Kelley Library

Particle physics for non-physicists, a tour of the microcosmos, Steven Pollock

eng

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not applicable

lectures speeches

Particle physics for non-physicists

sound recording

Steven Pollock

The great courses

a tour of the microcosmos

This two-part series explains, in easily accessible terms, the discovery of the infinitely small particles-the quarks and neutrinos, muons and bosons-that make up everything in nature, from microbes to stars. It covers the nature and functions of the individual particles, and their roles in the Standard Model of particle physics (a theory that is as much a masterpiece in science as Shakespeare's works are in literature). The lectures also trace the history of particle physics as a science, and the dedicated scientists and complex technology that have made this branch of physics so profoundly productive and important. This course provides a framework to understand such cutting-edge physics research as gravity waves, dark matter, and string theory.

Part 1. The nature of physics -- The standard model of particle physics -- The pre-history of particle physics -- The birth of modern physics -- Quantum mechanics gets serious -- New particles and new technologies -- Weak interactions and the neutrino -- Accelerators and the particle explosion -- The particle "zoo" -- Fields and forces -- "Three quarks for Muster Mark" -- From quarks to QCD -- Part 2. Symmetry and conservation laws -- Broken symmetry, shattered mirrors -- The November revolution of 1974 -- A new generation -- Weak forces and the Standard Model -- The greatest success story in physics -- The Higgs particle -- The solar neutrino puzzle -- Back to the future. 1, Experiments to come -- Back to the future. 2, Puzzles and progress -- Really big stuff--the origin of the universe -- Looking back and looking foward

general