Ebook: Particle Accelerators, Colliders, and the Story of High Energy Physics: Charming the Cosmic Snake

The Nordic mythological Cosmic Serpent, Ouroboros, is said to be coiled in the depths of the sea, surrounding the Earth with its tail in its mouth. In physics, this snake is a metaphor for the Universe, where the head, symbolizing the largest entity – the Cosmos – is one with the tail, symbolizing the smallest – the fundamental particle.

Particle accelerators, colliders and detectors are built by physicists and engineers to uncover the nature of the Universe while discovering its building blocks. “Charming the Cosmic Snake” takes the readers through the science behind these experimental machines: the physics principles that each stage of the development of particle accelerators helped to reveal, and the particles they helped to discover. The book culminates with a description of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the world’s largest and most complex machines operating in a 27-km circumference tunnel near Geneva. That collider may prove or disprove many of our basic theories about the nature of matter.

The book provides the material honestly without misrepresenting the science for the sake of excitement or glossing over difficult notions. The principles behind each type of accelerator is made accessible to the undergraduate student and even to a lay reader with cartoons, illustrations and metaphors. Simultaneously, the book also caters to different levels of reader’s background and provides additional materials for the more interested or diligent reader.

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The Nordic mythological Cosmic Serpent, Ouroboros, is said to be coiled in the depths of the sea, surrounding the Earth with its tail in its mouth. In physics, this snake is a metaphor for the Universe, where the head, symbolizing the largest entity – the Cosmos – is one with the tail, symbolizing the smallest – the fundamental particle.

Particle accelerators, colliders and detectors are built by physicists and engineers to uncover the nature of the Universe while discovering its building blocks. “Charming the Cosmic Snake” takes the readers through the science behind these experimental machines: the physics principles that each stage of the development of particle accelerators helped to reveal, and the particles they helped to discover. The book culminates with a description of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the world’s largest and most complex machines operating in a 27-km circumference tunnel near Geneva. That collider may prove or disprove many of our basic theories about the nature of matter.

The book provides the material honestly without misrepresenting the science for the sake of excitement or glossing over difficult notions. The principles behind each type of accelerator is made accessible to the undergraduate student and even to a lay reader with cartoons, illustrations and metaphors. Simultaneously, the book also caters to different levels of reader’s background and provides additional materials for the more interested or diligent reader.

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The Nordic mythological Cosmic Serpent, Ouroboros, is said to be coiled in the depths of the sea, surrounding the Earth with its tail in its mouth. In physics, this snake is a metaphor for the Universe, where the head, symbolizing the largest entity – the Cosmos – is one with the tail, symbolizing the smallest – the fundamental particle.

Particle accelerators, colliders and detectors are built by physicists and engineers to uncover the nature of the Universe while discovering its building blocks. “Charming the Cosmic Snake” takes the readers through the science behind these experimental machines: the physics principles that each stage of the development of particle accelerators helped to reveal, and the particles they helped to discover. The book culminates with a description of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the world’s largest and most complex machines operating in a 27-km circumference tunnel near Geneva. That collider may prove or disprove many of our basic theories about the nature of matter.

The book provides the material honestly without misrepresenting the science for the sake of excitement or glossing over difficult notions. The principles behind each type of accelerator is made accessible to the undergraduate student and even to a lay reader with cartoons, illustrations and metaphors. Simultaneously, the book also caters to different levels of reader’s background and provides additional materials for the more interested or diligent reader.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
The Expanding Universe of Particles....Pages 1-3
The Spark that Broke the Atom....Pages 5-9
Nature’s Own Accelerator....Pages 11-29
Cracking the Nucleus....Pages 31-40
The Spiral Path to Nirvana....Pages 41-66
Then It Rained Particles....Pages 67-79
Rings of Earth: The Synchrotron....Pages 81-114
The Next Generation: Supersynchrotrons....Pages 115-130
Linear Accelerators, the Straight Story....Pages 131-145
The Lotus Posture, Symmetry, Gauge Theories, and the Standard Model....Pages 147-169
Collision Course....Pages 171-184
Particle Detector Experiments....Pages 185-197
The Snake Charmer: The Large Hadron Collider....Pages 199-218
Back Matter....Pages 219-222

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The Nordic mythological Cosmic Serpent, Ouroboros, is said to be coiled in the depths of the sea, surrounding the Earth with its tail in its mouth. In physics, this snake is a metaphor for the Universe, where the head, symbolizing the largest entity – the Cosmos – is one with the tail, symbolizing the smallest – the fundamental particle.

Particle accelerators, colliders and detectors are built by physicists and engineers to uncover the nature of the Universe while discovering its building blocks. “Charming the Cosmic Snake” takes the readers through the science behind these experimental machines: the physics principles that each stage of the development of particle accelerators helped to reveal, and the particles they helped to discover. The book culminates with a description of the Large Hadron Collider, one of the world’s largest and most complex machines operating in a 27-km circumference tunnel near Geneva. That collider may prove or disprove many of our basic theories about the nature of matter.

The book provides the material honestly without misrepresenting the science for the sake of excitement or glossing over difficult notions. The principles behind each type of accelerator is made accessible to the undergraduate student and even to a lay reader with cartoons, illustrations and metaphors. Simultaneously, the book also caters to different levels of reader’s background and provides additional materials for the more interested or diligent reader.

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-xi
The Expanding Universe of Particles....Pages 1-3
The Spark that Broke the Atom....Pages 5-9
Nature’s Own Accelerator....Pages 11-29
Cracking the Nucleus....Pages 31-40
The Spiral Path to Nirvana....Pages 41-66
Then It Rained Particles....Pages 67-79
Rings of Earth: The Synchrotron....Pages 81-114
The Next Generation: Supersynchrotrons....Pages 115-130
Linear Accelerators, the Straight Story....Pages 131-145
The Lotus Posture, Symmetry, Gauge Theories, and the Standard Model....Pages 147-169
Collision Course....Pages 171-184
Particle Detector Experiments....Pages 185-197
The Snake Charmer: The Large Hadron Collider....Pages 199-218
Back Matter....Pages 219-222
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