Index

acceleration
equivalence with gravity 93–7, 108
mass, and to resistance to 35, 36, 43, 89–90, 215
not covered by special relativity 93, 108
Achilles 8
age of reason 21
alchemy 22, 23, 46
Anderson, Carl 162, 224
Anderson, Philip 214
Andromeda galaxy 119, 122
blueshift 115
angular momentum 197n
changes symmetric to changes in angle 200
conservation 197
anti-charm 229
anti-hydrogen atoms 238
anti-matter xiii, 162, 238, 257
anti-neutrinos 197
anti-particles 238
anti-quarks 227, 247
anti-strange quarks 229
Aquinas, Thomas 17–18, 19
arc-seconds 100, 100n
Aristotle
natural minima 18–19, 23–4
opposition to atomic theory 4, 11
partial rehabilitation 18
rejection of the void 10, 18, 116, 246
theory of forms 23–4
University of Paris prohibition 19
Aspect, Alain 172–3
ATLAS detector 235
atomic bomb 87, 87n, 92, 182, 183
atomic nucleus xi, 85, 142, 195, 223, 244, 254
planetary model 135, 243
splitting (fission) 86–7, 252 see also protons; neutrons; strong nuclear force; weak nuclear force
atomic number 243
atomists, Greek xi, xiii, 4–5, 9–14, 18, 89, 142, 163, 241, 252
atoms xi, 241–2
Bohr’s quantum theory 137–8, 140–1, 142, 143, 144, 145–6, 151, 157, 160
Boltzmann’s statistical approach 130–1
Boyle’s view 24–5
and Brownian motion 13, 55–6
chemical elements as 47
chemical vs. physical 51
combination to form molecules 53–4, 57, 242
Dalton/Berzelius system of weights 51–3, 57, 242
formation through recombination 117
Greek atomist conception 9–15, 163, 241–2
lack of direct evidence 12–13, 25, 28–9, 31–2
Newton’s theory 31–2, 45–6, 47, 51, 56, 242
and primary/secondary qualities 27
reality accepted 54–5, 56, 57, 133
Rutherford’s planetary model 134–6, 243
scepticism about 130
serious scientific investigation 61–2
seventeenth-century reintroduction 22–3
spectra 114–15, 136, 144–5, 146
structure 84–5, 142, 163, 225–6
Austrian Anschluss 85–6
Avogadro, Amadeo 52, 52n
Avogadro’s constant 56, 56n
Avogadro’s law 52, 54, 243
azimuth 145n
B field 204, 205
B force carriers 204, 208, 218
Bacon, Francis 21, 225, 242
Balmer, Johann Jakob 136
Balmer formula 136, 137, 147, 149
bar magnets 63, 180, 181, 181n
bare mass 184, 185, 191, 192, 219–20, 246, 256
barium atoms 86
Barnett, Lincoln 83
baryons 225
quark composition 227, 233
Becher, Johann Joachim 49
Bell, John 171–2, 176
Bell’s theorem inequality 172
Berkeley, George 22, 27, 29
Bernoulli, Daniel 55
beryllium, radioactive 163
Berzelius, Jöns Jacob 52–3, 57
beta-radioactive decay 196–7, 201, 228
inverse 250
Bethe, Hans 177, 181, 184–7, 192
big bang 116, 117, 125, 210, 216
concordance/standard/Λ-CDM model xiv, 123–4, 125
Black, Joseph 48
black holes 100, 111, 251–2
coalescence 104, 105
super-massive 105, 119
black-body radiation 131–3
Bloch, Felix 144, 148
blueshift 104
Bohr, Niels
atomic theory 137–8, 140–1, 142, 143, 144, 145–6, 151, 157, 160, 243
debate with Einstein 168–9, 171
debate with Heisenberg 154, 155, 156
wave-particle complementarity 154–6, 161, 167
Bohr radius 151
Boltzmann, Ludwig 55, 130, 131
Boltzmann’s constant 132
Book of Genesis 22
Born, Max 146, 147, 151
Bose, Satyendra Nath 182
bose condensation 182
bosinos 257
bosons 182, 206
integral spin 182, 206, 207
massless ‘flat’ 207
symmetry with fermions 257
bottom quarks 230
Boyle, Robert 21, 22, 22n, 23, 24–5, 47, 51, 242
Boyle’s Law 24–5
Bracciolini, Gian Francesco Poggio 20
Brief History of Time, A (Hawking) xv
Brout, Robert 214, 217, 236n
Brown, Robert 13
Brownian motion 13, 55–6, 57, 133
Bruno, Giordano 21
calories 76n
Cannizaro, Stanislao 44, 53–4, 57
Cannizaro reaction 53
carbon xi, 51, 242
carbon dioxide, discovery 48
carbonated water 48–9
Casimir, Hendrik 190
Casimir Effect 190
Chadwick, James xii, 163
Chalmers, Alan 23
charm quark 229, 230
chemistry, early 46–57, 242
Christianity 17, 18, 21, 22
Church 19
classical mechanics 37, 41, 42, 44, 61–2, 71, 88, 153–4
