The Quantum World: Quantum Physics for EveryoneAs Kenneth W. Ford shows us in The Quantum World, the laws governing the very small and the very swift defy common sense and stretch our minds to the limit. Drawing on a deep familiarity with the discoveries of the twentieth century, Ford gives an appealing account of quantum physics that will help the serious reader make sense of a science that, for all its successes, remains mysterious. In order to make the book even more suitable for classroom use, the author, assisted by Diane Goldstein, has included a new section of Quantum Questions at the back of the book. A separate answer manual to these 300+ questions is available; visit The Quantum World website for ordering information. There is also a cloth edition of this book, which does not include the Quantum Questions included in this paperback edition. |
Contents
Beneath the Surface of Things | 1 |
How Small Is Small? How Fast Is Fast? | 2 |
Meet the Leptons | 29 |
The Rest of the Extended Family | 67 |
Quantum Lumps | 92 |
Quantum Jumps | 112 |
Social and Antisocial Particles | 131 |
Clinging to Constancy | 153 |
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Common terms and phrases
accelerator AIP Emilio Segrč angular momentum annihilation antimatter antineutrino antiparticle baryon baryon number beta decay billion black hole Bohr bosons Broglie called classical color conservation laws constant courtesy of AIP created dark matter detector distance Earth Einstein elec electric charge electromagnetic electron Emilio Segrč Emilio Segrč Visual emitted equation ergy exclusion principle experiment fermions Feynman Figure flavor force carriers frequency fundamental particles gluons happens hydrogen atom idea invariance principle kinetic energy leptons lowest-energy mass energy mean measure mesons motion moving muon neutrino negative neutron nucleus orbital Pauli Photo courtesy photon physicists physics pion Planck positron predicted probability properties quantity quantized quantum jump quantum mechanics quantum number quantum theory quarks radiation radioactive scientists Segrč Visual Archives space spacetime speed of light spin string subatomic world superposition symmetry Table ticles tion tron unit universe wave function wavelength weak interaction zero