Download or read book The Cosmic Microwave Background written by Júlio C. Fabris and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-10-07 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The series of texts composing this book is based on the lectures presented during the II José Plínio Baptista School of Cosmology, held in Pedra Azul (Espírito Santo, Brazil) between 9 and 14 March 2014. This II JBPCosmo has been entirely devoted to the problem of understanding theoretical and observational aspects of Cosmic Background Radiation (CMB).The CMB is one of the most important phenomena in Physics and a fundamental probe of our Universe when it was only 400,000 years old. It is an extraordinary laboratory where we can learn from particle physics to cosmology; its discovery in 1965 has been a landmark event in the history of physics.The observations of the anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation through the satellites COBE, WMAP and Planck provided a huge amount of data which are being analyzed in order to discover important informations regarding the composition of our universe and the process of structure formation.

Download or read book Cosmic Frontiers written by Science News and published by Diversion Books. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explore the mysteries of the cosmos with this captivating anthology from Science News. Since Edwin Hubble discovered the great distance to Andromeda, our conception of the universe has grown dramatically. No longer bound by the confines of the Milky Way, astronomers and physicists began to study areas of the cosmos much further from home. Our new knowledge and technology have provided us with answers to many astronomical puzzles, but they have also opened the door to countless questions. This extensive collection of articles from Science News delves deep into the mysteries of the universe. Tackling topics from the Big Bang to black holes, and the elusive material known as dark matter, it answers questions and explores still-developing theories. Cosmic Frontiers is perfect for anyone with an interest in the history and fate of our universe. Since 1921, Society for Science & the Public has facilitated global understanding of important scientific discoveries and issues. Since the first publication of the Science News-Letter in 1922, they have grown their audience to millions of readers each year. Now, Science News exposes new readers to thrilling concepts and innovative theories in Cosmic Frontiers.

Download or read book Signatures of the Artist written by Steven E. Vigdor and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 363 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a broad-ranging, non-mathematical introduction to recent and ongoing research that has illuminated the physical conditions necessary for our universe to support structure and life. The primary focus is on particle and nuclear physics and cosmology, which have exposed the fine-tuning and imperfections vital for a habitable universe.

Download or read book Status Of Theoretical Understanding And Of Experimental Power For Lhc Physics And Beyond 50th Anniversary Celebration Of The Quark Proceedings Of The International School Of Subnuclear Physics written by Antonino Zichichi and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2016-11-01 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Proceedings of the International School of Subnuclear Physics, ISSP 2014, 52nd Course, ERICE, Erice, 24 June - 3 July 2014.

Download or read book Gravitational Wave Astrophysics with Pulsar Timing Arrays written by Chiara M. F. Mingarelli and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-11-09 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Ph.D. thesis from the University of Birmingham UK opens new research avenues in the use of Pulsar Timing Arrays (PTAs) to study populations of super-massive black hole binaries through gravitational-wave observations. Chiara Mingarelli's work has shown for the first time that PTAs can yield information about the non-linear dynamics of the gravitational field. This is possible because PTAs capture, at the same time, radiation from the same source emitted at stages of its binary evolution that are separated by thousands of years. Dr. Mingarelli, who is the recipient of a Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, has also been amongst the pioneers of the technique that will allow us to probe the level of anisotropy of the diffuse gravitational-wave background radiation from the whole population of super-massive black hole binaries in the Universe. Indeed, future observations will provide us with hints about the distribution of galaxies harboring massive black holes and insights into end products of hierarchical mergers of galaxies.

