Behind the Scenes of the Universe: From the Higgs to Dark Matter 1st Edition by Gianfranco Bertone (PDF)

Description

An extraordinary discovery has recently shaken the foundations of Cosmology and Particle Physics, sparking a scientific revolution that has profoundly modified our understanding of our Universe and that is still far from over. Pioneering astronomers in the 1920s and 1930s had already noticed suspicious anomalies in the motion of celestial bodies in distant galaxies and clusters of galaxies, but it wasn’t until the late 20th century that the scientific community wasconfronted with an astonishing conclusion: the Universe is filled with an unknown, elusive substance that is fundamentally different from anything we have ever seen with our telescopes or measured in our laboratories. It is called dark matter, and it constitutes one of the most pressing challenges ofmodern science.In this book, aimed at the general reader with an interest in science, the author illustrates in non-technical terms, borrowing concepts and ideas from other branches of art and literature, the far-reaching implications of this discovery. It has led to a worldwide race to identify the nature of this mysterious form of matter. We may be about to witness a pivotal paradigm shift in Physics, as we set out to test the existence of dark matter particles with a wide array of experiments, includingthe Large Hadron Collider at CERN, as well as with a new generation of Astroparticle experiments underground and in space.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This book discussed the current science work being done to find dark matter and add to our understanding of the physics of the universe.

⭐A book with right focus. Description the evolution of particle physics to get in their last three chapters to show the dark matter. Its first part (standard model, Higgs boson, LHC, etc.) requires prior knowledge of these issues. Regarding the last chapters, dark matter, presents in a nutshell what it is, current methods for its discovery and hope that soon know, as more possible candidates proclaiming the axions and sterile neutrinos.

⭐To detailed for my background. I would think that if you had a better scientific background it would be excellent.

⭐What a pleasure! When a leading researcher takes the time to write a readable, literate, even charming book about cutting-edge research in an important field, what more can one ask for?That’s the gift Gianfranco Bertone has given us. Although published by the scholarly and prestigious Oxford press, _Behind the Scenes of the Universe_ is anything but stuffy. Bertone leads us through the discovery of what we now call dark matter and the history of the increasingly intense search for the particles that most physicists believe make it up, bringing us up to the minute as that search arrives at its present do-or-die moment. He does this in a relaxed, clear and vivid style, as if he were explaining it all to a good friend. And somehow he’s able to give that friend a thorough tour of this fascinating and challenging scientific quest in just 160 pages.We learn that dark matter isn’t just a curiosity or a puzzle to be solved, but something fundamentally different from the particles and forces scientists know and understand, and as such, a key gateway to the undiscovered physics that lies beyond the standard model, new territory that physicists are desperate to explore. We come to understand the urgent need to find out what dark matter actually is, and the decades of dedicated, increasingly sophisticated research it has driven. He clarifies how that search has been shaped and guided by theories such as supersymmetry and string theory, and how any theory that purports to explain dark matter or tell researchers what to look for has to run a gauntlet of increasingly sharp theoretical and observational constraints.If Bertone is right, the next generation of experiments–incredibly sensitive detectors buried deep under the earth, orbiting observatories, and particle accelerators starting with the LHC–will either find one or more dark matter particles or rule out all the leading contenders by the end of this decade. Readers who follow the flow of science news know that new dark-matter findings are being reported almost every week. Most are negative, ruling out more and more of the possible candidates. But recently a handful of experiments have found tantalizing hints of this elusive and mysterious prey. Those who have had the pleasure of reading _Behind the Scenes of the Universe_ will have the advantage of knowing just how these findings–new limits or purported discoveries–fit into the big picture, a picture that Bertone has so generously provided.

⭐I alway buy via amazon. Satisfied customer

⭐Well written and addresses some issues other books do not… e.g. what if our current understanding of particle physics is wrong?

