The Problems of Physics

A. J. Leggett - Collection Oxford Classic Texts in the Physical Sciences

192 pages, parution le 28/10/2006

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Résumé

General overview of frontier areas of contemporary physics.
Written by distinguished a physicist (Nobel laureate 2003).
Written for non-scientists in a clear and understandable language.

Emphasis on fundamental problems at heart of subject and the provisional nature of our present understanding.

Is the universe infinite, or does it have an edge beyond which there is, quite literally, nothing? Do we live in the only possible universe? Why does it have one time and three space dimensions - or does it? What is it made of? What does it mean when we hear that a new particle has been discovered? Will quantum mechanics eventually break down and give way to a totally new description of the world, one whose features we cannot even begin to imagine?

This book aims to give the non-specialist reader a general overview of what physicists think they do and do not know in some representative frontier areas of contemporary physics. After sketching out the historical background, A. J. Leggett goes on to discuss the current situation and some of the open problems of cosmology, high-energy physics, and condensed-matter physics. Unlike most other accounts, this book focuses not so much on recent achievements as on the fundamental problems at the heart of the subject, and emphasizes the provisional nature of our present understanding of things.

Readership: Physics students and professional. The interested general reader.

L'auteur - A. J. Leggett

Anthony Leggett, Macarthur Professor and Professor of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Sommaire

Setting the stage
What are things made of?
The universe: its structure and evolution
Physics on a human scale
Skeletons in the cupboard
Outlook

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Caractéristiques techniques

	PAPIER
Éditeur(s)	Oxford University Press
Auteur(s)	A. J. Leggett
Collection	Oxford Classic Texts in the Physical Sciences
Parution	28/10/2006
Nb. de pages	192
Format	15,5 x 23,5
Couverture	Broché
Poids	328g
Intérieur	Noir et Blanc
EAN13	9780199211241
ISBN13	978-0-19-921124-1