The Quantum Quark

by Andrew Watson

Quantum chromodynamics (QCD), the theory explaining the strong nuclear force that binds together the components of the atomic nucleus, is one of the four fundamental forces of nature that control the universe in which we live. This absorbing book covers the ideas and stories behind QCD, the successes and the puzzles, the unsolved mysteries and the characters involved. The subject is discussed in an accessible and entertaining way, assuming only the minimum physics and mathematics background knowledge. It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in science and a solid introduction for students embarking on particle physics courses.

Genres: Science, Physics

464 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2004

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Reviews

[Ushan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is not a very original observation that popular science is an oxymoron. Science describes the world using mathematics as its language; the study of the mathematics required by some fields of science can take years of effort, which the readers of popular science books do not have. Therefore, a popular science book is necessarily reminiscent of Captain Nemo's explanation of the power source of the Nautilus. Quantum theory of fields requires pretty sophisticated mathematics; at UC Berkeley it is a graduate-level course (Physics 230), and I suspect this is the case in all American universities where it is taught. Yet Andrew Watson manages to tell as much of it as possible without overburdening the reader with graduate-level mathematics. He starts with an ordinary discussion of quantum mechanics and symmetry, goes on into the birth of quantum theory of fields, renormalization ("The garden of forking integrals") and QED before getting to the subject of the book, QCD. He tells of the discovery that the nucleons are not point charges, various attempts to make sense of the increasingly large number of particles discovered in the 1950s-1960s, and discusses, how the current views on quark flavor and color came to be, along with some alternative theories that didn't make the grade. The last few chapters concern glueballs, pentaquarks and other exotica, and computational lattice QCD. Unlike a textbook, this book also tells a little about the personalities of the scientists who created it all, and the particle accelerators that allowed them to do so - for several years in the 1980s, CERN's electron-positron collider was the biggest civil engineering project in Europe. It ends with a chronology, a glossary and a reading list.

Overall, this is a very good popular science book, as well-written as the late Stephen Jay Gould's book on Burgess Shale. However, I feel that if I didn't know at least some of the relevant mathematics (e.g. group representations) or analogous physics (e.g. an electron in a semiconductor can have an effective mass different from that of a free electron, just like an electron or a quark surrounded by a sea of virtual particles can have an effective mass different from what they would have if they weren't), the effect would be similar to that of the character in a Russian joke, a woman explaining to her Down syndrome son why a bitten apple turns red.

I think our descendants will view the Moon landing and the particle accelerators as we view the pyramids of Giza - as grandiose artefacts of a mad civilization. Haven't there been more useful things to do for scientifically inclined people than searching for the top quark? Yeah, accelerator technology has practical applications and spinoffs - Watson's book mentions pion-based radiation therapy for certain types of cancer, and there have been proposals for an accelerator-driven transmutator of radioactive waste and even a subcritical nuclear reactor (even a thorium-based one) where the neutrons necessary to achieve criticality come from a super-strong accelerator beam striking a heavy metal target. Yet whatever alternative these people would have worked on would probably have had spinoffs, too, wouldn't it?

[Tim Steenbergen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does what it needs to do.
Do not bother reading this book if you do not have an intermediate-high level of knowledge of quantum physics, you will not grasp it.
Little outdated, the fact that it is from 2004 means that you are informing yourself about the knows of 2004. It talks about colliders that were brand new or to come which have long been working in our time now. In a field that develops so rapidly knowledge ages quicker.

[Jose Moa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A excelent popular exposition of quantum chromodinamics