Big Bang Big Bounce: How Particles and Fields Drive Cosmic Evolution

ISBN-13: 9783540179047 / Angielski / Miękka / 1988 / 129 str.

Iosif L. Rozental; Juri Estrin

Opis

Why does space have three dimensions? What would the world look like if the fundamental constants were slightly different? Is the observable universe, our metagalaxy, just a fluctuation of a superuniverse? And what will be the "final scenario"? Answers to these questions have come within the reach of modern science through the growing impact of particle physics on cosmology. Professor Rozental, astrophysicist at the world-famous Space Research Institute in Moscow, has been witnessing this development for years. With this mostly nonmathematical book he has succeeded in providing exciting insights into the micro- and macrocosm and into the science where today ends seem to meet: the cosmology of the very early universe.

Spis treści

1 Elementary Particles.- 1.1 Fundamental Interactions.- 1.2 Quantum Numbers of Elementary Particles.- 1.2.1 Spin.- 1.2.2 Isospin.- 1.2.3 Strangeness.- 1.2.4 Color.- 1.3 Basics of Classification of Elementary Particles.- 1.4 How Elementary Particles Interact.- 1.5 Unified Field Theories.- 1.5.1 The Universal Constant.- 1.5.2 Unified Symmetry.- 1.6 Proton Decay.- 2 The Universe.- 2.1 A Bit of History.- 2.2 Friedmann’s Model of the Universe.- 2.3 Evolution of the Universe: A Quantitative Analysis.- 2.4 The Universe: Open or Closed?.- 2.5 A Hot Universe.- 2.6 Baryonic Asymmetry of the Universe.- 2.7 Cosmologic Nucleosynethesis of Helium.- 2.8 The Origin of Galaxies.- 2.9 Stars.- 2.9.1 Classification of Stars.- 2.9.2 Biography of a Star.- 3 The Universe and the Elementary Particles.- 3.1 On the Relation between the Characteristic of Stars and of the Elementary Particles.- 3.1.1 Stars and Planets: A Distinction.- 3.1.2 Stellar Parameters: A Quantitative Evaluation.- 3.2 Structure of the Universe and the Mass of the Elementary Particles.- 3.2.1 The Mass of the Electron.- 3.2.2 The Mass of the Nucleon.- 3.3 Structure of the Universe and the Fundamental Interaction Constants.- 3.3.1 The Strong Interaction.- 3.3.2 The Electromagnetic Interaction.- 3.3.3 The Weak Interaction.- 3.3.4 The Gravitational Interaction.- 3.4 The Dimension of Space.- 3.5 Structure of the Universe and Quantum Numbers of Elementary Particles.- 3.6 The Anthropic Principle.- 3.7 On the Numerical Values of the Fundamental Constants.- 3.8 Conclusion.- 3.8.1 Defining the Words “Universe” and “Metagalaxy”.- 3.8.2 Metagalaxy Formation.- 4. The Beginning and End of the Metagalaxy.- 4.1 Updating our Knowledge of the Metagalaxy.- 4.2 Describing the Metagalaxy.- 4.3 The Universality of the Physical Laws.- 4.4 The Very Beginning.- 4.5 Models of the Metagalaxy.- 4.6 The Friedmann Model.- 4.6.1 The Long Way to Recognition.- 4.6.2 Difficulties.- 4.7 The Physical Vacuum.- 4.8 The de Sitter Model: The Beginning of the Metagalaxy.- 4.9 The Structure of the Metagalaxy and the Fundamental Constants.- 4.10 The Metagalaxy as a Fluctuation.- 4.11 The Anthropic Principle.- 4.11.1 Definition.- 4.11.2 Applications.- 4.12 The Birth of the Metagalaxy and of Metagalaxies.- 4.12.1 Progress in Cosmology Brings Understanding.- 4.13 Future of the Metagalaxy.- 4.13.1 Open Metagalaxy.- 4.13.2 Closed Metagalaxy.