Download or read book QED and the Men Who Made It written by S. S. Schweber and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-05-05 with total page 762 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1930s, physics was in a crisis. There appeared to be no way to reconcile the new theory of quantum mechanics with Einstein's theory of relativity. Several approaches had been tried and had failed. In the post-World War II period, four eminent physicists rose to the challenge and developed a calculable version of quantum electrodynamics (QED), probably the most successful theory in physics. This formulation of QED was pioneered by Freeman Dyson, Richard Feynman, Julian Schwinger, and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, three of whom won the Nobel Prize for their work. In this book, physicist and historian Silvan Schweber tells the story of these four physicists, blending discussions of their scientific work with fascinating biographical sketches. Setting the achievements of these four men in context, Schweber begins with an account of the early work done by physicists such as Dirac and Jordan, and describes the gathering of eminent theorists at Shelter Island in 1947, the meeting that heralded the new era of QED. The rest of his narrative comprises individual biographies of the four physicists, discussions of their major contributions, and the story of the scientific community in which they worked. Throughout, Schweber draws on his technical expertise to offer a lively and lucid explanation of how this theory was finally established as the appropriate way to describe the atomic and subatomic realms.
Download or read book Selected Papers on Quantum Electrodynamics written by Julian Schwinger and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 1958-01-01 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monumental collection of 34 historical papers on quantum electrodynamics features contributions by the 20th century's leading physicists: Dyson, Fermi, Feynman, Foley, Oppenheimer, Pauli, Weisskopf, and others. Twenty-nine are in English, three in German, and one each in French and Italian. Editor Julian Schwinger won a Nobel Prize for his pioneering work in quantum electrodynamics.
Download or read book QED written by Richard P. Feynman and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-10-26 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Feynman’s bestselling introduction to the mind-blowing physics of QED—presented with humor, not mathematics Celebrated for his brilliantly quirky insights into the physical world, Nobel laureate Richard Feynman also possessed an extraordinary talent for explaining difficult concepts to the public. In this extraordinary book, Feynman provides a lively and accessible introduction to QED, or quantum electrodynamics, an area of quantum field theory that describes the interactions of light with charged particles. Using everyday language, spatial concepts, visualizations, and his renowned Feynman diagrams instead of advanced mathematics, Feynman clearly and humorously communicates the substance and spirit of QED to the nonscientist. With an incisive introduction by A. Zee that places Feynman’s contribution to QED in historical context and highlights Feynman’s uniquely appealing and illuminating style, this Princeton Science Library edition of QED makes Feynman’s legendary talks on quantum electrodynamics available to a new generation of readers.
Download or read book Quantum Man Richard Feynman s Life in Science Great Discoveries written by Lawrence M. Krauss and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2011-03-21 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A worthy addition to the Feynman shelf and a welcome follow-up to the standard-bearer, James Gleick's Genius." —Kirkus Reviews Perhaps the greatest physicist of the second half of the twentieth century, Richard Feynman changed the way we think about quantum mechanics, the most perplexing of all physical theories. Here Lawrence M. Krauss, himself a theoretical physicist and a best-selling author, offers a unique scientific biography: a rollicking narrative coupled with clear and novel expositions of science at the limits. From the death of Feynman’s childhood sweetheart during the Manhattan Project to his reluctant rise as a scientific icon, we see Feynman’s life through his science, providing a new understanding of the legacy of a man who has fascinated millions.
Download or read book Relativistic Quantum Fields written by Charles Nash and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2010-06-17 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This graduate-level text contains statistical and quantitative techniques for performing calculations in quantum field theory. Topics include renormalization, functional differentiation and integration, and the Schwinger-Dyson equations; dimensional regularization; the gauge and infrared properties of quantum electrodynamics; and asymptotic behavior and renormalization group methods. Reference features include an appendix, bibliography, and index. 1978 edition"--
Download or read book QED written by Peter Parnell and published by Dramatists Play Service, Inc.. This book was released on 2003 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE STORY: Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman holds forth with captivating wit and wisdom in this fascinating play that originally starred Alan Alda. One of the twentieth century's great physicists, Feynman was also one of its great ecce
Download or read book Galileo Unbound written by David D. Nolte and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018-07-12 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Galileo Unbound traces the journey that brought us from Galileo's law of free fall to today's geneticists measuring evolutionary drift, entangled quantum particles moving among many worlds, and our lives as trajectories traversing a health space with thousands of dimensions. Remarkably, common themes persist that predict the evolution of species as readily as the orbits of planets or the collapse of stars into black holes. This book tells the history of spaces of expanding dimension and increasing abstraction and how they continue today to give new insight into the physics of complex systems. Galileo published the first modern law of motion, the Law of Fall, that was ideal and simple, laying the foundation upon which Newton built the first theory of dynamics. Early in the twentieth century, geometry became the cause of motion rather than the result when Einstein envisioned the fabric of space-time warped by mass and energy, forcing light rays to bend past the Sun. Possibly more radical was Feynman's dilemma of quantum particles taking all paths at once — setting the stage for the modern fields of quantum field theory and quantum computing. Yet as concepts of motion have evolved, one thing has remained constant, the need to track ever more complex changes and to capture their essence, to find patterns in the chaos as we try to predict and control our world.