classical modern philosophers 21–2, 25–9
Clausius, Rudolf 55
CMS detector, CERN 235
COBE satellite 118
colour charge 233, 234, 246–7
colour fields 252
colour force 233–4, 239, 245
elastic nature 231–2
combustion 49–50
commutativity 147, 147n, 153
Concepts of Mass in Contemporary Physics and Philosophy ( Jammer) 255
conjugate properties 188, 198, 200
conservation laws, and continuous symmetries 197–200, 208
continuous symmetries 197, 198–200, 208
Copenhagen interpretation 156, 168, 174
Copernicus, Nicolaus 21
cosmic background radiation 118–19
cosmic rays xiii, 224
cosmological constant (‘fudge factor’) 112–13, 116, 122, 125
and dark energy 122, 123, 125
cosmological redshift 115
Dalton, John 51–2, 57, 242
dark energy xiv, 122, 123, 125, 129, 189–90n
dark matter xiv, 120, 125, 129, 238
and sparticles 257
Dawid, Richard 258
de Broglie, Prince Louis 139–42, 143, 148, 149
de Broglie relation 139, 140, 143, 148, 156
De Rerum Natura (Lucretius) 20–1
Debye, Pieter 148
Democritus of Abdera 4, 10, 11, 16, 18, 23
de’ Niccoli, Niccolò 20
Descartes, René 21, 22, 25–6
d’Espagnat, Bernard 261–2
Dirac, Paul xi, xii–xiii 147, 147n, 191, 223, 224
and electron ‘spin’ 158
relativistic quantum theory xiii, 160, 161, 162, 183, 184, 188
discrete symmetry 197–8
Doppler Effect 114
down quarks 227–9, 229–30, 233, 240, 245, 246, 254
conversion from up quarks 252
heavier than up quarks 245n, 250–1
mass (MeV/c2) 245
strong interaction with Higgs field 251
dressed mass 184, 191–2, 220, 246, 256
dynamics 32
Dyson, Freeman 187
E = hv 133–4, 139, 142
E = mc2 (m = E/c 2) xiv, 76–8, 79, 80–92, 163–4, 252, 254
application to photons 138–9
involvement of c 81–4
meaning of mass-energy equivalence 84–92
practical consequences 87
Earth 62, 159
curved surface 95–6, 98
escape velocity 99n
orbit around Sun 62, 137
rotation about its axis 62, 66, 149
rotation speed 70
spacetime curvature caused by 98, 129
Eddington, Arthur 100
Einstein, Albert 42, 61, 62, 110, 148, 164, 255
acceleration/gravity equivalence principle 93–7, 108
and Brownian motion 13, 55–6, 57, 133
coolness towards relativistic mass 83
cosmological constant (‘fudge factor’) 112–13, 116, 122, 123, 125
debate with Bohr 168–9, 171
dislike of probability 167–8
E = mc2 (m = E/c2) xiv, 76–8, 79, 80–92, 163–4, 252, 254
EPR thought experiment 169–71, 176
general theory of relativity 97–108, 109, 124, 129–30, 239
general theory of relativity and the universe a whole 110–13, 124–5
light quantum hypothesis 133–4, 142
mathematical ability 98
Nobel Prize (1921) 134
special theory of relativity 70–5, 79, 93, 103, 108, 109, 129–30, 138–9, 156, 168, 206–7
Eleatic school 8
electric charge 151, 257
conservation 201
fractional (quarks) 226–7
electricity 34, 45, 46, 242
connection with magnetic field 63–4
electrodynamics 63, 81 see also quantum electrodynamics (QED)
electromagnetic field 135, 195, 249
electron self-interaction 180, 184, 185, 187, 188, 192, 220
long-range action 201
photons as quanta 179
quark self-interaction 249 see also vacuum field
electromagnetic radiation
and ‘lumpy’ light quanta 133–4, 142
presumed smooth transfer 135–6
release post recombination 117
wave theory 62, 64, 79–8
electromagnetism 196, 225, 231, 232, 240
separation from weak force 210, 216, 218, 222
electron field 179
electron-neutrinos 229–30, 230, 240, 250
electron volts 86n
electron waves 177
electrons xi, xii, 135, 142, 195, 218, 225, 229–30, 238, 240, 243
discovery 56, 85, 134
ejection in beta-radioactive decay 196
electric charge preserved 201
entangled 169–71, 176
exchange of photons 181–2
g-factor 183–4, 187–8, 191, 192
as imagined carriers of strong force 202
and the Lamb shift 187
mass (MeV/c2) 163–4, 164n, 191, 245
mass, bare and dressed 184, 185, 191–2, 219–20
mass derived from interaction with the Higgs field 220
