The table below lists the core theories along with many of the concepts they employ.
| Theory |
Major subtopics |
Concepts |
| Classical mechanics |
Newton's laws of motion, Lagrangian mechanics, Hamiltonian mechanics, Kinematics, Statics, Dynamics, Chaos theory, Acoustics, Fluid dynamics, Continuum mechanics |
Density, Dimension, Gravity, Space, Time, Motion, Length, Position, Velocity, Acceleration, Galilean invariance, Mass, Momentum, Impulse, Force, Energy, Angular velocity, Angular momentum, Moment of inertia, Torque, Conservation law, Harmonic oscillator, Wave, Work, Power, Lagrangian, Hamiltonian, Tait-Bryan angles, Euler angles |
| Electromagnetism |
Electrostatics, Electrodynamics, Electricity, Magnetism, Magnetostatics, Maxwell's equations, Optics |
Capacitance, Electric charge, Current, Electrical conductivity, Electric field, Electric permittivity, Electric potential, Electrical resistance, Electromagnetic field, Electromagnetic induction, Electromagnetic radiation, Gaussian surface, Magnetic field, Magnetic flux, Magnetic monopole, Magnetic permeability |
| Thermodynamics and Statistical mechanics |
Heat engine, Kinetic theory |
Boltzmann's constant, Conjugate variables, Enthalpy, Entropy, Equation of state, Equipartition theorem, Thermodynamic free energy, Heat, Ideal gas law, Internal energy, Laws of thermodynamics, Maxwell relations, Irreversible process, Ising model, Mechanical action, Partition function, Pressure, Reversible process, Spontaneous process, State function, Statistical ensemble, Temperature, Thermodynamic equilibrium, Thermodynamic potential, Thermodynamic processes, Thermodynamic state, Thermodynamic system, Viscosity, Volume, Work, Granular material |
| Quantum mechanics |
Path integral formulation, Scattering theory, Schrödinger equation, Quantum field theory, Quantum statistical mechanics |
Adiabatic approximation, Blackbody radiation, Correspondence principle, Free particle, Hamiltonian, Hilbert space, Identical particles, Matrix Mechanics, Planck's constant, Observer effect, Operators, Quanta, Quantization, Quantum entanglement, Quantum harmonic oscillator, Quantum number, Quantum tunneling, Schrödinger's cat, Dirac equation, Spin, Wavefunction, Wave mechanics, Wave-particle duality, Zero-point energy, Pauli Exclusion Principle, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle |
| Relativity |
Special relativity, General relativity, Einstein field equations |
Covariance, Einstein manifold, Equivalence principle, Four-momentum, Four-vector, General principle of relativity, Geodesic motion, Gravity, Gravitoelectromagnetism, Inertial frame of reference, Invariance, Length contraction, Lorentzian manifold, Lorentz transformation, Mass-energy equivalence, Metric, Minkowski diagram, Minkowski space, Principle of Relativity, Proper length, Proper time, Reference frame, Rest energy, Rest mass, Relativity of simultaneity, Spacetime, Special principle of relativity, Speed of light, Stress-energy tensor, Time dilation, Twin paradox, World line |
