Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics

Falling Felines and Fundamental Physics PDF

Author: Gregory J. Gbur

Publisher: Yale University Press

Published: 2019-10-22

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0300231296

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How do cats land on their feet? Discover how this question stumped brilliant minds and how its answer helped solve other seemingly impossible puzzles The question of how falling cats land on their feet has long intrigued humans. In this playful and eye-opening history, physicist and cat parent Gregory Gbur explores how attempts to understand the cat-righting reflex have provided crucial insights into puzzles in mathematics, geophysics, neuroscience, and human space exploration. The result is an engaging tumble through physics, physiology, photography, and robotics to uncover, through scientific debate, the secret of the acrobatic performance known as cat-turning, the cat flip, and the cat twist. Readers learn the solution but also discover that the finer details still inspire heated arguments. As with other cat behavior, the more we investigate, the more surprises we discover.

Stars as Laboratories for Fundamental Physics

Stars as Laboratories for Fundamental Physics PDF

Author: Georg G. Raffelt

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1996-05

Total Pages: 692

ISBN-13: 9780226702728

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Much of what we know about neutrinos is revealed by astronomical observations, and the same applies to the axion, a conjectured new particle that is a favored candidate for the main component of the dark matter of the universe.

Basic Physics

Basic Physics PDF

Author: Kenneth W Ford

Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company

Published: 2016-12-15

Total Pages: 853

ISBN-13: 9813208031

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This reissued version of the classic text Basic Physics will help teachers at both the high-school and college levels gain new insights into, and deeper understanding of, many topics in both classical and modern physics that are commonly taught in introductory physics courses. All of the original book is included with new content added. Short sections of the previous book (174 in number) are labeled 'Features.' These Features are highlighted in the book, set forth in a separate Table of Contents, and separately indexed.Many teachers will value this book as a personal reference during a teaching year as various topics are addressed. Ford's discussions of the history and meaning of topics from Newton's mechanics to Feynman's diagrams, although written first in 1968, have beautifully withstood the test of time and are fully relevant to 21st-century physics teaching.

Symmetries in Fundamental Physics

Symmetries in Fundamental Physics PDF

Author: Kurt Sundermeyer

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-07-23

Total Pages: 806

ISBN-13: 3319065815

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Over the course of the last century it has become clear that both elementary particle physics and relativity theories are based on the notion of symmetries. These symmetries become manifest in that the "laws of nature" are invariant under spacetime transformations and/or gauge transformations. The consequences of these symmetries were analyzed as early as in 1918 by Emmy Noether on the level of action functionals. Her work did not receive due recognition for nearly half a century, but can today be understood as a recurring theme in classical mechanics, electrodynamics and special relativity, Yang-Mills type quantum field theories, and in general relativity. As a matter of fact, as shown in this monograph, many aspects of physics can be derived solely from symmetry considerations. This substantiates the statement of E.P. Wigner "... if we knew all the laws of nature, or the ultimate Law of nature, the invariance properties of these laws would not furnish us new information." Thanks to Wigner we now also understand the implications of quantum physics and symmetry considerations: Poincare invariance dictates both the characteristic properties of particles (mass, spin, ...) and the wave equations of spin 0, 1/2, 1, ... objects. Further, the work of C.N. Yang and R. Mills reveals the consequences of internal symmetries as exemplified in the symmetry group of elementary particle physics. Given this pivotal role of symmetries it is thus not surprising that current research in fundamental physics is to a great degree motivated and inspired by considerations of symmetry. The treatment of symmetries in this monograph ranges from classical physics to now well-established theories of fundamental interactions, to the latest research on unified theories and quantum gravity.

A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics

A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics PDF

Author: Stephen Wolfram

Publisher: Wolfram Media

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781579550356

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The Wolfram Physics Project is a bold effort to find the fundamental theory of physics. It combines new ideas with the latest research in physics, mathematics and computation in the push to achieve this ultimate goal of science. Written with Stephen Wolfram's characteristic expository flair, this book provides a unique opportunity to learn about a historic initiative in science right as it is happening. A Project to Find the Fundamental Theory of Physics includes an accessible introduction to the project as well as core technical exposition and rich, never-before-seen visualizations.

