A Short Journey from Quarks to the Universe

Beschreibung

This book takes the reader for a short journey over the structures of matter showing that their main properties can be obtained even at a quantitative level with a minimum background knowledge. The latter, besides some high school physics and mathematics, consists of the three cornerstones of science presented in chapters 1 to 3, namely the atomic idea, the wave-particle duality, and the minimization of energy as the condition for equilibrium. Dimensional analysis employing the universal constants and combined with “a little imagination and thinking”, to quote Feynman, allows an amazing short-cut derivation of several quantitative results concerning the structures of matter. This book is expected to be of interest to physics, engineering, and other science students and to researchers in physics, material science, chemistry, and engineering who may find stimulating the alternative derivation of several real world results, which sometimes seem to pop out the magician’s hat.
This book takes the reader for a short journey over the structures of matter showing that their main properties can be obtained even at a quantitative level with a minimum background knowledge. The latter, besides some high school physics and mathematics, consists of the three cornerstones of science presented in chapters 1 to 3, namely the atomic idea, the wave-particle duality, and the minimization of energy as the condition for equilibrium. Dimensional analysis employing the universal constants and combined with “a little imagination and thinking”, to quote Feynman, allows an amazing short-cut derivation of several quantitative results concerning the structures of matter. This book is expected to be of interest to physics, engineering, and other science students and to researchers in physics, material science, chemistry, and engineering who may find stimulating the alternative derivation of several real world results, which sometimes seem to pop out the magician’s hat.
Answers the questions "What the World and its parts are made of?", "How?" and "Is there a hidden underlying simplicity in the immerse complexity and diversity?" Brief introduction to the characteristic methodology of physics Shows the relationship to natural constants Concise introduction to dimensional analysis of relations in physics Deep insights into the laws of physics with no more than lower undergraduate level knowledge of physics and mathematics Provides convincing evidence that a "little thinking" (Feynman) can go a long way in deriving relations, which otherwise would require an extensive investment of time and effort Offers a panoramic view of "the forest" of the physical world complementing thus the usual approach which emphasizes details of particular "trees"

Autor*in

Eleftherios N. Economou

Themen in »A Short Journey from Quarks to the Universe«

atomic data atomic system of units basic relations of wave-particle duality big-bang model universal physical constants concise introduction to dimensional derivations cosmology elementary particles gravity quantum kinetic energy quarks, gluons and hadrons

Stimmen zu »A Short Journey from Quarks to the Universe«

From the reviews:

“This book is the first volume of a newly inaugurated collection (Springer Briefs in Physics) and is the outcome of several lectures delivered along the years by the author to a broad audience. It aims to cover some of the main chapters of modern physics by combining short expositions of the basic ideas and worked examples that apparently require a minimum background knowledge.” (Serban Misicu, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1243, 2012)

Details

Link teilen