MATHEMATICAL PHYSICS

Submitted by
Group 4:
 What is Mathematical Physics?

•It is the application of mathematics to

problems in physics and the development of
mathematical methods suitable for such
applications and for the formulation of
physical theories.
• Uses mathematics to solve problems
regarding physics.
 Scope

The following are the scopes of mathematical physics:

1. Classical mechanics
 It leads to discover the deep interplay of the
notion of symmetry
 These approaches and ideas can be, in fact have
been, extended to the other areas of physics as
statistical mechanics, continuum mechanics, classical
field theory and quantum field theory.
 Scope

2. Partial differential equations

 The theory of partial differential equations and its
related areas were developed intensively from the
second half of the 18th century until the 1930s.
Physical applications of these developments
include hydrodynamics, celestial mechanics,
acoustics, thermodynamics, electricity, magnetism,
and aerodynamics.
 Scope
3. Quantum theory
 The theory of atomic spectra (and, later, quantum
mechanics) developed almost concurrently with the
mathematical fields of linear algebra, the spectral theory of
operators, operator algebra and more broadly, functional
analysis.
 Scope
4. Relativity and Quantum Relativistic Theories
 The special and general theories of relativity require a
rather different type of mathematics. This was group
theory, which played an important role in both quantum
field theory and differential geometry.
 Scope
5. Statistical mechanics
 Statistical mechanics forms a separate field, which
includes the theory of phase transition.
 There are increasing interactions between
combinatorics and physics, in particular statistical
physics.
 Usage
The usage of the term ‘‘mathematical physics’’ is
sometimes peculiar. Certain parts of mathematics that
initially arose from the development of physics are not, in
fact, considered parts of mathematical physics while other
closely related are. John Herapath used the term for the
title of his 1847 text on “mathematical principles of natural
philosophy’’; the scope at that time being ‘‘the causes of
heat, gaseous elasticity, gravitation, and other great
phenomena of nature.
 Prominent mathematical physicists

• Archimedes
• Galileo Galilei
• Isaac Newton
• Albert Einstein
• Max Planck
 Physics and mathematics
Galileo had said “The laws of nature are written in the
language of mathematics… the symbols are triangle, circles,
and other geometrical figures without those help, it is
impossible to comprehend a single word because
“Mathematics is the language of physics. Physics is often
thought of as a challenging subject because it requires the use
of combination of skills in mathematics and the translation of
concepts into symbols. Do not let the mathematics obscure
the physics. Let us use the language of mathematics as a tool
to better understand and appreciate the beauty of physics.
THANK YOU
VERY MUCH!
Sources:
www.wikipedia. Mathematical Physics.com
Silverio, A. Physics: Exploring Life Through Science
Second Edition, 2013.