mass difference from protons 162
mass and the orbital 150–1
orbits (energy levels) 114, 137–8, 145, 157
orbitals 149–51, 161, 183
planetary model 135, 243
planetary model problems 135–6
and ‘recombination’ 117
‘scattered’ 180–1
self-interaction 180, 184, 185, 187, 188, 192, 220
spin 158–60, 161, 163, 169–71, 172, 206
standing electron waves 140–1, 143
two-slit experiment xiv, 164–7
up to two in each orbit 157–8
wave-particle duality 154–5, 167, 175, 246
wavefunction 165
wavefunction collapse 165–7, 167n, 168, 168n, 170, 173, 174–5, 176
as waves 139–40, 177
electro-weak field theory 218–21, 234
electro-weak force 210, 221
separation into electromagnetism and weak force 210, 216, 218, 222
elements
ancient Greek 10, 47, 241
chemical 47, 48, 50, 51–2, 56, 225, 242
empiricism 27–8
energy 75–6
changes symmetric to changes in time 198
conjugate with time 188–9
‘conversion’ of mass into 84n, 84–9, 92, 252
‘equivalence’ to mass xiv, 78, 79, 80, 252–3, 254
and inertia 89–90
law of conservation 76
of naked colour charge 246–7
primacy 253
as a property 90
quantization 133–4, 142, 177
transmission between quantum fields 252
Englert, François 214, 217
Nobel Prize 236
entropy 130, 131
Epicurus of Samos 4–5, 10, 11–12
EPR (Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen) thought experiment 169–72, 176
escape velocity 99–100
ether 45, 66–7, 79, 214–15
ether wind 66, 66n
Euclid of Alexandria 95
Euler, Leonhard 35
fabric of reality 108, 109, 110, 261
Ferme générale 50–1
Fermi, Enrico 85, 159, 181, 224
Fermilab 221, 230, 235
fermions 159, 182, 225, 251
symmetry with bosons 257
Feyerabend, Paul 91
Feynman, Richard 162, 175, 187, 191
fields 63
Finnegan’s Wake ( Joyce) 227
Fitzgerald, George 67–9, 74
flavour 228, 228n, 232–3
Foley, H.M. 183
force
concept replaced by energy 75–6
Newton’s definition 33–4, 43
and Newton’s laws of motion 33–6
Ford, Kent 120
forms, Aristotle’s theory 23–4
French revolution 51
Friedmann, Alexander 123
Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker (FLRW) metric 123
Frisch, Otto 86, 87
Fritzsch, Harald 232, 233
g-factor 183–4, 187–8, 191, 192
galaxies
moving away 115, 125
spiral 119–20 see also Andromeda galaxy
Galilei, Galileo 21, 33, 215
gamma rays 238
gases
combined volumes 52, 242
early experiments 48–50
kinetic theory 55
Gassendi, Pierre 21, 22–3
Gay-Lussac, Joseph 52, 242
Geber (Abu Mūsā Jābir ibn Hayyān) 23
Geiger, Hans 135
Gell-Mann 227n
quantum chromodynamics 232–3
and quarks 218, 225–8, 230
and strangeness 224–5
Totalitarian Principle 189
general theory of relativity 93–100, 106–8, 109, 129–30
cosmological constant 112–13, 116, 122, 123, 125
empirical tests 100–6, 109
and quantum field theory 239
Schwarzschild solutions 99n, 99–100, 102
and the universe as a whole 110–13, 124–5
geodesic 95
Glashow, Sheldon 211, 213
Global Positioning System (GPS) 103
gluons xii, 233, 234, 245, 246, 254
colour charge 234, 246, 248
‘dressing’ quarks 246–7
and proton/neutron mass 247–8, 254
God 17, 19, 21, 22, 26
gods (deities) 6, 20
Goldstone, Jeffrey 214
gravitational constant (G) 40
gravitational field
Einstein’s equations 99, 106–7
spacetime as 97
in spiral galaxies 119–20
gravitational force/gravity 46, 210, 242
calculated in units of N (Newtons) 40n
collapsing universe problem 112–13
connection with geometry 95
equivalence with acceleration 93–7, 108
general theory of relativity 97–108
implied action-at-distance 40–1, 43
Newton’s law of universal (inverse-square law) 38–41, 43, 93, 94, 100–1, 112, 231
not covered by special relativity 93, 108
and the standard model 239
and string theory 259
weakness 104, 112see also loop quantum gravity
gravitational mass 41–2
gravitational redshift 103
gravitational waves 104–6, 251–2
detection 106, 109, 111
Greeks, ancient xii, 3–14, 45n, 89
atomists xi, xiii, 4–5, 9–14, 18, 89, 142, 163, 241, 252
