Course of Theoretical Physics

The Course of Theoretical Physics is a ten-volume series of books covering theoretical physics that was initiated by Lev Landau and written in collaboration with his student Evgeny Lifshitz starting in the late 1930s. It is said that Landau composed much of the series in his head while in an NKVD prison in 1938-39.^[1] However, almost all of the actual writing of the early volumes was done by Lifshitz, giving rise to the witticism, "not a word of Landau and not a thought of Lifshitz".^[2] The first eight volumes were finished in the 1950s, written in Russian and translated into English by the late 1950s. The last two volumes were written in the early 1980s. Vladimir Berestetskii and Lev Pitaevskii also contributed to the series. The series is often referred to as "Landau and Lifshitz", "Landafshitz" (rus. "Ландафшиц"),^[3][4] "Lanlifshitz" (rus. "Ланлифшиц") in informal settings.

Impact

Generations of physicists, both in Russia and around the world, have been educated in physics through this series. The presentation of material is advanced, requires a foundation of physics, and is suitable for graduate-level study.

Russian editions

• See Russian editions in Russian language Wikipedia.

English editions

Note that reprints and revised editions are not listed.

Volume 1

• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1960). Mechanics. Vol. 1 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ASIN B0006AWV88. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1969). Mechanics. Vol. 1 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-201-04146-0. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1976). Mechanics. Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2896-9. 

Covers classical mechanics without special or general relativity, in the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian formalisms.

Volume 2

• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1951). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (1st ed.). Addison-Wesley. ASIN B0007G5B42. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1959). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1971). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (3rd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-016019-1. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1975). The Classical Theory of Fields. Vol. 2 (4th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2768-9. 

Covers relativistic mechanics of particles, and classical field theory for fields, specifically special relativity and electromagnetism, general relativity and gravitation.

Volume 3

• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1958). Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory. Vol. 3 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1965). Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory. Vol. 3 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1977). Quantum Mechanics: Non-Relativistic Theory. Vol. 3 (3rd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-020940-1. 

Online copy Covers quantum mechanics without special relativity.

Volume 4

• V.B. Berestetskii, E.M. Lifshitz, L.P. Pitaevskii (1971). Relativistic Quantum Theory. Vol. 4 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-017175-3.  CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)
  • V.B. Berestetskii, E.M. Lifshitz, L.P. Pitaevskii (1982). Quantum Electrodynamics. Vol. 4 (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-3371-0.  CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

The original edition was two books, labelled part 1 and part 2. The first had general aspects of relativistic quantum mechanics and relativistic quantum field theory, leading onto quantum electrodynamics, the second continued on quantum electrodynamics and what was then known about the strong and weak interactions. These books were published in the early 1970s, at a time when the strong and weak forces were still not well understood. In the second edition, the corresponding sections were scrapped and replaced with more topics in the well-established quantum electrodynamics, and the two parts were unified into one, thus providing a one-volume exposition on relativistic quantum field theory with the electromagnetic interaction as the prototype of a quantum field theory.

Volume 5

• Statistical Physics. Vol. 5 (1st ed.). 1951. 
  • Early version: L.D. Landau (1938). Statistical Physics. Clarendon Press. ASIN B00085BKZG. 
  • Statistical Physics. Vol. 5 (2nd ed.). 1968. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1980). Statistical Physics. Vol. 5 (3rd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-3372-7. 

Covers general statistical mechanics and thermodynamics and applications, including chemical reactions, phase transitions, and condensed matter physics.

Volume 6

• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1959). Fluid Mechanics. Vol. 6 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-009104-4. 
  • L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1987). Fluid Mechanics. Vol. 6 (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-08-033933-7. 

Covers fluid mechanics in a condensed but varied exposition, from ideal to viscous fluids, includes a chapter on relativistic fluid mechanics, and another on superfluids.

Volume 7

• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1959). Theory of Elasticity. Vol. 7 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. 
• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1970). Theory of Elasticity. Vol. 7 (2nd ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-006465-9. 
• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1986). Theory of Elasticity. Vol. 7 (3rd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2633-0. 

Covers elasticity theory of solids, including viscous solids, vibrations and waves in cystals with dislocations, and a chapter on the mechanics of liquid crystals.

Volume 8

• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz (1960). Electrodynamics of Continuous Media. Vol. 8 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-08-009105-1. 
• L.D. Landau, E.M. Lifshitz, L.P. Pitaevskii (1984). Electrodynamics of Continuous Media. Vol. 8 (2nd ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2634-7.  CS1 maint: Multiple names: authors list (link)

Covers electromagnetism in materials, includes a variety of topics in condensed matter physics, a chapter on magnetohydrodynamics, and another on nonlinear optics.

Volume 9

• E.M. Lifshitz, L.P. Pitaevskii (1980). Statistical Physics, Part 2: Theory of the Condensed State. Vol. 9 (1st ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-7506-2636-1. 

Builds from the original statistical physics book; more applications to condensed matter theory.

Volume 10

• E.M. Lifshitz, L.P. Pitaevskii (1981). Physical Kinetics. Vol. 10 (1st ed.). Pergamon Press. ISBN 978-0-7506-2635-4. 

Presents various applications of kinetic theory to condensed matter theory, on metals, insulators, and phase transitions.

Notes

External links

• Internet Archive: "Internet Archive". Retrieved 2013-11-02.  (for volumes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 8) and "Internet Archive". Retrieved 2013-11-02.  (for volume 4), and "Internet Archive". Retrieved 2016-08-10.  (for volume 5).
• Britannica Online: Course of Theoretical Physics