodynamics at nonzero temperature and density, and quark–gluon plasma.
