Boeyens Jan C.A. The Theories of Chemistry

Elsevier Science & Technology Books, 2003. — 555 p. ISBN: 0444514910 OCRThe theme of this book is not a reformulation of theoretical physics, but an attempt to identify the theoretical ideas fundamental to chemistry and recast them in more familiar style. There is no doubt but, that the chemist of this century will have to be familiar with the concepts that appear to be new, even alien, at present. The philosophy that inspires this work is that specialization in science is detrimental in the long term. Specialization may well stimulate productivity in the short term, but this productivity becomes sterile in the absence of innovation, that depends on cross-pollenation, or the adoption of new theoretical models.
The book contains very little original material, but reviews a fair amount of forgotten results that point to new lines of enquiry. Concepts such as quaternions, Bessel functions, Lie groups, Hamilton-Jacobi theory, solitons, Rydberg atoms, spherical waves and others, not commonly emphasized in chemical discussion, acquire new importance. To prepare the ground, the Vlll book has been designed as a self-contained summary of the essential theoretical background on which to build a modern theory of chemistry.Basic Mathematics
Elementary Vector Algebra
Determinants and Matrices
Vector Fields
Differential Equations
Group TheoryThe Multiplication Table
Conjugate Elements and Classes
Homomorphism
Some examples of symmetry groups
Field and Space
Representation of Groups
Continuous Groups (Lie Groups)
Particles and WavesReview of Classical Dynamics
Hamilton's Principle
Hamilton-Jacobi Theory
Potential Theory
Wave Motion
Space and TimeThe Electromagnetic Field
Special Relativity
General Relativity
Gauge Fields
The Arrow of Time
Quantum Theory
Basic Concepts
Wave Mechanics
Relativistic Wave Equations
Angular Momentum and Spin
Quantum Mechanics of the Photon
Quantum ChemistryQuantum Aspects of General Chemistry
Molecular Spectroscopy
Free-Particle Models
Atoms and Molecules
Many-particle Systems
Approximation Methods
Atomic Structure
Molecular Systems
MacrosystemsThermodynamics
Mechanics of Macrosystems
Quantum Statistics
Non-equilibrium Statistical Mechanics
Chemical ChangePhase Change
Disorder
The Scaling Hypothesis
Renormaliz ation Group
Chemical Reaction