Download or read book Fourteenth Marcel Grossmann Meeting The On Recent Developments In Theoretical And Experimental General Relativity Astrophysics And Relativistic Field Theories Proceedings Of The Mg14 Meeting On General Relativity In 4 Parts written by Massimo Bianchi and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2017-10-13 with total page 4784 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The four volumes of the proceedings of MG14 give a broad view of all aspects of gravitational physics and astrophysics, from mathematical issues to recent observations and experiments. The scientific program of the meeting included 35 morning plenary talks over 6 days, 6 evening popular talks and 100 parallel sessions on 84 topics over 4 afternoons.Volume A contains plenary and review talks ranging from the mathematical foundations of classical and quantum gravitational theories including recent developments in string theory, to precision tests of general relativity including progress towards the detection of gravitational waves, and from supernova cosmology to relativistic astrophysics, including topics such as gamma ray bursts, black hole physics both in our galaxy and in active galactic nuclei in other galaxies, and neutron star, pulsar and white dwarf astrophysics.The remaining volumes include parallel sessions which touch on dark matter, neutrinos, X-ray sources, astrophysical black holes, neutron stars, white dwarfs, binary systems, radiative transfer, accretion disks, quasars, gamma ray bursts, supernovas, alternative gravitational theories, perturbations of collapsed objects, analog models, black hole thermodynamics, numerical relativity, gravitational lensing, large scale structure, observational cosmology, early universe models and cosmic microwave background anisotropies, inhomogeneous cosmology, inflation, global structure, singularities, chaos, Einstein-Maxwell systems, wormholes, exact solutions of Einstein's equations, gravitational waves, gravitational wave detectors and data analysis, precision gravitational measurements, quantum gravity and loop quantum gravity, quantum cosmology, strings and branes, self-gravitating systems, gamma ray astronomy, cosmic rays and the history of general relativity.

Download or read book The Hunt for Vulcan written by Thomas Levenson and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2016-08-02 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The captivating, all-but-forgotten story of Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and the search for a planet that never existed For more than fifty years, the world’s top scientists searched for the “missing” planet Vulcan, whose existence was mandated by Isaac Newton’s theories of gravity. Countless hours were spent on the hunt for the elusive orb, and some of the era’s most skilled astronomers even claimed to have found it. There was just one problem: It was never there. In The Hunt for Vulcan, Thomas Levenson follows the visionary scientists who inhabit the story of the phantom planet, starting with Isaac Newton, who in 1687 provided an explanation for all matter in motion throughout the universe, leading to Urbain-Jean-Joseph Le Verrier, who almost two centuries later built on Newton’s theories and discovered Neptune, becoming the most famous scientist in the world. Le Verrier attempted to surpass that triumph by predicting the existence of yet another planet in our solar system, Vulcan. It took Albert Einstein to discern that the mystery of the missing planet was a problem not of measurements or math but of Newton’s theory of gravity itself. Einstein’s general theory of relativity proved that Vulcan did not and could not exist, and that the search for it had merely been a quirk of operating under the wrong set of assumptions about the universe. Levenson tells the previously untold tale of how the “discovery” of Vulcan in the nineteenth century set the stage for Einstein’s monumental breakthrough, the greatest individual intellectual achievement of the twentieth century. A dramatic human story of an epic quest, The Hunt for Vulcan offers insight into how science really advances (as opposed to the way we’re taught about it in school) and how the best work of the greatest scientists reveals an artist’s sensibility. Opening a new window onto our world, Levenson illuminates some of our most iconic ideas as he recounts one of the strangest episodes in the history of science. Praise for The Hunt for Vulcan “Delightful . . . a charming tale about an all-but-forgotten episode in science history.”—The Wall Street Journal “Engaging . . . At heart, this is a story about how science advances, one insight at a time. But the immediacy, almost romance, of Levenson’s writing makes it almost novelistic.”—The Washington Post “A well-structured, fast-paced example of exemplary science writing.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Download or read book Pseudoscience written by Allison B. Kaufman and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2019-03-12 with total page 537 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Case studies, personal accounts, and analysis show how to recognize and combat pseudoscience in a post-truth world. In a post-truth, fake news world, we are particularly susceptible to the claims of pseudoscience. When emotions and opinions are more widely disseminated than scientific findings, and self-proclaimed experts get their expertise from Google, how can the average person distinguish real science from fake? This book examines pseudoscience from a variety of perspectives, through case studies, analysis, and personal accounts that show how to recognize pseudoscience, why it is so widely accepted, and how to advocate for real science. Contributors examine the basics of pseudoscience, including issues of cognitive bias; the costs of pseudoscience, with accounts of naturopathy and logical fallacies in the anti-vaccination movement; perceptions of scientific soundness; the mainstream presence of “integrative medicine,” hypnosis, and parapsychology; and the use of case studies and new media in science advocacy. Contributors David Ball, Paul Joseph Barnett, Jeffrey Beall, Mark Benisz, Fernando Blanco, Ron Dumont, Stacy Ellenberg, Kevin M. Folta, Christopher French, Ashwin Gautam, Dennis M. Gorman, David H. Gorski, David K. Hecht, Britt Marie Hermes, Clyde F. Herreid, Jonathan Howard, Seth C. Kalichman, Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair, Arnold Kozak, Scott O. Lilienfeld, Emilio Lobato, Steven Lynn, Adam Marcus, Helena Matute, Ivan Oransky, Chad Orzel, Dorit Reiss, Ellen Beate Hansen Sandseter, Kavin Senapathy, Dean Keith Simonton, Indre Viskontas, John O. Willis, Corrine Zimmerman