and Christian theology 17
Renaissance rediscovery 19–21
renewed medieval interest 17–19
Greenblatt, Stephen 20n
Gross, David 231
Grossman, Marcel 98
Guralnik, Gerald 214
Gutenberg, Johannes 20
hadrons 225
composite nature 225–6, 240
Hagen, Carl 214
Hahn, Otto 85, 86
Halley, Edmond 38
Hawking, Stephen xv
Heisenberg, Werner 146–7, 147n, 153, 160, 169
debate with Bohr 154, 155, 156
matrix mechanics 146–7
quantum electrodynamics 179–80
quantum field theory of the strong force 202–3, 208, 228
uncertainty principle 153–4, 155, 161, 188–9, 247
helium atoms 157
spectra 145
in stars 114
helium gas 157
helium nuclei (alpha particles):
big bang formation 117
production in the centre of stars 88, 250
recombination into atoms 117
relative stability 203
Herculaneum papyri 5
Hermann, Jakob 35
Herodotus 4
hidden variable theories 171–3, 176
‘crypto’ non-local 174
non-local 173–4
Higgs: The Invention and Discovery of the ‘God Particle’ (Baggott) 235n
Higgs, Peter 214, 217, 218
Nobel Prize 236
Higgs boson 217, 218, 220, 251
discovery 235–6, 240, 251
mass stabilization 256–7
mass unpredicted 256
race to find 221, 222, 235
residual physical 219
‘swallowed’ 219
Higgs field 214–16, 219, 220–1, 237, 240
and acquisition of mass xiv, 215–16, 218, 220, 222, 246, 251, 254
Higgs mechanism 214, 217, 237–8, 251
application to electro-weak force 217–19, 220–1, 222, 234
High-z Supernova Search Team 123
Hilbert, David 99
Hiroshima 87, 87n
Hooke, Robert 24, 38–9
Hubble, Edwin 113–14, 115
Hubble’s law 115, 116, 125
humanities 19–20
Humason, Milton 114, 115
Hume, David 22, 27, 30
Hunt, Harry 38
Huygens, Christian 21, 44
hydrogen
combination with oxygen to form water 50, 53, 54, 57, 242–3
as diatomic gas 54, 57, 242
letter notation (H) 53, 57
relative molecular weight 54, 243
Rydberg constant 137
in stars 114
hydrogen atoms xi, 243
Bohr radius 151
Dalton’s symbol 52
electron orbitals 149–50, 183, 187
spectra 114–15, 136, 144–5, 147
spectral Lamb shift 183, 187
structure 114, 135
hydrogen nuclei
big bang production 117
recombination into atoms 117
ice crystal formation 211–13
ice cubes
composition 241–3
mass 243–5, 254
incommensurability 91, 92
infinity, in early QED 180, 185, 192
infrared radiation 117
Inquisition 21
interference fringes 64
interferometer 67–9, 105
Islam 17
isospin (‘isotopic spin’) 202–3, 208, 228–9
conservation in strong force 203, 208, 232
isotopes 85
relative stability 203
J/ψ particle 229
discovery 229, 229n
Jammer, Max 80, 255
Jardine, Lisa 39
Jordan, Pascual 147
Joule, James 76
joules 76
Judaism 17
Jupiter 39
Kant, Immanuel 16, 22, 28, 30, 62
kaons 224–5, 226
quark composition 229, 233
Kepler, Johannes 21, 39
third law of planetary motion 39–40
Kibble, Tom 214, 219
kinematics 32
kinetic energy 76
Kramers, Hendrik 184
Kuhn, Thomas 91
Kusch, Polykarp 183
Laërtius, Diogenes 4Lamb, Willis 183, 223
Lamb shift 183, 184–7, 192
lambda particles 224–5, 226
quark composition 229
Lamoreaux, Steven 190
Landau, Basil 81–2, 88
Large Hadron Collider (LHC) 235–6, 251
Laser Interferometry Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) 105–6
laser light 182
lattice QCD 248–9
Lavoisier, Antoine-Laurent de 49–51, 56
Lederman, Leon 209, 221, 230
Leggett, Anthony 173, 174
Leggett’s inequality 174, 176
Leibniz, Gottfried 22, 76
Lemaître, Abbé Georges 116, 123
Leo X 19
leptons 225, 226, 228
Leucippus of Miletus 4, 10
Leutwyler, Heinrich 232
Lewis, Gilbert 81, 134
light
and atomic spectra 114–15
Einstein’s ‘light quanta’ hypothesis 133–4, 142
Newton’s ‘atomic’ conception 45, 101, 206
redshift and blueshift 102–4
wave theory 44–5, 64–6, 78–9, 134
Lightness of Being, The (Wilczek) 252
linear momentum
changes symmetric to changes in position 198–200
conjugate with position 153–4, 155–6, 161, 200, 247
connection with wavelength 139, 143
conservation 77, 197
and Newton’s laws of motion 34–5
