The conceptual changes brought by modern physics are important, radical and fascinating, yet they are only vaguely understood by people working outside the field. Exploring the four pillars of modern physics - relativity, quantum mechanics, elementary particles and cosmology - this clear and lively account will interest anyone who has wondered what Einstein, Bohr, Schrödinger and Heisenberg were really talking about. The book discusses quarks and leptons, antiparticles and Feynman diagrams, curved space-time, the Big Bang and the expanding Universe. Suitable for undergraduate students in non-science as well as science subjects, it uses problems and worked examples to help readers develop an understanding of what recent advances in physics actually mean.
Author(s): David J. Griffiths
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 188
Tags: Физика;История физики;
Cover......Page 1
Revolutions in Twentieth-Century Physics......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Contents......Page 7
Preface......Page 11
1.1.1 Units......Page 13
1.1.2 Scientific notation......Page 14
1.1.3 Significant digits......Page 15
1.2.1 Kinematics......Page 16
1.2.2 Dynamics......Page 21
1.3.1 Newton's law of universal gravitation......Page 25
1.3.2 Planetary motion......Page 27
1.3.3 Coulomb's law......Page 29
1.4 Conservation laws......Page 31
1.4.1 Momentum......Page 32
1.4.2 Work and power......Page 33
1.4.3 Energy......Page 35
1.4.4 Conservation of energy......Page 37
1.4.5 Gravitational potential energy......Page 39
1.5.1 Velocity, wavelength, and frequency......Page 42
1.5.2 Interference......Page 45
1.5.3 Standing waves......Page 48
2.1 Einstein's postulates......Page 51
2.1.1 The principle of relativity......Page 52
2.1.2 The universal speed of light......Page 54
2.2 Implications......Page 57
2.2.1 The relativity of simultaneity......Page 58
2.2.2 Time dilation......Page 59
2.2.3 Lorentz contraction......Page 61
2.3 Paradoxes......Page 64
2.3.1 The paradox of Lorentz contraction......Page 65
2.3.2 The paradox of time dilation......Page 66
2.3.3 The barn and ladder paradox......Page 67
2.3.4 The twin paradox......Page 68
2.4 Relativistic mechanics......Page 69
2.4.1 Mass and momentum......Page 70
2.4.2 Energy......Page 72
2.4.3 Massless particles......Page 75
2.5 The structure of spacetime......Page 76
3.1 Photons......Page 81
3.1.1 Planck's formula......Page 82
3.1.2 The photoelectric effect......Page 83
3.1.3 The Compton effect......Page 84
3.1.4 de Broglie's hypothesis......Page 85
3.2 The Bohr model......Page 87
3.2.1 Allowed energies......Page 88
3.3.2 The wave function......Page 92
3.3.3 Born's statistical interpretation......Page 93
3.3.5 Uncertainty......Page 95
3.3.6 Tunneling......Page 97
3.4 What's so funny about quantum mechanics?......Page 99
3.4.1 Three schools of thought......Page 101
3.4.2 The EPR paradox......Page 103
3.4.3 Bell's theorem......Page 104
3.4.4 Nonlocality......Page 105
3.4.5 Schrodinger's cat......Page 107
4 Elementary particles......Page 110
4.1.1 Electrons, protons, and neutrons......Page 111
4.1.2 Atoms......Page 113
4.1.3 Nuclei......Page 116
4.2.1 Neutrinos (1930–1956) ......Page 122
4.2.2 Mesons (1934–1947) ......Page 124
4.2.3 Strange particles (1947–1960) ......Page 127
4.3.1 The Eightfold Way (1961)......Page 129
4.3.2 The quark model (1964)......Page 132
4.3.3 The November revolution (1974)......Page 135
4.3.4 The Standard Model (1978)......Page 137
4.4 Interactions......Page 140
4.4.1 Electrodynamics......Page 141
4.4.2 Chromodynamics......Page 144
4.4.3 Weak interactions......Page 145
4.4.4 Conservation laws......Page 148
4.4.5 Unification......Page 153
5 Cosmology......Page 155
5.1.1 Stars and galaxies......Page 156
5.1.2 The cosmological redshift......Page 158
5.1.3 Hubble's law......Page 160
5.1.4 The Big Bang......Page 162
5.2.1 Blackbody radiation......Page 163
5.2.2 Penzias and Wilson......Page 166
5.3.1 Light elements......Page 168
5.3.3 Stars and galaxies......Page 169
5.4.1 Dark matter......Page 170
5.4.2 The shape of the Universe......Page 171
5.4.3 The future......Page 174
5.4.4 Dark energy......Page 175
Index......Page 178
Figure References......Page 186
Fundamental constants......Page 187
Greek alphabet......Page 188
