Research Catalog

The infinity puzzle : quantum field theory and the hunt for an orderly universe

Title
The infinity puzzle : quantum field theory and the hunt for an orderly universe / Frank Close.
Author
Close, F. E.
Publication
New York : Basic Books, c2011.

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Details

Description
xii, 435 p. : ill.; 25 cm.
Summary
"Speculation is rife that by 2012 the elusive Higgs boson will be found at the Large Hadron Collider. If found, the Higgs boson would help explain why everything has mass. But there's more at stake-what we're really testing is our capacity to make the universe reasonable. Our best understanding of physics is predicated on something known as quantum field theory. Unfortunately, in its raw form, it doesn't make sense-its outputs are physically impossible infinite percentages when they should be something simpler, like the number 1. The kind of physics that the Higgs boson represents seeks to "renormalize" field theory, forcing equations to provide answers that match what we see in the real world. The Infinity Puzzle is the story of a wild idea on the road to acceptance. Only Close can tell it"--
Subject
  • Quantum field theory
  • Higgs bosons
  • Infinite
  • SCIENCE / History
  • SCIENCE / Physics
Bibliography (note)
  • Includes bibliographical references (p. 413-415) and index.
Call Number
JSE 16-304
ISBN
  • 9780465021444
  • 0465021441
LCCN
2011022966
OCLC
2011022966
Author
Close, F. E.
Title
The infinity puzzle : quantum field theory and the hunt for an orderly universe / Frank Close.
Imprint
New York : Basic Books, c2011.
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (p. 413-415) and index.
Research Call Number
JSE 16-304
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