and Schrödinger’s wave mechanics 148, 177
Lives of the Eminent Philosophers (Diogenes Laërtius ) 4
Locke, John 21–2, 26–7, 29, 89
loop quantum gravity (LQG) 259–61
Lorentz, Hendrik 67–9, 74
Lorentz factor (γ) 69–70, 74, 82, 138
Lucretius (Titus Lucretius Caro) 3, 4–5, 11, 20n, 25, 28, 242, 253
M = E/c2 see E = mc2
Mach, Ernst 29, 36, 37, 62
magnetic field 63
connection with electricity 63–4
magnetism 45, 46, 242
strength 104
Mars 39
Marsden, Ernest 135
Martin, Stephen 256
mass xi, xiii–xiv
acquisition via Higgs field xiv, 215–16, 218, 220, 222, 246, 251, 254
active vs. passive gravitational 42
as a behaviour 89–90, 91, 92, 252, 253, 254
conservation of 51
‘conversion’ to energy 84n, 84–8, 92, 252
dependence on speed 82
and energy of quark/gluon interactions 247–8, 254
‘equivalence’ to energy xiv, 78, 79, 80, 252–3, 254
formation by spontaneous symmetry breaking 214
gained by weak force particles 210, 211
gravitational vs. inertial 41–2
of an ice cube 243–6
inertial (m) 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 42, 43, 215
Mach’s operational definition 37
Newtonian vs. relativistic conception 83–4, 88–9, 91–2
Newton’s definition xiii, 32–3, 36, 43, 88
‘missing’ (dark matter) 120
‘origin’ of 215–16, 246
relativistic 82–4, 88, 89, 91–2, 138
and resistance to acceleration 35, 36, 43, 89–90, 215
as secondary property 253, 254
shrouded in mystery 255
and the standard model 237–8
SU(2) quantum field theories’ problems with 204–5, 208, 211, 213–14
vs. weight 32n
without mass 90, 251–2, 254
mass defect 88
mass renormalization 185–7, 191, 192, 204, 219–20, 221, 249, 256
mass terms 205, 208
mass-energy
conservation 197
connection with spacetime 96–7, 98–9, 106, 108, 109, 110, 112
counteracted by cosmological constant 116
critical average density for ‘open’ universes 121–2
materialist/mechanistic philosophy 7, 21
mathematical operators 151–3
Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (Newton) 31, 32, 35, 35n, 37, 38, 39, 41, 44, 62
mathematics xv–xvi
matrix mechanics 146–7, 160
equivalence to wave mechanics 153
matter
Aristotelian view 18–19
atomic nature xi, 9, 10, 13–14, 15, 27, 61, 130, 142, 163, 225–6
as continuous 130
change over time and in form 9
different forms 7, 13–14, 15
and energy 90, 108, 253
fusion with form 19
and mass xiii, 32–3, 36, 215
nature of xi–xiv, 241–54
‘quantization’ 133
and quantum fields 191
and spacetime 97
substantiality 6–9, 14, 84 see also anti-matter; dark matter
Maxwell, James Clerk 55, 62, 63
Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution 55
Maxwell’s equations 63–4, 65, 78–9, 179
mechanical philosophers 21, 22–5, 29, 31, 42, 47, 242
Meitner, Lise 85–7
Mendeleev, Dmitry 225
Mercury 39, 119
precession 100–1
mesons 225, 247
quark composition 227, 233
Michelson, Albert 67
Michelson–Morley experiment 67, 71
microwaves 117
Milky Way 119
Millikan, Robert 134
Mills, Robert 203–5, 208, 209, 213, 232
Minkowski, Hermann 75, 95, 98
Möbius band 159–60
mole (chemical) 243
molecules xi, 10, 13, 52n, 55, 56, 57, 61, 130, 131, 133
‘compound atoms’ 52
distinct from atoms 54
water 52, 53, 57, 135n, 211–12, 243, 244
Morley, Edward 67
motion
distinct from gravity 41
Newton’s laws 33–7
muon-neutrinos 229, 230
muons 225, 230
discovery 224
Nafe, John 183
Nakano, Tadao 224n
Nambu, Yoichiro 214, 217
natural minima 18–19, 23–4
natural order 6, 20
Neddermeyer, Seth 224
Ne’eman, Yuval 225
Nelson, Edward 183
Neptune 119
neutrinos 197, 218, 225
neutron bombardment 85, 86, 87
neutrons xi, 121, 218, 219, 225, 226, 243
big bang production 117
binding by ‘residual’ strong force 234
composite nature xi–xii, 225–6, 240
conversion into protons in beta-decay 196, 201, 228
discovery xii, 85, 163, 202
half-integral spin 182
half-life of free 196
Heisenberg’s neutron/proton conversion theory 202–3, 208, 228
isospin 228–9
