Relativistic Quantum Theory Part 2 – by Landau

An introduction to Quantum Field Theory  – Peskin and Schroder

Student Friendly Quantum Field Theory: Volume 1:   Klauber

Student Friendly Quantum Field Theory: Volume 2: – The standard model     Klauber

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These problems have been culled from the preliminary and general examinations created by the physics department at Princeton University for its graduate program. The authors, all students who have successfully completed the examinations, selected these problems on the basis of usefulness, interest, and originality, and have provided highly detailed solutions to each one. Their book will be a valuable resource not only to other students but to college physics teachers as well. The first four chapters pose problems in the areas of mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, and thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, thereby serving as a review of material typically covered in undergraduate courses. Later chapters deal with material new to most first-year graduate students, challenging them on such topics as condensed matter, relativity and astrophysics, nuclear physics, elementary particles, and atomic and general physics.

University of Chicago Graduate problems in Physics

Covers a broad range of topics, from simple mechanics to nuclear physics. The problems presented are intriguing ones, unlike many examination questions, and physical concepts are emphasized in the solutions.

Many distinguished members of the Department of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago have served on the candidacy examination committees and have, therefore, contributed to the preparation of problems which have been selected for inclusion in this volume. Among these are Morrell H. Cohen, Enrico Fermi, Murray Gell-Mann, Roger Hildebrand, Robert S. Mulliken, John Simpson, and Edward Teller.covers a broad range of topics, from simple mechanics to nuclear physics. The problems presented are intriguing ones, unlike many examination questions, and physical concepts are emphasized in the solutions.

Many distinguished members of the Department of Physics and the Enrico Fermi Institute at the University of Chicago have served on the candidacy examination committees and have, therefore, contributed to the preparation of problems which have been selected for inclusion in this volume. Among these are Morrell H. Cohen, Enrico Fermi, Murray Gell-Mann, Roger Hildebrand, Robert S. Mulliken, John Simpson, and Edward Teller.

Problem Book in Relativity and Gravitation

this book is a unique collection of some 475 problems–with solutions–in the fields of special and general relativity, gravitation, relativistic astrophysics, and cosmology. The problems are expressed in broad physical terms to enhance their pertinence to readers with diverse backgrounds.

In their solutions, the authors have attempted to convey a mode of approach to these kinds of problems, revealing procedures that can reduce the labor of calculations while avoiding the pitfall of too much or too powerful formalism. Although well suited for individual use, the volume may also be used with one of the modem textbooks in general relativity

J.D. Jackson Electrodynamics

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Super Intelligence -Nick Bostrom

AI 2041 – Kai Fu Lee

Fiction

With the recent attention returning to all things AI, I discovered a few books sitting on my shelves – purely by accident. Their AI threads are strong and well constructed – and somewhat prosaic even. Hope you enjoy these. And share your favorite artificial intelligence reads.

Machinehood  Divya tries to tackle everything from the relationship between Neo-Buddhism and artificial intelligence, to the virtues and evils of economic systems, to abortion and the rights one has to one’s own body, to the marvels of modern medicine and technology and the corruptions of the companies facilitating it.

100  years in the future and society relies on machines for practically every task – cooking, cleaning, and manufacturing daily medicines in your home.

Robots had taken over so many jobs, the only way for humans to compete, was by taking pills.

Pills called “flow” for focus and analysis, “zips” to enhance strength and durability, “juvers” were taken like antibiotics to heal or reduce pain (A good part  of the story is around the downside of the practically unregulated drugs).

Clone – Priya Chabra

The story of a fourteenth-generation clone in twenty-fourth-century India who struggles against it’s own expanding consciousness.  Superb prose, told from the clone’s viewpoint – terms such as hesitancy and reluctance  – unsure feelings for a clone. The necessary questions Chabria raises revolve around a clone and human shared world

The Turing option

Slightly dated 1992 – An AI techno-thriller;

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Math Fiction?

Love and math  – The Heart of Hidden Reality – Frankel

Frankel starts off with the a ‘parallel universe’ that exists right alongside ours – the Hidden Universe of mathematics. He goes into  some truly advanced subjects, all explained in simple English. An outstanding job – and a really entertaining read – especially for the math geek in your family.

Reality Conditions – Alex Kasman

Mathematical Fiction like you haven’t read before. Truly a new genre and amazingly well told stories. Infinite Cantorian Sets, Goldbach’s Conjecture, James Clerk Maxwell’s discovery of electro-magnetic waves – all through well woven fictional stories – but the math is real!

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These fascinating questions, including some around the psychology of time perception (why does time seem to pass faster as you grow older)?  are part of the content of these books. Happy Reading – have a great time!

The Physical Basis for the direction of time – H.D. Zeh

The six arrows of time – very clear discussion.  Works of famous physicists on the nature of time, including Stephen Hawking, are all covered.

How the Universal big bank expansion might also provide a (super) arrow of time.

Time travel in Einstein’s universe

From an amazon review –  by user T.R.

