Ruhemann M., Ruhemann B. Low Temperature Physics

Cambridge University Press 1937. — 314 p.We have attempted in this book to discuss the principal problems that have occupied low temperature physicists since the time when low temperatures began to form a separate branch of experimental science. In our general arrangement we have followed the line of gradual penetration from such macroscopic phenomena as condensation and fusion to processes intimately connected with our concepts of elementary particles, such as give rise to magnetic moment and electrical conductivity. This arrangement, naturally enough, follows fairly closely the historical sequence of events, but is free from the monotony of chronological classification.We have purposely neglected such fields of research as have been copiously treated in textbooks and monographs, as for instance supra-conductivity and the theory of specific heats. In these cases we have dealt merely with the latest developments. On the other hand, we have given particular attention to fields that have not to our knowledge as yet been dealt with in connected form, such as the subject of crystal structures stable at low temperatures. We believe that this principle justifies the very unequal length of the various parts and chapters. Moreover, we have omitted a number of investigations which, though valuable in themselves, are imperfectly connected with the general trend of low-temperature physics, such as Vegard’s very interesting work on the emission spectra of solidified gases.The rapid development of low-temperature engineering and the numerous unsolved problems that it offers have led us to lay considerable stress on the principles of gas liquefaction and rectification, more especially as most of the work in this domain is not to be found within the scope of general physical literature.