Physics of Oscillations and Waves

Arnt Inge Vistnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway, which holds a unique position in the use of numerical methods within physics education. Dr. Vistnes was the first in the department to start using numerical methods on basic physics bachelor courses, in 1997, and accordingly has long experience in the ways in which numerical methods can im­prove understanding of physics. He has an excellent reputation for his teaching ability and has won several prizes for good teaching. Dr. Vistnes first wrote Oscillation and Wave Physics in Norwegian to meet the need for a textbook suitable for fourth semester physics bachelor students. He has subsequently improved and added to the text and is personally responsible for most of the more than 250 illustrations in the book.

• Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Free and damped oscillations.- Chapter 3: Forced oscillations and resonance.- Chapter 4: Numerical methods.- Chapter 5: Fourier analysis.- Chapter 6: Waves.- Chapter 7: Sound.- Chapter 8: Dispersion and surface waves on water.- Chapter 9: Electromagnetic waves.- Chapter 10: Reflection, transmission and polarization.- Chapter 11: Measurements of light, dispersion of light, colours.- Chapter 12: Geometric optics.- Chapter 13: Interference, diffraction.- Chapter 14: Wavelet transformation.- Chapter 15: Coherence, dipole radiation and lasers.- Chapter 16: Skin depth and wave guides.