I searched extensively for a book that would explain current theories of time and the implications thereof that could be understood by a non-mathematical mind and one not trained in physics, and it was extraordinarily difficult. I ended up choosing this book, which is probably as close as one will get to what I was hoping for. 

Asymmetries in time  Problems in the Philosophy of Science (MIT Press )

From the editorial review

 Horwich notes that there are glaring differences in how we regard the past and future directions of time. For example, we can influence the future but not the past, and can easily gain knowledge of the past but not of the future. Moreover we see a profusion of decay processes but little spontaneous generation of order; time appears to “flow” in one privileged direction, not the other; and we tend to explain phenomena in terms of antecedent circumstances, rather than subsequent ones. Horwich explains such time asymmetries and examines their bearing on the nature of time itself. Asymmetries in Time covers many notoriously difficult problems in the philosophy of science: causation, knowledge, entropy, explanation, time travel, rational choice (including Newcomb’s problem), laws of nature, and counterfactual implication—and gives a unified treatment of these matters. 

In search of time – Dan falk

Falk looks at the quest to comprehend the beginning of time and how time―and the universe―may end. Finally, he examines the puzzle of time’s “flow,” and the remarkable possibility that the passage of time may be an illusion.

The arrow of time

The authors explain Boltzmann’s concept of entropy (the degree of disorder in a system) and show how this determines our vision of time’s arrow. They discuss how some equations in physics are time-independent whereas others involve a timescale. They explore the significance of time in relativity, quantum physics, cosmology and, inevitably, in thermodynamics and chaos theory.

Time warped– Hammond

Why does life seem to speed up as we get older? Why does the clock in your head move at a different speed from the one on the wall? Why is it almost impossible to go a whole day without checking your watch? Is it possible to retrain our brains and improve our relationship with it?

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Also read Some still great sci fi reads. On to the humor meets sci fi list…

Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. All time classic. Never gets old

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe: Charles Yu. Never ending hilarity

Off to see the wizard – Scott Meyer. From a recent recommendation. Matrix meets Monty Python (as reviewed by one reader)

Send me your suggestions to keep this list up to date. Humor plus science fiction (hard sci fi preferably) are the criteria.

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For me, Mrs. Dalloway (which I discovered waaaay to late in my adult life), really stuck a chord.  There’s something prosaic and timeless in those writings.

My favorite lines:

T B D

I also found this reference (a thesis document) where the author investigates Virginia Woolf’s writings to Buddhist themes – such as the impermanence of things

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Cosmology and Astrophysics through problems

Astrophysical processes, Dynamics and Gravity, Radiation Processes, general relativity, Structure Formation, Very Early Universe, Advanced Problems

This is a self study book is like no other. Clearly stated and solved problems on various difficult topics.

A First Course in General Relativity

Using modern geometrical methods, explained in clear English with basic undergrad level math, this is a great first book on general relativity.

Duals vs. vectors – one forms,  base one-forms. Gradients of one-forms Tensors, covariant and contravariant vectors – all explained possibly better than anywhere else.

Intro to General Relativity and Cosmoslogy – Bohmer

General Relativity – Susskind

Special Relativity and Classical Physics – The Theoretical Minimum – Leonard Susskind

Theoretical Astrophysics – T Padmanabhan

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The Famous Five Series – Enid Blyton

The Faraway Tree Collection – Enid Blyton

Mallory Towers – Enid Blyton

The Conch Bearer –  Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

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Quality content on encryption is hard to find. These encryption books are classics (in my opinion), and are written by some of the pioneers in the field.

Also read

Blockchain books and resources

Books on Algorithms

Crypto – Stephen Levy

A general read, but reads like a mystery novel. The history of crypto is anything but dull. In fact, if a movie were made on this, one would find it hard to believe. All the big players of any spy thriller, the US Government, NSA, NIST and corporate America, all blend in this amazing read. As you go through this book, you will also get an idea of how small the world of crypto enthusiasts really was.

Applied Cryptography

This s a book by the guys who invented most of crypto. Explained in a very readable way. MUST OWN crypto  book for any encryption enthusiast.

Applied Cryptography – Schneider

A little more in depth than the Cryptographic Engineering book above, but great for actual algorithms.

Specific Crypto Applications (SSL, Bitcoin)

Network Security Hacks – OReilly

While not an encryption book, it has a lot of cool stuff around securing your network.

SSH – The definitive guide

Programming Bitcoin –  Jimmy Song

By one of the guys who coded bitcoin core. One of the best intros to elliptical curve cryptography. Python code samples are well explained.

The Age of Cryptocurrency – Paul Vigna

Just like  Crypto by Stephen Levy reads like a mystery novel, so does this exciting book on cryptocurrencies. It is a history of money and of economic wars. Great read.

Implementing SSL / TLS – by Joshua Davies

Everything you wanted to know about SSL and then some.

Internet Cryptography – Evaluating Security Techniques

Pen Tester’s Open Source Toolkit

Papers and Articles to Read 

Blind Signatures

Summary

There is actually a DEARTH of good crypto  books. This list is one that is based on some of the leading hands on crypto coders. Do you have one that you like?

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