Download or read book Theory of the Muon Anomalous Magnetic Moment written by Kirill Melnikov and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-05-22 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The theory of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is particle physics in a nutshell. It is an interesting, exciting and difficult subject, and this book provides a comprehensive review of it. The theory of the muon anomalous magnetic moment is at the cutting edge of current research in particle physics, and any deviation between the theoretical prediction and the experimental value might be interpreted as a signal of an as-yet-unknown new physics.
Download or read book Quantum Generations written by Helge Kragh and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2002-03-24 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the end of the nineteenth century, some physicists believed that the basic principles underlying their subject were already known, and that physics in the future would only consist of filling in the details. They could hardly have been more wrong. The past century has seen the rise of quantum mechanics, relativity, cosmology, particle physics, and solid-state physics, among other fields. These subjects have fundamentally changed our understanding of space, time, and matter. They have also transformed daily life, inspiring a technological revolution that has included the development of radio, television, lasers, nuclear power, and computers. In Quantum Generations, Helge Kragh, one of the world's leading historians of physics, presents a sweeping account of these extraordinary achievements of the past one hundred years. The first comprehensive one-volume history of twentieth-century physics, the book takes us from the discovery of X rays in the mid-1890s to superstring theory in the 1990s. Unlike most previous histories of physics, written either from a scientific perspective or from a social and institutional perspective, Quantum Generations combines both approaches. Kragh writes about pure science with the expertise of a trained physicist, while keeping the content accessible to nonspecialists and paying careful attention to practical uses of science, ranging from compact disks to bombs. As a historian, Kragh skillfully outlines the social and economic contexts that have shaped the field in the twentieth century. He writes, for example, about the impact of the two world wars, the fate of physics under Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin, the role of military research, the emerging leadership of the United States, and the backlash against science that began in the 1960s. He also shows how the revolutionary discoveries of scientists ranging from Einstein, Planck, and Bohr to Stephen Hawking have been built on the great traditions of earlier centuries. Combining a mastery of detail with a sure sense of the broad contours of historical change, Kragh has written a fitting tribute to the scientists who have played such a decisive role in the making of the modern world.
Download or read book In the Shadow of the Bomb written by S. S. Schweber and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-10-31 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How two charismatic, exceptionally talented physicists came to terms with the nuclear weapons they helped to create In 1945, the United States dropped the bomb, and physicists were forced to contemplate disquieting questions about their roles and responsibilities. When the Cold War followed, they were confronted with political demands for their loyalty and McCarthyism's threats to academic freedom. By examining how J. Robert Oppenheimer and Hans A. Bethe—two men with similar backgrounds but divergent aspirations and characters—struggled with these moral dilemmas, one of our foremost historians of physics tells the story of modern physics, the development of atomic weapons, and the Cold War. Oppenheimer and Bethe led parallel lives. Both received liberal educations that emphasized moral as well as intellectual growth. Both were outstanding theoreticians who worked on the atom bomb at Los Alamos. Both advised the government on nuclear issues, and both resisted the development of the hydrogen bomb. Both were, in their youth, sympathetic to liberal causes, and both were later called to defend the United States against Soviet communism and colleagues against anti-Communist crusaders. Finally, both prized scientific community as a salve to the apparent failure of Enlightenment values. Yet their responses to the use of the atom bomb, the testing of the hydrogen bomb, and the treachery of domestic politics differed markedly. Bethe, who drew confidence from scientific achievement and integration into the physics community, preserved a deep integrity. By accepting a modest role, he continued to influence policy and contributed to the nuclear test ban treaty of 1963. In contrast, Oppenheimer first embodied a new scientific persona—the scientist who creates knowledge and technology affecting all humanity and boldly addresses their impact—and then could not carry its burden. His desire to retain insider status, combined with his isolation from creative work and collegial scientific community, led him to compromise principles and, ironically, to lose prestige and fall victim to other insiders. S. S. Schweber draws on his vast knowledge of science and its history—in addition to his unique access to the personalities involved—to tell a tale of two men that will enthrall readers interested in science, history, and the lives and minds of great thinkers.
Download or read book The Beat of a Different Drum written by Jagdish Mehra and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1996 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a definitve book dealing with the life and scientific work of arguably the greatest American-born theoretical physicist of the 20th century. Feynman was irreverent and iconoclastic; he disdained authority and despised ceremony. Jagdish Mehra knew Richard Feynman personally for 30years. Feynman invited Mehra to spend three weeks with him shortly before his death to interview him and talk about his life , and encouraged Mehra to write this book about his life and scientific work. What has emerged is a truly authoritative account of Feynman's life and achievements.