mass (MeV/c2) 202, 245
mass difference from protons 249–51
mass ‘missing’ 245, 254
and mass of an ice cube 244
mass traceable to gluon/quark-anti-quark energy 247–8, 252, 254
production in proton–proton chain 88, 252
quark activity within 247
quark composition 226–7, 228, 233, 240, 245, 254 see also colour force; strong force
New System of Chemical Philosophy (Dalton) 51–2
Newton, Isaac 21, 31–42, 61, 66, 71, 153, 215
‘atomic’ conception of light 45, 101, 206
atomic theory 31–2, 45–6, 47, 51, 56, 242
conception of space and time 62–3
definition of force 33–4, 43
definition of mass xiii, 32–3, 36, 43, 88
first law of motion 33–4, 41, 96
law of universal gravitation (inverse-square law) 38–41, 43, 93, 94, 100–1, 112, 231
laws of motion 33–7, 40–1, 78
second law of motion (F = ma) 34–5, 36
third law of motion 36, 37
Nishijima, Kazuhiko 224n
Noether, Emmy 197–8
Noether’s theorem 198–200, 208
non-local reality 173, 176
noumena and phenomena 28, 30
nuclear fission 87
Okun, Lev 83
On Nature (Epicurus) 5
On the Nature of the Universe (Lucretius) 4–5, 5n
Oppenheimer, Robert J. 183, 184, 185
Opticks (Newton) 44, 45, 64, 242
oxidation 50
oxygen
combination with hydrogen to form water 50, 53, 54, 57, 242–3
as diatomic gas 54, 57
discovery 49–50
letter notation (O) 53
mean velocity of molecular 55
oxygen atoms xi
Dalton’s symbol 52
number of protons and neutrons 243–4
relative atomic weight 243
Paris University 19
Parmenides of Elea 8, 18
Particle Data Group 163, 202, 222, 245
particle ‘zoo’ xiii, 223–5, 226, 227, 239–40
Paul of Taranto 23
Pauli, Wolfgang 147, 147n, 156, 195, 197, 208
quantum electrodynamics 179–80
and Yang-Mills theory 204, 205
Pauli’s exclusion principle 158, 182, 233
Penzias, Arno 118
perihelion 100
Perlmutter, Saul 123
Perrin, Jean 56, 57
perturbation terms 179–80
Philodemus of Gadara 5
phlogiston 49–50
Phoronomia (Herman) 35
photinos 257
photoelectric effect 134
photons 134, 142
as ‘carriers’ of electromagnetic force 182, 201
Casimir Effect 190
and E = mc2 138–9
electron exchange of ‘virtual’ 181–2
production in electro-weak symmetry breaking 218
as quanta of the electromagnetic field 179
spin orientations 206, 207
‘two-dimensional’ in special relativity 206–7
wave-particle duality 139
Physical Review Letters 217
Physics Letters 217
Pigliucci, Massimo 22n
pions (pi-mesons) 225, 226
discovery 224
mass 234
quark composition 233
Pius II 19
Planck, Max 129, 130, 131–3, 134, 137, 142
Planck length 260
Planck satellite 118, 124
Planck’s constant 132, 137, 140, 153
planetary orbits 39–40, 119
Plato 10, 11, 19, 50
Podolsky, Boris 169
point particles 178–9
Politzer, David 231
position, conjugate with momentum 153–4, 155–6, 161, 200, 247
positrons 238
discovery xiii, 162, 224
potassium-40 196
Pound, Robert 104
Powell, Cecil 224
precession 100–1
Priestley, Joseph 48–9, 50, 56
primary qualities 26–7, 29
principle of relativity 71
probability
Einstein’s dislike 167–8
of electron location 151, 166–7, 175
and entropy 131
probability ‘cloud’ 151
proton–proton (p–p) chain 88, 92, 252
proton–proton collisions 235
protons xi, xii, 86, 114, 121, 218, 219, 225, 226, 243
big bang production 117
binding by ‘residual’ strong force 234
and chemical identity 85, 243
composite nature xi–xii, 225–6, 230–1, 240
conversion from neutrons in beta-decay 196, 201, 228
conversion into neutrons in inverse beta-decay 250
and Dirac’s relativistic wave equation 160, 161, 162
discovery 56, 85, 135
half-integral spin 182
Heisenberg’s neutron/proton conversion theory 202–3, 208, 228
increase through periodic table 157
isospin 229
mass (MeV/c2) 202, 245
mass calculation, lattice QED 249
mass difference from neutron 249–51
mass ‘missing’ xiv, 245, 254
and mass of an ice cube 244
mass traceable to gluon/quark-anti-quark energy 247–8, 252, 254
quark activity within 247
