Cracking the Particle Code of the Universe

Erscheinungsjahr 2014
ISBN: 978-0-19-991552-1
Verlag: OUP US

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 592 g

If the new boson is indeed the Higgs particle, its discovery represents an important milestone in the history of particle physics. However, despite the pressure to award Nobel Prizes to physicists associated with the Higgs boson, John Moffat argues that there still remain important data analyses to be performed before uncorking the champagne. John Moffat is Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Toronto and a senior researcher at the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Well-known for his outside-the-box research on topics such as dark matter, dark energy, and the varying speed of light cosmology (VSL), his new book takes a critical look at the hype surrounding the Higgs boson. In the process, he presents a cogent and often entertaining history of particle physics and an exploration of alternative theories of particle physics that do not feature the Higgs boson, including his own. He gives a detailed and personal description of how theoretical physicists come up with new theories, and emphasizes how carefully experimental physicists must interpret the complex data now coming out of accelerators like the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The book does not shy away from controversial topics such as the sociology of particle physics. There is immense pressure on projects like the $9 billion LHC to come up with positive results in order to secure funding for the future. Yet to date, the Higgs boson may be the only positive result to emerge from the LHC experiments. The searches for dark matter particles, mini-black holes, extra dimensions, and supersymmetric particles have all come up empty-handed, with serious consequences for theoretical physics, including string theory and gravity theory. John Moffat is also the author of Reinventing Gravity (2008) and Einstein Wrote Back (2010).

Zielgruppe

Professionals and academics working in particle physics, as well as general readers interested in the Higgs Particle or particle physics.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Moffat, John

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik Teilchenphysik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Table of Contents

- Introduction

- Chapter 1: Building the Standard Model

- Chapter 2: Deeper into the Standard Model

- Chapter 3: Accelerators: High-Energy Tools of Physicists

- Chapter 4: The Higgs Particle, Warts and All

- Chapter 5: Alternatives to the Standard Model

- Chapter 6: Dark Matters at the Large Hadron Collider

- Chapter 7: What if the LHC Finds No New Physics?

Über Autor(innen)

John W. Moffat has been a professor of physics for more than three decades. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, a member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, and adjunct professor in the physics department at the University of Waterloo. Moffat is well known for his alternative theory of gravity to Einstein's general relativity. He is the author of Reinventing Gravity: A Physicist Goes Beyond Einstein and Einstein Wrote Back: My Life in Physics.