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Our particle universe

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Abstract

Ever since the discovery of the electron more than 100 years ago, scientists have asked the questions –“what is our universe made of?” and “why is the universe the way it is?” Not long before, it was found that these two questions are related to each other. The interactions of particles in the universe determines its evolution, its very form, and existence. In this article, we will trace the discovery of some of these particles, learn about their interactions, and try to understand their properties such as electric charge and mass.

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Suggested Reading

  1. G Parisi, Popular article on Brownian motion for the centenary celebrations of Einstein’s discoveries, Nature, Vol. 433, p.221, 2005.

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  2. A nice explanation and animation of Rutherford’s famous experiment can be found at: https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/electromag/java/rutherford/

  3. The text of Aston’s Nobel prize speech can be found at: https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel prizes/chemistry/laureates/1922/astonlecture. pdf; the last paragraph is particularly prophetic.

  4. The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Volume II; The relevant chapter can be found on-line at: http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/II 28.html

  5. Popular articles by John Bahcall on “How the Sun Shines” and the “Solar Neutrino Problem”, see: http://www.sns.ias.edu/jnb/

  6. To get a feeling for the important issues in particle physics, look at The Table of Contents of the “Particle Data Group” Review at: http://pdg.lbl.gov/2016/reviews/contents sports.html

  7. A nice and short review by NASA in: https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/what-powered-the-big-bang

  8. The Particle Adventure–www.particleadventure.org, an award winning site on particles and their interactions; highly recommended for the interested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, 600 113, India

    D. Indumathi

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  1. D. Indumathi
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Correspondence to D. Indumathi.

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D Indumathi works on the phenomenology of particle physics at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai. Her research interests are in the fleld of strong interactions and neutrino physics, and she is actively involved with the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory laboratory. She has been a part of science popularisation activities for both school and college students for a long time.

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Indumathi, D. Our particle universe. Reson 22, 245–255 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0457-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12045-017-0457-2

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