Frontiers of Fundamental Physics and Physics Education Research

Frontiers of Fundamental Physics and Physics Education Research PDF

Author: Burra G. Sidharth

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2014-03-20

Total Pages: 586

ISBN-13: 331900297X

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In a knowledge-based society, research into fundamental physics plays a vital role not only in the enhancement of human knowledge but also in the development of new technology that affects everyday life.The international symposium series Frontiers of Fundamental Physics (FFP) regularly brings together eminent scholars and researchers working in various areas in physics to exchange expertise, ideas, results, and new research perspectives. The twelfth such symposium, FFP12, took place at the University of Udine, Italy, and covered diverse fields of research: astrophysics, high energy physics and particle physics, theoretical physics, gravitation and cosmology, condensed matter physics, statistical physics, computational physics, and mathematical physics. Importantly, it also devoted a great deal of attention to physics education research, teacher training in modern physics, and popularization of physics. The high scientific level of FFP12 was guaranteed by the careful selection made by scientific coordinators from among 250 submissions from 28 countries across the world. During the three days of the conference, nine general talks were delivered in plenary sessions, 29 invited talks were given in specific topic areas, and 59 oral presentations were made. This book presents a selection of the best contributions at FFP12 with the aim of acquainting readers with the most important recent advances in fundamental physics and in physics education and teacher development.

Fundamental Physics of Radiology

Fundamental Physics of Radiology PDF

Author: W. J. Meredith

Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann

Published: 2013-10-22

Total Pages: 719

ISBN-13: 1483284352

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Fundamental Physics of Radiology, Third Edition provides a general introduction to the methods involving radioactive isotopes and ultrasonic radiations. This book provides the fundamental principles upon which the clinical uses of radioactive isotopes and ultrasonic radiation depend. Organized into four sections encompassing 45 chapters, this edition begins with an overview of the basic facts about matter and energy. This text then examines the technical details of some practical X-ray tubes. Other chapters consider the action of the X-rays on the screen to produce an emission of visible light photons in amount proportional to the incident X-ray intensity. This book discusses as well the fundamental aspects of the physical principles of radiotherapy, in which most attention is being given to gamma- and X-rays. The final chapter deals with the provision of adequate barriers and protective devices to guarantee the safety of the workers concerned. This book is a valuable resource for radiologists, physicists, and scientists.

Quantum Physics

Quantum Physics PDF

Author: John S. Townsend

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13:

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This brilliantly innovative textbook is intended as a first introduction to quantum mechanics and its applications. Townsend's new text shuns the historical ordering that characterizes so-called Modern Physics textbooks and applies a truly modern approach to this subject, starting instead with contemporary single-photon and single-atom interference experiments. The text progresses naturally from a thorough introduction to wave mechanics through applications of quantum mechanics to solid-state, nuclear, and particle physics, thereby including most of the topics normally presented in a Modern Physics course. Examples of topics include blackbody radiation, Bose-Einstein condensation, the band-structure of solids and the silicon revolution, the curve of binding energy and nuclear fission and fusion, and the Standard Model of particle physics. Students can see in quantum mechanics a common thread that ties these topics into a coherent picture of how the world works, a picture that gives students confidence that quantum mechanics really works, too. The book also includes a chapter-length appendix on special relativity for the benefit of students who have not had a previous exposure to this subject.Translation into Chinese.

Fundamentals of Condensed Matter Physics

Fundamentals of Condensed Matter Physics PDF

Author: Marvin L. Cohen

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2016-05-26

Total Pages: 461

ISBN-13: 1316571505

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Based on an established course and covering the fundamentals, central areas and contemporary topics of this diverse field, Fundamentals of Condensed Matter Physics is a much-needed textbook for graduate students. The book begins with an introduction to the modern conceptual models of a solid from the points of view of interacting atoms and elementary excitations. It then provides students with a thorough grounding in electronic structure and many-body interactions as a starting point to understand many properties of condensed matter systems - electronic, structural, vibrational, thermal, optical, transport, magnetic and superconducting - and methods to calculate them. Taking readers through the concepts and techniques, the text gives both theoretically and experimentally inclined students the knowledge needed for research and teaching careers in this field. It features 246 illustrations, 9 tables and 100 homework problems, as well as numerous worked examples, for students to test their understanding. Solutions to the problems for instructors are available at www.cambridge.org/cohenlouie.