Beyond the nanoworld; quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons.9781568813455Beyond the nanoworld; quarks Quarks The basic constituent particles of which elementary particles are understood to be composed. Theoretical models built on the quark concept have been very successful in understanding and predicting many phenomena in the physics of elementary particles. , leptons, and gauge bosons gauge boson A boson that acts as a mediator of one of the fundamental forces of nature. The gauge bosons are the photon, which mediates the electromagnetic force, the gluon, which mediates the strong nuclear force, the intermediate vector bosons (the Z . Dosch, Hans Gunter. AK Peters Ltd. 2008 282 pages $39.00 Hardcover QC793 Writing for readers with a general interest in science, Dosch (emeritus, physics, U. of Heidelberg, Germany) describes the development of particle physics particle physics or high-energy physics Study of the fundamental subatomic particles, including both matter (and antimatter) and the carrier particles of the fundamental interactions as described by quantum field theory. in its search for particles and forces beyond the world of atoms and molecules (the nanoworld). He chronologically traces the history of the science in order to give readers a basic understanding of lepton lepton (lĕp`tŏn') [Gr.,=light (i.e., lightweight)], class of elementary particles that includes the electron and its antiparticle, the muon and its antiparticle, the tau and its antiparticle, and the neutrino and antineutrino associated with , quarks, and gauge bosons, the elementary building blocks underlying atomic structure. He also discusses the ongoing search for the so-called Higgs boson boson: see elementary particles; Bose-Einstein statistics. boson Subatomic particle with integral spin that is governed by Bose-Einstein statistics. , which must exist if the standard model of particle physics is correct. In addition to providing readers with a basic understanding of these particles, he also aims to show how closely intertwined theoretical and experimental advances have been in the search for them. ([c]20082005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR) |
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