quark composition 226–7, 228, 230–1, 233, 240, 245, 254 see also colour force; strong force
quanta 133
quantum chromodynamics (QCD) 233, 234, 246, 248, 252, 254, 258
QCD-lite 248, 252see also lattice QCD
quantum electrodynamics (QED) 179–82, 185, 192, 195, 197, 200, 234, 248, 249
relativistic 187–91
quantum field theory 178
electro-weak 217–18, 219
and general relativity theory 239
strong force (Heisenberg) 202–3, 208, 228
quantum fields xiv, 178–9, 188–9, 191 see also Higgs field
quantum jumps 137, 142, 146
quantum mechanics 146–7, 160
shortcomings 177–8
quantum numbers 137
azimuthal (l) 144–5, 149, 150, 157, 183
derivation 140–1, 143, 149
magnetic (m) 145, 149, 157
principle (n) 138, 140–1, 143, 144, 145, 149–50, 183see also isospin; spin
quantum revolution 133
quantum theory 171
of the atom 145–6
experimental verification 172–3, 174, 176, 195
the ‘only mystery’ 175
relativistic xiii, 160, 161, 162, 183, 184, 188
quark–anti-quark pairs 247
quarks xii, xiv, 203, 218, 227–33, 240, 245
colour charge 233, 246
colour conservation 233
‘dressing’ with gluons 246–7
electric charge 249
flavour 228, 228n, 232–3
as quantum wave-particles 245–6
Rabi, Isidor 183–4
‘radiation law’ (Planck) 132–3
radiation ‘pressure’ 138
Ray, John 39
Rebka, Glen 104
recombination 117
Reign of Terror 51
relativistic mechanics 81
Renaissance humanists 19–21
Retherford, Robert 183
Robertson, Howard 123
Robespierre, Maximilien 51
Rosen, Nathan 169
EPR thought experiment 169–71, 176
rotation curve 120
Rovelli, Carlo 259, 260
Royal Society 38, 39
Rubin, Vera 120
Rutherford, Ernest 56, 134–5, 243
Rydberg, Johannes 136
Rydberg constant 136, 137
Salam, Abdus 219
Sampanthar, Sam 81–2, 88
Saturn 39
Sceptical Chymist, The (Boyle) 47
Schmidt, Brian 123
Schrödinger, Erwin xv
wave mechanics 148–9, 151–3, 156, 160, 161, 177–8
Schrödinger’s cat 167n
Schwarzschild, Karl 99
Schwarzschild radius 99
Schweppes, Johann Jacob 48–9
Schweppes Company 49
Schwinger, Julian 187, 209–10, 220n, 221
Scientist’s Atom and the Philosopher’s Stone, The (Chalmers) 23
‘second quantization’ 178
secondary qualities 27, 29
selection rules 145
selectrons 257
Sennert, Daniel 23, 47
sensory perception
caused by atoms 11, 14, 15
and underlying reality 12–13, 14, 16, 26–9, 29–30
Serber, Robert 226
sfermions 257
Shelter Island Conference (1947) 182–4
sigma particles 225, 226
silver experiment (Sennert) 23–4, 47
sine wave 148
Sixtus IV 19
Sketch of a Course of Chemical Philosophy (Cannizaro) 53–4
Slipher, Vesto 114, 115
Smolin, Lee 259, 260
space
absolute 62, 63, 78
Aristotelian view 18
‘empty’ 189
flat (Euclidian) 95
relativity 62–3, 74–5, 79
spacetime 75, 109
active/passive 239
broadly flat 120–1
connection with mass-energy 96–7, 98–9, 106, 108, 109, 110, 112
curved 96–8, 100–4, 108, 111, 129
expanding 115
flat 95, 96, 120–1, 125
and matter 97
metric 75
modified by cosmological constant 113, 116
sparticles 257–8
special theory of relativity 70–5, 79, 103, 109, 129–30, 168
and energy of photons 138–9
omits gravity and acceleration 93, 108
and Schrödinger’s wave equation 156
and ‘two-dimensional’ photons 206–7
speed of light (c) 65, 65n, 137, 215
and E = mc2 81–4, 92
found to be constant 66–7, 71
Michelson–Morley experiments 67, 71
and photon ‘flattening’ 206–7
and special relativity 71–5, 168, 206–7
as universal limiting speed 82, 92
spin (s)
bosons (integral spin) 182, 206, 207–8, 258–9
electrons 158–60, 161, 163, 206
entangled electrons 169–72
fermions (half-integral spin) 159, 182, 206, 225, 233
photons 206, 207
Spinoza, Baruch 22
spiral galaxies 119–20
spontaneous symmetry breaking 211–14, 216?, 219
spooky action-at-a-distance 168, 171, 172, 173
squarks 257
strange quarks 227–8, 229, 230
standard model xiv, 223, 234–5, 236
omissions 237–9, 240, 255
standing waves 140, 190n
starlight, bending 101–2
stars
composition 114
