Particle Physics: A Very Short Introduction

Description

Following the discovery of the Higgs boson, Frank Close has produced this major revision to his classic and compelling introduction to the fundamental particles that make up the universe.

• A compelling and lively one-volume introduction to the fundamental particles that make up the universe
• Forms a companion volume to Nuclear Physics: A Very Short Introduction by the same author
• Provides insights into how discoveries in particle physics have actually been made
• Part of the Very Short Introductions series - over ten million copies sold worldwide

New to this edition

• Fully updated to include the discovery of the Higgs Boson and its implications

About the Author(s)

Prof Frank Close, Professor Emeritus of Physics, Oxford University

Frank Close OBE FRS is Professor Emeritus of Physics at Oxford University and a Fellow Emeritus of Exeter College. He was formerly the Head of the Theoretical Physics Division at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, and Head of Communications and Public Education at CERN. He is the author of several books, including the best-selling Lucifer's Legacy (OUP, 2000), and was the winner of the Kelvin Medal of the Institute of Physics for his 'outstanding contributions to the public understanding of physics'. His other books include The Cosmic Onion (1983), The Particle Explosion (1987), End (1988), Too Hot to Handle (1991), and The Infinity Puzzle (OUP, 2012). In 2013 Professor Close was awarded the Royal Society Michael Faraday Prize for communicating science.

Table of Contents

1:Journey to the centre of the universe
2:How big and small are big and small?
3:How we learn what things are made of, and what we found
4:The heart of the matter
5:Accelerators: cosmic and manmade
6:Detectors: cameras and time machines
7:The forces of Nature
8:Exotic matter (and antimatter)
9:Where has matter come from?
10:Questions for the 21st century