P. John Shepherd 
A Course in Theoretical Physics 

This book is a comprehensive account of five extended modules
covering the key branches of twentieth-century theoretical physics,
taught by the author over a period of three decades to students on
bachelor and master university degree courses in both physics and
theoretical physics.

The modules cover nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, thermal and
statistical physics, many-body theory, classical field theory
(including special relativity and electromagnetism), and, finally,
relativistic quantum mechanics and gauge theories of quark and
lepton interactions, all presented in a single, self-contained
volume.

In a number of universities, much of the material covered (for
example, on Einstein’s general theory of relativity, on the
BCS theory of superconductivity, and on the Standard Model,
including the theory underlying the prediction of the Higgs boson)
is taught in postgraduate courses to beginning Ph D students.

A distinctive feature of the book is that full, step-by-step
mathematical proofs of all essential results are given, enabling a
student who has completed a high-school mathematics course and the
first year of a university physics degree course to understand and
appreciate the derivations of very many of the most important
results of twentieth-century theoretical physics.

About the author

P. John Shepherd, Emeritus Professor, retired, formerly at the Department of Physics, University of Exeter, UK. Thirty years of teaching undergraduate physics.