extensions But in recent years the search has openedup and a number of alternative approaches such asloop quantum gravity causal dynamical triangulationasymptotic safety and numerous others are starting tobe considered as possible alternatives to this dom-inance This debate might have been consideredsomewhat abstruse but with recent experiments forexample those involving Gamma-Ray telescopes ormore detailed maps of the background microwaveradiation (PLANCK) it might soon be possible toactually distinguish amongst some of these alterna-tiversquos predictions Now is therefore a good time toweigh up these differing approaches and see what eachcan bring to the debate

This book significantly rewritten and updated inthis latest edition is without doubt an excellent sourceto gain an overall understanding of these developmentsbefore one might consider specialising on some specifictopic within this panoply of approaches Amongst thetopics included are Hamiltonian and covariant meth-ods loop formulism and quantum cosmological aspectsas well as a chapter on string theory itself Morefundamental questions are addressed such as if quan-tum gravity is strictly necessary Also the somewhatobscure notion of how to quantise and obtain time froma formally reparametrisation invariant theory such asgeneral relativity and the role of quantum decoherencein possibly explaining how classical behaviour actuallydevelops in an expanding universe The authorrsquos ownwork on the quantisation of black holes and collapsingdust shells is extensively presented Overall the pre-sentation is balanced and without any exaggeratedclaims for any one particular approach

At times the manuscript is rather concise andrequires a careful reading For starting students Iwould also recommend the lectures on QuantumGravity by Professor Renate Loll that closely followsections of an earlier edition of this book especially forreaders attempting to learn without formal lecturesavailable online from the Perimeter Institute ofTheoretical Physics (httppirsaorg) More estab-lished researchers will also find much here to con-template and ponder

Although there has been much progress during thepast few years there are still plenty of fundamentalissues that are still unresolved In the application tocosmology whether there is an initial low entropy statethat might give inflationary expansion or the possibi-lity of a lsquobig bouncersquo that might connect the universe toa preceding collapsing phase are the two mostlyconsidered paradigms but no doubt other ideas willbe developed Hopefully readers of this title will bemotivated to delve deeper into some of these intriguingquestions But in the meantime albeit with somediligent work they should gain sufficient grounding

here to begin the journey armed with a good overallgrasp of the subject

David H CouleUniversity of Portsmouthdavidcouleportacuk

2012 David H Coulehttpdxdoiorg101080001075142012737858

Probability Random Processes and Statistical Analy-

sis by H Kobayashi BL Mark and W TurinCambridge Cambridge University Press 2011 812pp pound4500 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-52-189544-6Scope textbook Level undergraduate students re-searchers teachers

The Theory of Probability is the area which was bothcreated by and deals with the mathematical descriptionof randomstochastic events both in nature and in life(and perhaps also in History) as well as with the effortto predict them

The work is a treatment of the fascinating and well-known field of Probability and Statistics ndash which is ripewith applications ndash and their respective procedures Weshould begin by borrowing a phrase from the penulti-matework in the fieldA Papoulisrsquo book onProbabilityin which he writes (p 3) lsquoprobability like any physicaltheory is related to physical phenomena only in inexactterms Nevertheless the theory is an exact disciplinedeveloped logically from clearly defined axioms andwhen it is applied to real problems it worksrsquo

The core of this work and its main theme is as thecontributors themselves state the lsquointerplay betweenprobability theory and statistical analysisrsquo They alsoclaim that the work breaks new ground with itspresentation of the relationship between abstractprobability theory and real statistical data as well asgraphical representations It is worth noting at theoutset the central axis of the work classical probabilitytheory ndash modern probability theory ndash random processes ndashstatistical analysis

The ultimate applications of this work are focusedprimarily on the field of Informatics Processes andfields of probability are developed that relate to areasof computer science and special mention is made ofapplications in various areas of computers such aseg the Internet and the traffic routed thereinbioinformatics etc

The subject matter is viewed through the lens of themore up-to-date approach to probability theory(Kolmogorov etc) without of course overlooking themore conventional approaches ie frequentist statis-tics and Bayesian statistics

