Enjoy Our Universe: You Have No Other Choice

Description

Enjoy Our Universe is a guide for an enjoyable visit to the Universe. The "Universe" refers to all "observable things," ranging in size from the entire cosmos to elementary particles. This small tome on fundamental physics, cosmology, Higgs bosons, time travel and all that, is unlike any other analogous book. Its scientific statements are correct or, at least, they coincide with the opinions held by the vast majority of experts. It establishes clear distinctions between things we know for sure -- in the sense of having strong observational support for them -- and things that we know that we do not know, or we do not understand. In this sense, it is scientifically honest. In descriptions of our Universe and of the way it functions, beauty is a recurring word. In an attempt to portray its beauty from the eyes of the beholder, the book is profusely illustrated. Its offbeat, tongue-in-cheek illustrations greatly enhance its readability, particularly in those chapters whose understanding, admittedly, requires a little extra effort. This book's idiosyncracies remind us of our own smallness and eccentricities even as we read about the logic, function and magnificence of the Universe. Cover ENJOYOUR UNIVERSE: You Have No Other Choice Copyright Contents Preface References Acknowledgments 1. Physics as an Art Form 2. Science as a Sport 3. The Bothersome Question of Units 4. The Scientific Method Mass, energy, and momentum 5. The Three Relativities The Twin Paradox 6. A First, Fast Visit to the Universe The Cosmic Background Radiation The constituents of matter The sizes of things The first additional character: The neutrino Doubling the cast of players, an interlude on antimatter How elementary is an elementary particle? 7. More on the Fundamental Forces and Their “Carriers” Electromagnetism Gravity and the “inertial” and “gravitational” masses The weak force Chromodynamics, the strong interaction The confinement of quarks and gluons 8. Everything . . . So Far 9. A Parenthesis on Quantum Mechanics 10. Understanding Relativity and Quantum Mechanics 11. Spin, Statistics, Supernovae, Neutron Stars, and Black Holes The spin-statistics theorem 12. Parallel Realms The November Revolution The third family 13. A Parenthesis on “R2QFTs” TheMother of all Concepts 14. The Unification of Forces Serendipity Gauge Theories 15. A Parenthesis: Is Basic Science Useful? 16. Back to the Twins Why the Twin Paradox is so paradoxical Twins according to Einstein Back to experiments, doable or not The algebra behind the relativity of time 17. Some Instruments of Macro-Physics Microwave antennas and satellites Gravitational-wave interferometers 18. The Discovery of Gravitational Wave Emission 19. The Direct Detection of GravitationalWaves References 20. Some Instruments of Micro-Physics 21. The LHC and its Detectors 22. The “Higgs” Boson, and its Field in the “Vacuum” TheMother of all Substances Making Higgs Bosons 23. Today’s Standard Models of Particles and Gravity 24. The Expansion of the Universe Some tempting misconceptions Distances and redshifts in cosmology 25. Finding Cosmic Fossils 26. Where is the Cosmic Antimatter? 27. More on the Cosmic Background Radiation (CBR or CMB) Analysis of the CBR anisotropies 28. Problems with the “Old” Big Bang Theory 29. Inflation Inflationary predictions 30. Limitations and Peculiarities of the StandardModels 31. The Discrete Symmetries of the Fundamental Interactions 32. Dark Matter Gravitational lensing 33. The Origin of “Structures” 34. The Fate of the Universe 35. Back to the Ether? 36. The Crash 37. In Spite of Our Admitted Ignorance A Concatenated∗ Glossary of Terms Index