formation of helium nuclei 88, 250
strangeness 224–5
conservation 225
Strassman, Fritz 86
string theory 258–9
String Theory and the Scientific Method (Dawid) 258
strong nuclear force 196, 201, 210, 223, 225, 240
Heisenberg’s early quantum field theory 202–3
‘residual’ 234, 234n
Yang-Mills quantum field theory 203–8see also colour force
strong force carriers
pions 234
predicted masses 201, 234
Yang–Mills hypothetical 204–5, 207–8
substantial form 19
Sun 119, 122, 136
and bending of starlight 101
at centre of universe 21
curvature of spacetime 102
gravitational field 100
planets’ orbital periods 39–40
proton–proton chain 88
radiation pressure 138
sunlight 88, 88n
Suntzeff, Nicholas 123
super-cooling 213
Supernova Cosmology Project (SCP) 123
supernovae 122
superposition 155
supersymmetry 256–8
broken 257–8
symmetries in nature 197–200
symmetry groups
SU(2) 204, 208, 211, 213, 232, 234
SU(3) 233
U(1) 200–1
‘t Hooft, Gerard 219
tau particles 230
tau-neutrinos 230
discovery 230
Tertullian (Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus) 17
Tevatron particle collider 235
theory of everything 259
thermodynamics 76
second law 131
and statistical probably 130–1
Thomism 18
Thompson, Joseph John 56, 134, 243
thought experiments 72n, 168
entangled electrons (EPR) 169–71, 176
train, flashlight and mirror 72–4
Three Roads to Quantum Gravity (Smolin) 260
Timaeus (Plato) 10, 50
time
absolute 62, 63, 78
Aristotelian view 18
conjugate with energy 188–9
contraction/dilation due to curvature of spacetime 102, 103
relativity 62–3, 74–5, 79
Tolman, Richard 81
Tomonaga, Sin-Itiro 187
top quarks 256
discovery 230
Totalitarian Principle 189
Traité Élémentaire de Chimie (Lavoisier) 50
transubstantiation 19
transuranic elements 85
two-slit interference 64
universe
age 124
‘beginning’ 116–17
‘closed’ 121
expansion 114–17, 124
expansion, accelerating rate 122–3
and general relativity 110–13
static vs. dynamic 111–13
up quarks 227–9, 229–30, 233, 240, 245, 246, 254
conversion into down quarks 252
lighter than down quarks 245n, 250–1
mass (MeV/c2) 245
weak interaction with Higgs field 251
upsilon particles 230
uranium
splitting of nucleus 86, 87
U-235 87, 252
U-238 86
Ussher, James 22
vacuum energy 116, 122
vacuum field 188–90
‘valence’ quarks 247
Veltman, Martinus 219
Venus 39
Vesuvius eruption (79 ce) 5
vis visa 76
void 10, 15, 18, 22, 242
Vulcan 101
W particles 211, 216, 218, 219
acquisition of mass 216, 218, 220
discovery 220, 222
emission 228, 250
mass (GeV/c2) 222
predicted mass 218, 220, 256
Walker, Arthur 123
water
Dalton’s molecular symbol 52
as hydrogen–oxygen compound (H2O) 50, 53, 54, 57, 242–3
relative molecular weight 243
spontaneous symmetry breaking 211–13
wave mechanics 148–9, 161, 177–8
equivalence to matrix mechanics 153
wave-particle duality/complementarity 142, 143, 144, 154–6, 161, 171
and measurement of position vs. momentum 155–6
wavefunction 148
electron see electron
wavelength
connection with momentum 139, 143
and gravitational redshift 102–3
weak nuclear force 196–7, 201, 210n, 225, 239
application of Higgs mechanism 217–18, 222
Glashow quantum field theory 211
separation from electromagnetic force 210, 216, 218, 222
SU(2) quantum field theory (QFD) 234
weak force carriers see W particles; Z particles
Weinberg, Stephen 217–18, 219, 220, 222, 256
Weyl, Hermann 149
Wheeler, John 93, 97, 100n, 251–2
Wien, Wilhelm 132
Wilczek, Frank 231, 241, 252
Wilson, Robert 118
winos 257, 257n
WMAP satellite 118, 118f
xi particles 225, 226
Yang, Chen Ning 203–5, 208, 209, 213, 232
Yang–Mills quantum field theory 203–8, 209, 213, 232
Yukawa, Hideki 201, 207, 224, 234, 251
Yukawa interaction 251
Z particle 211, 216, 218, 219
discovery 220, 222
mass (GeV/c2) 222
predicted mass 218, 256
Zeno of Elea 8, 18
Zeno’s paradox 8–9
zinos 257
Zweig, George 218, 227
Zwicky, Fritz 120