Contemporary Physics 533

Central to the theory of probability as in thiswork is central limit theorem (CLT) (as well as theLaw of large numbers) which assures us that(absolute) randomness does not exist in the worldSpecial interest and elaboration is given also toMarkov processes and Monte Carlo techniques whichis particularly apropos here

The following observation is especially noteworthyand surprising generalised probability processes areapplied to a variety of highly divergent disciplines (egfrom computer science and the Internet on the onehand to econometrics on the other) This creates aunified tree-like distribution of things (lsquointangiblesrsquo ieprocesses and theories and lsquomaterialsrsquo ie applicationsand results) in the Universe In this distribution thegeneralised processes are assumed to be on the upperradical level(s) while their applications in diverse fieldsand areas are located on the subsequent levels Thisobservation of course also applies to other areas ofscience beyond probability and it is the wonderful andperhaps even paradoxical commonplace which mancan observe both in his life and in the nature aroundhim namely the existence of common applicable andvalid prototypes dispersed through the whole worldthrough its things and processes

The contributors prefer to include the most well-known issues in the subject under consideration and asmany and as wide a variety as possible of relatedsubjects which fall within its purview The breadth theymanage to cover is indeed remarkable It is quite clearthat the contributors are attempting to broaden thescope of the workrsquos scientific content in order to targeta wide range of sciences (for instance physics financechemistry) However the primary fields of interest andapplications are Information amp Computer Sciences(eg signal processing queuing theory machinelearning econometrics etc)

Finally the textbook is written in the usualframework with a pleasant and uncomplicated stylesuitable for teaching students as well as for use as anintroductory handbook and guide to the field

Nikolaos E MyridisAristotle University of Thessaloniki

nmyridistheoauthgr 2012 Nikolaos E Myridis

httpdxdoiorg101080001075142012737860

Rotating Flow by Peter Childs Oxford Elsevier 2010416 pp pound5999 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-12-382098-3Scope review Level postgraduates scientists engineers

The book consists of eight chapters and blendstheoretical modelling and experimental aspects of

rotating flow which are crucial for nature andmachinery applications In the book real engineeringapplications and natural examples are provided anddesign-oriented correlations of bulk parameters arefrequently given throughout the book

The first chapter introduces the reader to rotatingflows through ample examples Chapter 2 is devotedto the derivation of the governing equations (mo-mentum and continuity equations) of rotating flowThe same chapter introduces dimensional analysisand the similarity concept The basic principle ofvortices is studied in the third chapter with anintroduction to their mathematical formulations andillustrative examples Chapter 4 covers rotating discsystems and considers laminar and turbulent flowsover a free single disc as well as a rotating fluid abovea stationary disc As an extension of Chapter 4Chapter 5 discusses the rotorndashstator cavity flow Flowover rotating curved surfaces such as cylinders annuliand spheres are studied in Chapter 6 Flow instabil-ities of the rotating flow are examined using Rayleighcriterion Journal-bearing processes involving bound-ary mixed-film and full-film hydrodynamic lubricationsare also discussed in depth Chapter 7 covers rotatingcavity flow that forms between co-rotating co-axialdiscs with an outer shroud and investigates theboundary layer approximation of the rotating cavityflow The last chapter discusses the atmospheric andoceanic circulations that are affected by earth rotationand motion This chapter provides integrated informa-tion about atmospheric and oceanic dynamics

The main emphasis of the book is mathematicalmodelling with less attention to the numerical methodsthat are necessary for computational fluid dynamicssimulations

I recommend this book for those graduate studentswho want a thorough theoretical and modellingfoundation in the topic of rotating flow

MF El-AminKing Abdullah University of Science and Technology

(KAUST)mohamedelaminkaustedusa

2012 MF El-Aminhttpdxdoiorg101080001075142012739647

Disordered Semiconductors Physics and Applicationsby Anatoly Popov Singapore Pan StanfordPublishing 2010 400 pp pound11495 (paperback) ISBN978-9-81-424176-2 Scope review Level advancedundergraduates

The concept of translational symmetry and long-range order in arrangement of atoms in any single

534 Book reviews