The Infinity Puzzle PDF
Preview The Infinity Puzzle
T H E I N FI N I TY P U Z Z L E Quantum Field t heory and the hunt for an orderly u niverse F R A N K C L O S E the infinity puzzle also by frank close Neutrino Antimatter The Void The New Cosmic Onion: Quarks and the Nature of the Universe Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction Lucifer’s Legacy: The Meaning of Asymmetry the i n f i n i t y p u z z l e quantum field theory and the hunt for an orderly universe Frank Close a member of the perseus books group New York Copyright © 2011 by Frank Close Published by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Basic Books, 387 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10016-8810. Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected]. Designed by Timm Bryson Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Close, F. E. The Infinity Puzzle : quantum field theory and the hunt for an orderly universe / Frank Close. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-465-02144-4 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-465-02803-0 (e-book) 1. Quantum field theory. 2. Higgs bosons. 3. Infinite. I. Title. QC174.45.C56 2011 530.14’3—dc23 2011022966 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 for max and jack Whose appearance out of The Void Is an Infinite Puzzle Old men forget. . . . But he’ll remember with advantages, what feats he did that day. shakespeare, henry v contents Acknowledgments, xi Prologue: Amsterdam, part genesis The Point of Infinity Shelter Island and QED Feynman, Schwinger, . . . and Tomonaga (and Dyson) intermission: Abdus Salam: A Strong Beginning Yang, Mills, . . . and Shaw The Identity of John Ward The Marriage of Weak and Electromagnetic Forces—to vii viii Contents intermission: Broken Symmetries “The Boson That Has Been Named After Me,” a.k.a. the Higgs Boson intermission:Mid-s : From Kibble to Salam and Weinberg “And Now I Introduce Mr. ’t Hooft” intermission:Early s part revelation B. J. and the Cosmic Quarks A Comedy of Errors intermission: Heavy Light Warmly Admired, Richly Deserved The Big Machine Contents ix intermission: End of the Twentieth Century To Infinity and Beyond Epilogue Postscript Glossary, 359 Notes, 365 Bibliography, 413 Index, 417
The list of books you might like