Download or read book Surely You re Joking Mr Feynman Adventures of a Curious Character written by Richard P. Feynman and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most famous science books of our time, the phenomenal national bestseller that "buzzes with energy, anecdote and life. It almost makes you want to become a physicist" (Science Digest). Richard P. Feynman, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, thrived on outrageous adventures. In this lively work that “can shatter the stereotype of the stuffy scientist” (Detroit Free Press), Feynman recounts his experiences trading ideas on atomic physics with Einstein and cracking the uncrackable safes guarding the most deeply held nuclear secrets—and much more of an eyebrow-raising nature. In his stories, Feynman’s life shines through in all its eccentric glory—a combustible mixture of high intelligence, unlimited curiosity, and raging chutzpah. Included for this edition is a new introduction by Bill Gates.
Download or read book Higgs Force written by Nicholas Mee and published by Quantum Wave Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 439 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Higgs Force cuenta la increíble historia del descubrimiento científico más importante de los últimos 50 años. Comienza con las ideas de los filósofos griegos hace más de dos mil años, y nos lleva a un viaje a través de muchos de los descubrimientos científicos más importantes de la historia antes de ponernos al día con el descubrimiento de la partícula de Higgs en julio de 2012."--P. [4] de cubierta.
Download or read book Quantum Electrodynamics written by Walter Greiner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The need for a second edition of our text on Quantum Electrodynamics has given us the opportunity to implement some corrections and amendments. We have corrected a number of misprints and minor errors and have supplied additional explanatory remarks at various places. Furthermore some new material has been included on the magnetic moment of the muon (in Example 5. 6) and on the Lamb shift (in Example 5. 8). Finally, we have added the new Example 3. 17 which explains the equivalent photon method. We thank several colleagues for helpful comments and also are grateful to Dr. R. Mattiello who has supervised the preparation of the second edition of the book. Furthermore we acknowledge the agreeable collaboration with Dr. H. J. K6lsch and his team at Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg. Frankfurt am Main, Walter Greiner July 1994 Joachim Reinhardt Preface to the First Edition Theoretical physics has become a many-faceted science. For the young student it is difficult enough to cope with the overwhelming amount of new scientific material that has to be learned, let alone obtain an overview of the entire field, which ranges from mechanics through electrodynamics, quantum mechanics, field theory, nuclear and heavy-ion science, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, and solid state theory to elementary-particle physics. And this knowledge should be acquired in just 8-10 semesters, during which, in addition, a Diploma or Master's thesis has to be worked on or examinations prepared for.
Download or read book The Theory of Atomic Spectra written by E. U. Condon and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1935-01-02 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The standard comprehensive work on the theory of atomic spectra. "...a work of the first rank...." Nature
Download or read book Drawing Theories Apart written by David Kaiser and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-11-15 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2007 Pfizer Prize from the History of Science Society. Feynman diagrams have revolutionized nearly every aspect of theoretical physics since the middle of the twentieth century. Introduced by the American physicist Richard Feynman (1918-88) soon after World War II as a means of simplifying lengthy calculations in quantum electrodynamics, they soon gained adherents in many branches of the discipline. Yet as new physicists adopted the tiny line drawings, they also adapted the diagrams and introduced their own interpretations. Drawing Theories Apart traces how generations of young theorists learned to frame their research in terms of the diagrams—and how both the diagrams and their users were molded in the process. Drawing on rich archival materials, interviews, and more than five hundred scientific articles from the period, Drawing Theories Apart uses the Feynman diagrams as a means to explore the development of American postwar physics. By focusing on the ways young physicists learned new calculational skills, David Kaiser frames his story around the crafting and stabilizing of the basic tools in the physicist's kit—thus offering the first book to follow the diagrams once they left Feynman's hands and entered the physics vernacular.
Download or read book Einstein and Oppenheimer written by Silvan S. Schweber and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer, two iconic scientists of the twentieth century, belonged to different generations, with the boundary marked by the advent of quantum mechanics. By exploring how these men differed—in their worldview, in their work, and in their day—this book provides powerful insights into the lives of two critical figures and into the scientific culture of their times. In Einstein’s and Oppenheimer’s philosophical and ethical positions, their views of nuclear weapons, their ethnic and cultural commitments, their opinions on the unification of physics, even the role of Buddhist detachment in their thinking, the book traces the broader issues that have shaped science and the world. Einstein is invariably seen as a lone and singular genius, while Oppenheimer is generally viewed in a particular scientific, political, and historical context. Silvan Schweber considers the circumstances behind this perception, in Einstein’s coherent and consistent self-image, and its relation to his singular vision of the world, and in Oppenheimer’s contrasting lack of certainty and related non-belief in a unitary, ultimate theory. Of greater importance, perhaps, is the role that timing and chance seem to have played in the two scientists’ contrasting characters and accomplishments—with Einstein’s having the advantage of maturing at a propitious time for theoretical physics, when the Newtonian framework was showing weaknesses. Bringing to light little-examined aspects of these lives, Schweber expands our understanding of two great figures of twentieth-century physics—but also our sense of what such greatness means, in personal, scientific, and cultural terms.
