The Search for Superstrings, Symmetry, and the Theory of Everything

by Gribbin, John

• ISBN13: 9780316329750
• ISBN10: 0316329754
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-01-05
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co

Summary

From the bestselling author of "Schrodinger's Kittens" comes a clear and accessible look at "superstrings"--subatomic loops of vibrating matter--and the final search for the theory that explains all the forces in nature.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction The Material World	3	(7)
Quantum Physics for Beginners	10	(43)
Photons
Electrons
The Central Mystery
Chance and Uncertainty
Path Integrals and a Plurality of Worlds
Out of the Frying Pan?
Particles and Fields	53	(55)
Field Theory
Two More Forces, and a Particle Zoo
The Eightfold Way: Order Out of Chaos
Quarks
Gauging the Nature of Things
In Search of Superforce	108	(36)
Electroweak Unification
Gauge Theory Comes of Age
Quarks With Colour
Desperately Seeking SUSY	144	(41)
The Search for Supersymmetry
The Many Dimensions of Reality
Stringing Things Together
SUSY Found?
Appendix I Group Theory for Beginners	185	(6)
Appendix II Recreating the Birth of the Universe in the Lab	191	(9)
Bibliography	200	(5)
Index	205