A Universe of Atoms, An Atom in the UniverseSpringer Science & Business Media, 2002 - 417 pagine The essays in this book are based on researches the author has undertaken on a wide range of topics, some using equipment no more elaborate than what one can find in an ordinary kitchen, others making elegant use of sophisticated experimental apparatus. Presenting a personal odyssey in physics, Silverman investigates processes for which no visualizable mechanism can be given, or that seem to violate fundamental physical laws (but do not), or that appear to be well understood but turn out to be subtly devious. Written in an engagingly personal style, the essays will be of interest to students of physics and related disciplines as well as professional physicists. Though they deal with subtle concepts, the discussions use little mathematics, and anyone with a little college physics will be able to read the book with pleasure. Silverman's researches deal with in quantum mechanics, atomic and nuclear physics, electromagnetism and optics, gravity, thermodynamics, and the physics of fluids, and these essays address .such questions as: How does one know that atomic electrons move? Would an "anti-atom" fall upward? How is it possible for randomly emitted particles to arrive at a detector preferentially in pairs? Can one influence electrons in London by not watching them in New York? Can a particle be influenced by a magnetic field through which it does not pass? A basketball is not changed by turning it once around its axis, but what about an electron? Can more light reflect from a surface than is incident upon it? "A Universe of Atoms" is the second edition of Silverman's "And Yet It Moves"; each essay in the earlier collection has been revised and updated, and some new essays on the uncommon physics of common objects have been added |
Sommario
The Wirbelrohrs Roar | 7 |
Musical Bottles Flying Balloons | 30 |
The Unimaginably Strange Behavior | 63 |
Quantum Beats and Giant Atoms | 127 |
Exotic Atoms and | 181 |
Reflections on Light | 203 |
Unexpected | 279 |
Symmetry Unity Gravity | 325 |
Science and Wonder | 386 |
Selected Papers by the Author | 396 |
About the Author | 409 |
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according actually angle angular momentum approximately atom axis beam beats Chapter charge classical components constant container corresponding decay density depends derived detector direction discussed distance distribution Earth effect electric electromagnetic electron emission emitted energy equation example excited expected experiment experimental expression fact Figure first follows force frequency given gives gravity incident intensity interaction interest interference interval known leads length light linear magnetic field mass matter mean measure medium molecules motion moving nature neutron Note nuclear object observer occur optical optical activity orbit origin particle phase photon physics polarized possible potential predicted principle probability problem produced provides quantum mechanics radiation random reference reflection relation relative result rotation runs shift shows special relativity speed surface temperature theoretical theory tion tosses Universe wave wave function wavelength
Riferimenti a questo libro
Quantum Superposition: Counterintuitive Consequences of Coherence ... Mark P. Silverman Anteprima limitata - 2008 |