Abstract
One of the basic tools of physics is the calculus of vectors. A great variety of physical quantities are vectors which are functions of several variables such as space coordinates and time, and, as such, are good candidates for mathematical analysis. We have already encountered examples of such analyses in our treatment of the integration of vectors as in calculating electric, magnetic, and gravitational fields. However, vector analysis goes beyond simple vector integration. Vectors have a far richer structure than ordinary numbers, and, therefore, allow a much broader range of concepts.
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Additional Reading
Lang, S. Calculus of Several Variables, Springer-Verlag, 1988, discusses this subject in Chapter 12.
Kaplan, W. Advanced Calculus, Addison-Wesley, 1991, discusses vector analysis in Chapter 5.
The first chapter of Lorrain, P., Corson D., and Lorrain, F. Electromagnetic Fields and Waves, W. H. Freeman, 1988, is devoted to a self-contained discussion of vector analysis.
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© 2000 Springer Science+Business Media New York
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Hassani, S. (2000). Vector Analysis. In: Mathematical Methods. Undergraduate Texts in Contemporary Physics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21562-4_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-21562-4_8
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-0529-1
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-21562-4
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