The Infinity Puzzle: Quantum Field Theory and the Hunt for an Orderly Universe - Hardcover

Close, Frank

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0465021441 ISBN 13: 9780465021444

Publisher: Basic Books, 2011

Synopsis

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.

About this title

About the Author

Frank Close is a Professor of Theoretical Physics at Oxford University and Fellow and Tutor in Physics at Exeter College, Oxford. He is the winner of the Kelvin Medal for the public understanding of physics and the author of ten books. He lives in Abingdon, England.

Edition details

• Publisher: Basic Books
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0465021441
• ISBN 13: 9780465021444
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 435