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A Short Journey from Quarks to the Universe

  • Book
  • © 2011

Overview

Authors:
  1. Eleftherios N. Economou

    1. , FORTH Institute, IESL, University of Crete, Iraklion, Greece

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  • Answers the questions "What the World and its parts are made of?", "How?" and "Is there a hidden underlying simplicity in the immerse complexity and diversity?"
  • Brief introduction to the characteristic methodology of physics Shows the relationship to natural constants
  • Concise introduction to dimensional analysis of relations in physics
  • Deep insights into the laws of physics with no more than lower undergraduate level knowledge of physics and mathematics
  • Provides convincing evidence that a "little thinking" (Feynman) can go a long way in deriving relations, which otherwise would require an extensive investment of time and effort
  • Offers a panoramic view of "the forest" of the physical world complementing thus the usual approach which emphasizes details of particular "trees"

Part of the book series: SpringerBriefs in Physics (SpringerBriefs in Physics)

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Table of contents (13 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xiii
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  2. Introduction: The World According to Physics

    • Eleftherios N. Economou
    Pages 1-4

  3. Three Key-Ideas and a Short-Cut

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 5-5
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  4. Three key-ideas and a short-cut

    1. The Atomic Idea

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 7-16

    2. The Wave-Particle Duality

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 17-25

    3. Equilibrium and Minimization of Total Energy

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 27-31

    4. Dimensional Analysis: A Short-cut to Physics Relations

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 33-41

  5. Structures Mediated by Strong Interactions

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 43-43
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  6. Structures mediated by strong interactions

    1. From Quarks and Gluons To Hadrons

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 45-50

    2. From Protons and Neutrons to Nuclei

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 51-59

  7. The Realm of Electromagnetism

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 61-61
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  8. The realm of electromagnetism

    1. From Nuclei and Electrons to Atoms

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 63-69

    2. From Atoms to Molecules

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 71-79

    3. From Atoms (or Molecules) to Solids (or Liquids)

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 81-90

  9. Gravity at Front Stage

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 91-92
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  10. Gravity at front stage

    1. Planets

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 93-97

    2. Stars Dead Or Alive

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 99-108

    3. The Observable Universe

      • Eleftherios N. Economou
      Pages 109-121

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 123-146
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Keywords

About this book

This book takes the reader for a short journey over the structures of matter showing that their main properties can be obtained even at a quantitative level with a minimum background knowledge. The latter, besides some high school physics and mathematics, consists of the three cornerstones of science presented in chapters 1 to 3, namely the atomic idea, the wave-particle duality, and the minimization of energy as the condition for equilibrium. Dimensional analysis employing the universal constants and combined with “a little imagination and thinking”, to quote Feynman, allows an amazing short-cut derivation of several quantitative results concerning the structures of matter. This book is expected to be of interest to physics, engineering, and other science students and to researchers in physics, material science, chemistry, and engineering who may find stimulating the alternative derivation of several real world results, which sometimes seem to pop out the magician’s hat.

Reviews

From the reviews:

“This book is the first volume of a newly inaugurated collection (Springer Briefs in Physics) and is the outcome of several lectures delivered along the years by the author to a broad audience. It aims to cover some of the main chapters of modern physics by combining short expositions of the basic ideas and worked examples that apparently require a minimum background knowledge.” (Serban Misicu, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1243, 2012)

Authors and Affiliations

  • , FORTH Institute, IESL, University of Crete, Iraklion, Greece

    Eleftherios N. Economou

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