Aimed at helping the physics student to develop a solid grasp of basic
graduate-level material, this book presents worked solutions to a wide
range of informative problems. These problems have been culled from the
preliminary and general examinations created by the physics department
at Princeton University for its graduate program. The authors, all
students who have successfully completed the examinations, selected
these problems on the basis of usefulness, interest, and originality,
and have provided highly detailed solutions to each one. Their book will
be a valuable resource not only to other students but to college physics
teachers as well. The first four chapters pose problems in the areas of
mechanics, electricity and magnetism, quantum mechanics, and
thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, thereby serving as a review of
material typically covered in undergraduate courses. Later chapters deal
with material new to most first-year graduate students, challenging them
on such topics as condensed matter, relativity and astrophysics, nuclear
physics, elementary particles, and atomic and general physics.