The Quest For Quarks

A short introduction to elementary particles that discusses the ultimate structure of matter: atoms, the nucleus, protons, neutrons and pions, and quarks.

This book presents a series of delightful interviews in which natural objects such as an electron, a black hole, a galaxy, and even the vacuum itself, reveal their innermost secrets — not only what they are but also how they feel. A hydrogen atom tells us about quantum mechanics and why we live in a non-deterministic world; a black hole explains curved space and naked singularities; and a uranium atom talks of its life on a meteor, its tremendous collision with Earth, and properties of radioactivity — all while grappling with its own mortality. A neutron star gives a personal account of its creation and goes on to discuss quasars and other extraordinary astronomical objects, while an iron atom describes its birth in a remote supernova explosion and its series of adventures on Earth, from its early use in wrought iron processes to its time in a human body, and then to its latest misadventures.The book discusses many fundamental issues in physics and, at times, examines the philosophical and moral issues of society. For example, the interview with the quark reveals the nature of color gauge symmetry, which is interwoven with a discussion on truth and beauty, and shows how these concepts play an integral part in physics and nature, while the uranium atom expresses its horror of the development and use of the atomic bomb.

In Quest of the Quark reinforces atomic theory for high school students, and links it with Elementary Particle Physics in a structured way that encourages literacy without heavy mathematics, by interrelating the particles which make up sub-atomic particles. At the beginning of the universe matter/energy were one, and then in the first few micro-seconds of time, they split apart or separated, a process called symmetry splitting in Particle Physics, or more commonly The Big Bang. The particles of matter, called fermions, are the bricks of the universe, and the bosons which transmit the forces of energy, the mortar which binds them together. This fundamental view of our time-continuum is quite elegant in its organization, and startling in its beauty, as the worlds within worlds of fundamental particles are explored.

Contains revelations on how the quest for unity has driven all the great breakthroughs in science and shows how the Greeks searched for the fundamental element in all things.

'Dorigo provides an engaging and insightful perspective on the pursuit of physics discoveries at CDF … Dorigo’s book is thus almost certainly going to be an important source for anyone interested in the history of CDF … It is a personal yet highly informative story of discovery and almost-discovery from the perspective of someone who saw the events firsthand.'Physics TodayFrom the mid-1980s, an international collaboration of 600 physicists embarked on the investigation of subnuclear physics at the high-energy frontier. As well as discovering the top quark, the heaviest elementary particle ever observed, the physicists analyzed their data to seek signals of new physics which could revolutionize our understanding of nature.Anomaly! tells the story of that quest, and focuses specifically on the finding of several unexplained effects which were unearthed in the process. These anomalies proved highly controversial within the large team: to some collaborators they called for immediate publication, while to others their divulgation threatened to jeopardize the reputation of the experiment.Written in a confidential, narrative style, this book looks at the sociology of a large scientific collaboration, providing insight in the relationships between top physicists at the turn of the millennium. The stories offer an insider's view of the life cycle of the 'failed' discoveries that unavoidably accompany even the greatest endeavors in modern particle physics.

'Harald Fritzsch and Murray Gell-Mann, the two fathers of quantum chromodynamics, look back at the events that led to the discovery, and eventually acceptance, of quarks as constituent particles ... it is always worthwhile to reminisce about those times when theoretical physicists were truly eclectic, these stories are the testimony of a very active era, in which theoretical and experimental discoveries rapidly chased one another ... Of central importance now is the understanding of the composition of our universe, the dark matter and dark energy, the hierarchy of masses and forces, and a consistent quantum framework of unification of all forces of nature, including gravity. The closing contributions of the book put this venture in the context of today's high-energy physics programme, and make a connection to the most popular ideas in high-energy physics today, including supersymmetry, unification and string theory.'CERN CourierToday it is known that the atomic nuclei are composed of smaller constituents, the quarks. A quark is always bound with two other quarks, forming a baryon or with an antiquark, forming a meson. The quark model was first postulated in 1964 by Murray Gell-Mann — who coined the name “quark” from James Joyce's novel Finnegans Wake — and by George Zweig, who then worked at CERN. In the present theory of strong interactions — Quantum Chromodynamics proposed by H Fritzsch and Gell-Mann in 1972 — the forces that bind the quarks together are due to the exchange of eight gluons.On the 50th anniversary of the quark model, this invaluable volume looks back at the developments and achievements in the elementary particle physics that eventuated from that beautiful model. Written by an international team of distinguished physicists, each of whom have made major developments in the field, the volume provides an essential overview of the present state to the academics and researchers.

The book, The Quest for Singularity--the Twin Journey, describes the human efforts to know the origin of the universe, which happens to be as old as billions of years. In that infinitely large timescale, the human beings are occupying a very, very small period of time. Even then, there has been no dearth of initiatives and urge for gathering knowledge to unveil the secrets of source of the vast creation all around and to search for history of the primordial days. When one section of the intelligent humans utilized the power of their innovative minds to refine their knowledge through continuous experimental ways of verifying the natural processes, the other section tried to evolve extraordinary methods of majestic occult arts and process of self-realization. The deep rooted beliefs on supernatural power had been another way to get close to that mystic source. It has been, therefore, the journey through different paths in search for the same goal: the truth.