Download or read book Eureka written by Chad Orzel and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2014-12-09 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When it comes to science, too often people say "I just don't have the brains for it" -- and leave it at that. Why is science so intimidating, and why do people let themselves feel this way? What makes one person a scientist and another disinclined even to learn how to read graphs? The idea that scientists are people who wear lab coats and are somehow smarter than the rest of us is a common, yet dangerous, misconception that puts science on an intimidating pedestal. How did science become so divorced from everyday experience? In Eureka, science popularizer Chad Orzel argues that even the people who are most forthright about hating science are doing science, often without even knowing it. Orzel shows that science is central to the human experience: every human can think like a scientist, and regularly does so in the course of everyday activities. The common misconception is that science is a body of (boring, abstract, often mathematical) facts. In truth, science is a process: Looking at the world, Thinking about what makes it work, Testing your mental model by comparing it to reality, and Telling others about your results -- all things that people do daily. By revealing the connection between the everyday activities that people do -- solving crossword puzzles, playing sports, or even watching mystery shows on television -- and the processes used to make great scientific discoveries, Eureka shows that this process is one everybody uses regularly, and something that anyone can do.

Download or read book Losing the Nobel Prize A Story of Cosmology Ambition and the Perils of Science s Highest Honor written by Brian Keating and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-04-24 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Riveting."—Science A Forbes, Physics Today, Science News, and Science Friday Best Science Book Of 2018 Cosmologist and inventor of the BICEP (Background Imaging of Cosmic Extragalactic Polarization) experiment, Brian Keating tells the inside story of the mesmerizing quest to unlock cosmology’s biggest mysteries and the human drama that ensued. We follow along on a personal journey of revelation and discovery in the publish-or-perish world of modern science, and learn that the Nobel Prize might hamper—rather than advance—scientific progress. Fortunately, Keating offers practical solutions for reform, providing a vision of a scientific future in which cosmologists may finally be able to see all the way back to the very beginning.

Download or read book The Cosmic Microwave Background written by Rhodri Evans and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-12-04 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rhodri Evans tells the story of what we know about the universe, from Jacobus Kapteyn’s Island universe at the turn of the 20th Century, and the discovery by Hubble that the nebulae were external to our own galaxy, through Gamow’s early work on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and its subsequent discovery by Penzias and Wilson, to modern day satellite-lead CMB research. Research results from the ground-based experiments DASI, BOOMERANG, and satellite missions COBE, WMAP and Planck are explained and interpreted to show how our current picture of the universe was arrived at, and the author looks at the future of CMB research and what we still need to learn. This account is enlivened by Dr Rhodri Evans' personal connections to the characters and places in the story.

Download or read book Gravitational Waves written by Brian Clegg and published by Icon Books. This book was released on 2018-02-08 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On 14 September 2015, after 50 years of searching, gravitational waves were detected for the first time and astronomy changed for ever. Until then, investigation of the universe had depended on electromagnetic radiation: visible light, radio, X-rays and the rest. But gravitational waves – ripples in the fabric of space and time – are unrelenting, passing through barriers that stop light dead. At the two 4-kilometre long LIGO observatories in the US, scientists developed incredibly sensitive detectors, capable of spotting a movement 100 times smaller than the nucleus of an atom. In 2015 they spotted the ripples produced by two black holes spiralling into each other, setting spacetime quivering. This was the first time black holes had ever been directly detected – and it promises far more for the future of astronomy. Brian Clegg presents a compelling story of human technical endeavour and a new, powerful path to understand the workings of the universe.

