Physics : the ultimate adventure

목차 (Table of Contents)

• CONTENTS
• 1 The Whats and Wherefores of Physics = 1
• 1.1 The Beginning = 1
• 1.2 What Is Physics? = 2
• 1.3 Classical and Modern Physics = 5
• 1.4 Why Do We Need Physics? = 8
• 1.5 Beauty and Symmetries = 9
• References = 9
• 2 Dramatis Personae (The Actors) = 11
• 2.1 Definitions = 11
• 2.2 The Laws of Physics = 15
• 2.3 The Variables of Mechanics = 16
• 2.4 Conservation Laws = 17
• 2.5 Work and Energy = 18
• 2.6 Taylor Expansions = 20
• References = 23
• 3 Is Physics an Exact Science? = 25
• 3.1 Beginnings = 25
• 3.2 Higher, Faster, Heavier, but by How Much? = 26
• 3.3 Accuracy in Scientific Measurement = 29
• 3.4 Measurement of Length in Astronomy = 32
• 3.5 The Path to Understanding = 34
• 3.6 Caveat Emptor! = 36
• References = 38
• 4 Newton and Beyond = 39
• 4.1 It's All Been Done! = 39
• 4.2 Newton Stands on the Shoulders of Giants = 40
• 4.3 Newton's Law of Gravity = 43
• 4.4 Let There Be Light = 44
• 4.5 Geometrical Optics : The Corpuscular Theory of Light = 45
• 4.6 Physical Optics : The Wave Theory of Light = 47
• 4.7 Beyond Newton-Analytical Mechanics = 49
• 4.8 The Method of Lagrange = 50
• 4.9 Hamilton's Approach = 53
• References = 54
• 5 Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics = 55
• 5.1 Many Bodies Make Light Work = 55
• 5.2 Kinetic Energy of Gas Molecules = 57
• 5.3 Entropy and the Laws of Thermodynamics = 58
• Reference = 62
• 6 Electromagnetism and Cracks in the Edifice of Classical Physics = 63
• 6.1 Electricity and Magnetism = 63
• 6.2 Maxwell Brings It Together = 65
• 6.3 The Beginnings of Doubts = 69
• 6.4 Particles or Waves = 72
• 7 Relativity = 77
• 7.1 A Bit of History = 77
• 7.2 A Clerk in the Patent Office of Bern = 81
• 7.3 Paradoxes = 83
• 7.4 The Most Famous Formula of Physics = 88
• 7.5 General Relativity = 91
• 7.6 Sounds from the Depths : Gravitational Waves = 95
• References = 99
• 8 Quantum Mechanics = 101
• 8.1 A Disconcerting New Physics = 101
• 8.2 Quantization of Light = 102
• 8.3 Quantization of Matter = 103
• 8.4 Wave Functions = 105
• 8.5 Quantum Field Theory = 107
• 8.6 The Uncertainty Principle = 108
• 8.7 Superluminal Phase Waves = 110
• 8.8 Collapse of the Wave Function and Multiple Universes = 110
• 8.9 Entanglement and Superluminal Correlations = 112
• 8.91 Macroscopic and Microscopic = 113
• 8.10 QM and Cats = 114
• References = 115
• 9 Atomic and Nuclear Physics = 117
• 9.1 Early Days = 117
• 9.2 Atomic Models = 119
• 9.3 The Bohr-Rutherford Model of the Atom = 121
• 9.4 The Quantum Mechanical Picture = 123
• 9.5 Inside the Nucleus = 125
• 9.6 Nuclear Decay = 127
• 9.7 Nuclear Synthesis = 129
• 9.8 Nuclear Forces = 130
• 9.9 Nuclear Models = 132
• 10 Fields and Particles = 137
• 10.1 Once Upon a Time = 137
• 10.2 The Particle Zoo = 139
• 10.3 The Standard Model = 140
• 10.4 Leptons = 140
• 10.5 Hadrons = 141
• 10.6 Bosons = 143
• 10.7 The Role of Symmetries = 144
• 10.8 Gauge Symmetries and the Fundamental Interactions = 147
• 10.9 The Problem of the Mass and the Higgs Boson = 149
• 10.10 What About Gravitons? = 149
• 10.11 Outstanding Issues = 150
• 10.11.1 Antimatter = 150
• 10.11.2 Supersymmetry = 150
• 10.11.3 Strings = 151
• 10.11.4 Ptolemy and Quantum Field Theory = 151
• 11 Cosmology = 153
• 11.1 The Time of Myths : Cosmogonies and Cosmologies = 153
• 11.2 Ancient Rational Cosmology = 154
• 11.3 Is the Universe Infinite, Homogeneous and Eternal? = 155
• 11.4 Relativistic Cosmology = 157
• 11.5 The Universe Expands, but Are We Really Sure? = 159
• 11.6 The Cosmic Microwave Background = 164
• 11.7 The Standard Universe Before 1998 = 167
• 11.8 Old and New Problems = 170
• 11.9 The Missing Mass = 170
• 11.10 The Foamy Distribution of Galaxies = 171
• 11.11 The Accelerated Expansion = 172
• 11.12 The Flatness of Space = 173
• 11.13 The Concordance Model of the Universe = 174
• 11.14 Alternative Scenarios = 176
• Reference = 177
• 12 Complexity and Universality = 179
• 12.1 Simplicity and Complexity = 179
• 12.2 Complexity Theory = 181
• 12.3 On the Edge of Chaos = 184
• 12.4 Fractality = 185
• 12.5 An Epistemological Conjecture = 186
• 12.6 Phenomenological Universalities (PUNs) = 187
• 12.7 The Universality of Growth = 190
• References = 192
• 13 Conclusions and Philosophical Implications = 195
• 13.1 Introduction = 195
• 13.2 Anthropic Principle = 196
• 13.3 Variability of the Physical Constants = 198
• 13.4 Determinism Versus Free Will = 200
• 13.5 Entanglement Revisited = 201
• 13.6 Reality and the Role of the Observer = 204
• 13.7 What Do We Really Know About the Universe? = 206
• 13.8 Philosophical Implications of Relativity = 207
• 13.9 Philosophical Implications of Quantum Mechanics = 208
• 13.10 Final Conclusions = 209
• References = 210
• Index = 211