⭐Any book attempting to reveal the secrets of the sub-atomic universe, including the mysteries surrounding the Higgs Boson and Dark Matter, should ideally have an author who is both highly qualified in theoretical physics as well as being presently engaged at the centre of particle physics research. The author of this book is both. Gianfranco Bertone is a professor of astro-physics at Amsterdam University where his research involves the relationship between particle physics and cosmology. He gained his PhD at Oxford University and the Astrophysics Institute in Paris and for a while worked at the Fermi Accelerator Laboratory.Bertone is no dry academic, he writes with a refreshing freedom, in an engaging style which is easily comprehensible to anyone without a scientific background. The main subject of the book is Dark Matter and Bertone introduces the reader to most of the current theories which attempt to explain Dark Matter and also the theories which make predictions for its discovery. The book describes the extremely sensitive experiments which are going on in international laboratories, often located several kilometres below ground, performed by many of the world’s leading physicists. Bertone tries to take the theoretical a little further by suggesting that either some of these theories should be discarded and new ones conceived, or the actual discovery of Dark Matter and its implications will bring in a potentially new era, a paradigm shift, in physics and cosmology. Little of this detailed research actually reaches the world’s media and so the book takes one behind the scenes of this great `cosmic show’.Among the subjects investigated and explained in the book and their relationship to the quest for the discovery of Dark Matter are: the Adromeda Galaxy rotation, gravitational lensing, the Standard Model of particle physics, General and Special Theories of Relativity, WIMPS, the tensor-vector-scalar theory, bullet cluster, fermions, bosons, neutralinos, Higgs Boson, supersymmetry, black holes, particle acceleration, the Large Hadron Collider, scintillation signal, Xenon and Argon experiments, ADMX experiment, gamma-ray telescopes, dark matter halos, antimatter, sinusoidal behaviour, the dark sector of physics, and many more. The book describes the investigations into Dark Matter that have taken place in the historical past, those currently being undertaken, and some possibilities awaiting in the future. Exactly what is Dark Matter? What is its nature and what are its characteristics and properties, if any? Bertone poses the many questions physicists are grappling with and attempts to find some answers.Bertone is not afraid to introduce the reader to concepts derived from philosophy, the arts and literature, and he occasionally quotes from a wide range of source material, from Zen and the the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance to James Joyce, from Damascius, the Byzantine philosopher, to Descartes the famous French one, even quoting Bilbo in The Hobbit, Aristotle and Confucius. This enriches the text rather than diluting its underlying serious scientific content, which is the relentless pursuit of understanding Dark Matter.If the structure of the gross material nature of the mysterious universe interests you, and you want to read an overview of the present state of investigations into its principle missing component… Dark Matter… then you will find this relatively concise book informative, intriguing and rewarding.

⭐This is a very short book for the price (currently £20), it comes in at 160 pages – but they’re small pages, with large font and double line spacing. It can be easily read in two evenings or a couple of commutes.The idea is that the author gives you a whistle stop tour of the current hot topics in physics and cosmology, with ‘dark matter’ being the overall thread. The book claims to be non-technical, but it’s definitely not a Dummies Guide, there is some assumption of prior knowledge and familiarity with terms. If this is your first foray into cosmology popular science you’ll struggle a little. It doesn’t help that the book doesn’t have a glossary.Content wise the book feels like a collection of expanded blog entries. The short chapters don’t always flow well together, and it feels like the author wrote a book about bits and pieces that interested him, rather than give a complete overview of current thinking. I found the book quite a hard slog even though it’s terribly short and on a subject I’m interested in. It felt like there was a lot of padding going on (classic literary quotes, irrelevant ‘let us pause to consider, maybe’ type diversions) just to make enough content to classify this as a book rather than a pamphlet.This book is undeniably a reasonable resource on Dark Matter and wider issues, but I didn’t find it a pleasure to read.

⭐In a relatively short volume (about 160 pages), Bertone attempts to explain to the non-specialist the subject of dark matter, covering the significance of dark matter, the reasons to believe it exists, and research techniques to discover the signals from it.Obviously it’s a tough task explaining cutting-edge particle physics to the layman, but in fairness Bertone gives it a good go. However, as I find with many physics texts aimed at the non-expert it dwells on some fairly basic concepts but then quickly leaps into complexity. The description of particles in the standard model fell into this category for me; it explains simple atomic structure in some detail, describes the standard model (so far so good), but rapidly lost me in supersymmetry.With all the talk of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), there is no definition or description of what a hadron actually is; obviously it’s difficult for an expert to put himself in the shoes of a non-expert. There was also no explanation of the unit of particle masses (GeV) as measured in particle colliders. This was a very key section for understanding and for me was the most disappointing chapter of the text. In fairness though it was good in other areas.The Indexing was also a little bizarre; one can find references to all sorts of artists (many Italian!), but try looking up ‘hadron’, ‘muon’, ‘lepton’ etc, etc (ie. anything useful!). This is probably not the author’s fault because this is often performed by the publishers (and in this case not well!)I guess if particle astrophysics were easy, we’d all be doing it!!

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