Download or read book Exploring the Early Universe with Gravitational Waves written by Laura Bianca Bethke and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-05-20 with total page 149 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work investigates gravitational wave production in the early universe and identifies potentially observable features, thereby paving the way for future gravitational wave experiments. It focuses on gravitational wave production in two scenarios: inflation in a model inspired by loop quantum gravity, and preheating at the end of inflation. In the first part, it is demonstrated that gravitational waves’ spectrum differs from the result obtained using ordinary general relativity, with potentially observable consequences that could yield insights into quantum gravity. In the second part, it is shown that the cosmic gravitational wave background is anisotropic at a level that could be detected by future experiments. Gravitational waves promise to be an rich source of information on the early universe. To them, the universe has been transparent from its earliest moments, so they can give us an unobstructed view of the Big Bang and a means to probe the fundamental laws of nature at very high energies.

Download or read book Weigh Them All written by Sunny Vagnozzi and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-08-13 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The three neutrinos are ghostly elementary particles that exist all across the Universe. Though every second billions of them fly through us, they are extremely hard to detect. We used to think they had no mass, but recently discovered that in fact they have a tiny mass. The quest for the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering (specifying how the three masses are distributed) is an extremely exciting one, and will open the door towards new physics operating at energy scales we can only ever dream of reaching on Earth. This thesis explores the use of measurements of the Cosmic Microwave Background (the oldest light reaching us, a snapshot of the infant Universe) and maps of millions of galaxies to go after the neutrino mass scale and mass ordering. Neutrinos might teach us something about the mysterious dark energy powering the accelerated expansion of the Universe, or about cosmic inflation, which seeded the initial conditions for the Universe. Though extremely baffling, neutrinos are also an exceptionally exciting area of research, and cosmological observations promise to reveal a great deal about these elusive particles in the coming years.

Download or read book Massive Neutrinos Flavor Mixing Of Leptons And Neutrino Oscillations written by Harald Fritzsch and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2015-08-28 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the discovery of neutrino oscillations neutrino physics has become an interesting field of research in physics. They imply that neutrino must have a small mass and that the neutrinos, coupled to the charged leptons, are mixtures of the mass eigenstates, analogous to the flavor mixing of the quarks. The mixing angles for the quarks are small, but for the leptons two of the mixing angles are large. The masses of the three neutrinos must be very small, less than 1 eV, but from the oscillation experiments we only know the mass differences — the absolute masses are still unknown. Also we do not know, if the masses of the neutrinos are Dirac masses, as the masses of the charged leptons and of the quarks, or whether they are Majorana masses.In this volume, an overview of the present state of research in neutrino physics is given by well-known experimentalists and theorists. The contents — originated from talks and discussions at a recent conference addressing some of the most pressing open questions in neutrino physics — range from the oscillation experiments to CP-violation for leptons, to texture zero mass matrices and to the role of neutrinos in astrophysics and cosmology.

Download or read book Dark Energy and the Formation of the Large Scale Structure of the Universe written by Jérôme Gleyzes and published by Springer. This book was released on 2016-06-28 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis presents several significant new results that shed light on two major puzzles of modern cosmology: the nature of inflation, the very early phase of the universe that is thought to have given rise to the large-scale structures that we observe today; and that of the current accelerated expansion. In particular, it develops a clean method for characterizing linear cosmological perturbations for general theories where gravity is modified and/or affected by a new component, called dark energy, responsible for the accelerated expansion. It proposes a new extension to what were long thought to be the most general scalar field theories devoid of instabilities, and demonstrates the robustness of the relation between the energy scale of inflation and the predicted amplitude of gravitational waves. Finally, it consolidates a set of consistency relations between correlation functions of the cosmological density field and investigates the phenomenological consequences of their potential violation. Presented in a clear, succinct and rigorous style, each of these original results is both profound and important and will leave a deep mark on the field.

Download or read book The future of the universe astrophysics written by Fulvio Gagliardi and published by Elison Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-22 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Some of us are wondering: how is the universe we live in, how long has it existed and above all how long will it last? Many, on the other hand, prefer not to think about it so much, the answer does not exist and in any case it does not interest us, what surrounds us seems to have always existed and it is not worth asking these questions. However, man has always asked himself these questions since ancient times and many philosophers have filled pages and pages with hypotheses on the possible end of the world. Today we have been able to understand how the universe has evolved up to our days, but the very first moments of its existence remain obscure and above all what could have been before its birth, if there was a before. It is not yet known how the universe could evolve in the future, how it could end and what could exist after its end. In this paper the author tries to give some possible answers and, in order to be able to easily delve into the complex laws that govern the genesis and evolution of the cosmos, at the beginning of this text the theory of relativity is briefly illustrated, that of quanta and the most recent string and loop gravity theories.