search for books and compare prices
Tables of Contents for The Quantum Universe
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Preface
v
4
Prologue
ix
1
Route map
x
1 Waves versus particles
1
12
Science and experiment
1
2
Light and quantum mechanics
3
3
The double-slit experiment
6
7
2 Heisenberg and uncertainty
13
14
Watching electrons
13
3
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle
16
2
Uncertainty and photography
18
3
Feynman's quantum paths
21
6
3 Schrodinger and matter waves
27
9
de Broglie's matter waves
27
2
Schrodinger's equation
29
2
Electron and neutron optics
31
5
4 Atoms and nuclei
36
17
Rutherford's nuclear atom
36
5
Quantized energy levels
41
5
The hydrogen atom
46
3
Wavefunctions and quantum numbers
49
4
5 Quantum tunnelling
53
21
Barrier penetration
53
2
Wave tunnelling
55
2
Applications of quantum tunnelling
57
2
Nuclear physics and alpha decay
59
4
Nuclear fusion and nuclear fission
63
11
6 Pauli and the elements
74
22
Electron spin and Pauli's exclusion principle
74
4
The elements
78
4
Metals, insulators and semiconductors
82
4
Transistors and microelectronics
86
10
7 Death of a star
96
13
A failed star
96
1
Hydrogen burning
97
4
Red giants and white dwarfs
101
4
Neutron stars and black holes
105
4
8 Quantum co-operation and superfluids
109
14
Laser light
109
6
Bose condensation and superfluid helium
115
3
Superconductivity
118
5
9 Feynman rules
123
14
Dirac and antiparticles
123
5
Feynman diagrams and virtual particles
128
2
Zero-point motion and vacuum fluctuations
130
2
Hawking radiation and black holes
132
5
10 Weak photons and strong glue
137
25
The double-slit experiment revisited
137
4
The birth of particle physics
141
6
Weak photons and the Higgs vacuum
147
8
Quarks and gluons
155
2
Superconductors, magnetic monopoles and quark confinement
157
5
Appendix 1 The size of things
162
3
Appendix 2 Solving the Schrodinger equation
165
3
Epilogue
168
1
Glossary
169
6
Suggestions for further reading
175
1
Photo-credits
176
2
Subject index
178
2
Name index
180