Quantum Man: Richard Feynman's Life in Science (32 page)

   protons in, 291, 294–95, 297–98, 300, 302, 305, 312

   quanta in, 246, 247, 255, 278–81, 285

   quantum bits (qubits) in, 283–85

   quantum chromodynamics (QCD) compared with, 305–9

   quantum electrodynamics (QED) compared with, 180, 200–201, 243, 246–47, 249, 280, 285, 288–89, 300, 301, 302–3, 312;
see also
quantum electrodynamics (QED)

   quarks in, 196, 217, 287–305, 308, 309–10

   relativity theory and, 238–41, 243, 246–47, 249, 251

   renormalization in, 304–5, 309–10, 311

   reversible systems in, 281–83

   scalar properities of, 243–44, 297–98, 300, 306–7, 308, 310–11

   Schwarzchild radius in, 240–42

   singularities in, 250–51

   space-time curvature in, 238–39, 241, 246–47, 255–57, 310

   spin as factor in, 247–48, 283–84

   standard model of, 247, 249–50, 299–300

   strangeness (strange particles) in, 196, 200–201, 202, 205–6, 273, 291–92, 305

   string theory and, 234, 235, 251–55

   strong vs. weak interaction in, 257–58, 288, 293–96, 298–99, 300, 302, 304–7, 309–13

   SU(3) symmetry group in, 289–91, 305

   symmetries (symmetry transformation) in, 247, 289–91, 301–5

   theory of, 247, 249–53, 256–57, 261–62, 293–94, 297, 299–300, 305–13

   “theory of everything” (TOE) and, 253–54

   thermal radiation in, 250–51

   variables in, 255–56, 280–82

   virtual particles in, 29, 42, 112–13, 115, 126, 130–31, 133,
137,
154–56, 259–61, 304, 310

   Yang-Mills theory of, 301–4, 305, 306, 307

   zero energy in, 257–58, 306–7

quantum transmission, 285–86

quarks, 196, 217, 287–305, 308, 309–10

   “flavors” of, 305

Rabi, I. I., 119, 128, 129, 142

radiation, energy, 27–28, 33, 35, 173, 247–48 250–251, 281–82, 295–300, 310

radiation resistance, 33

“Radiation Theories of Tomonaga, Schwinger, and Feynman, The” (Dyson), 150–54

radioactivity, 195

radio waves, 27–28, 248

reabsorption, 29–32, 38

reactors, nuclear, 68, 77

“Recent Developments in QED” (Schwinger), 143–44

Reines, Fred, 219–20

relativity, theory of, 6, 18, 19, 27, 40, 60, 69, 97, 99–100, 102, 110–12, 114, 117, 118, 119, 122–23, 125–26, 130, 131, 148, 159, 238–41, 243, 246–47, 249, 251

renormalization, 125, 138–39, 150–51, 197–98, 231, 304–5, 309–10, 311

resistance, electrical, 170–71

rest mass, 125, 126, 151

Retherford, Robert, 121

reversible systems, 281–83

Reviews of Modern Physics,
65, 98–99, 115

Rio de Janeiro, 164–65

RNA, 267

Robertson, Howard, 240

Rochester Conference (1956), 206–7, 209, 211, 213

Rochester Conference (1958), 220–21

rotating shafts, 20

rotons, 185, 187–88

Rutherford, Ernest, 62, 294

Sagan, Carl, 230

Salam, Abdus, 305, 310

samba, 166

Sands, Matthew, 221, 223, 224, 226, 227, 228

satellites, 16, 260–61

scalar properities, 212, 213, 215, 243–44, 297–98, 300, 306–7, 308, 310–11

scalar (
S
) interaction, 212, 213, 215

scanning-tunnelling microscopes, 269–70

Schrieffer, Robert, 189

Schrödinger, Erwin, 51–52

Schrödinger equation, 19, 51–52, 63, 65, 69, 97, 119–20, 121, 158, 161, 173, 188

Schwartz, Melvin, 222–23

Schwarzchild, Karl, 240–42

Schwarzchild radius, 240–42

Schweber, Sylvan, 87–88, 141

Schwinger, Julian, 94, 122, 123, 125, 128–29, 141–45, 149, 152, 158–59, 196, 202, 229–30, 231, 302–3, 304

scintillating screens, 25–26, 54–58

“sea of negative-energy” electrons (“Dirac sea”), 104–7, 114, 126, 127, 131, 157

second-order differential equations, 86

security codes, 284–85

self-energy, 23–24, 30, 41–42, 111–12, 115–23, 124, 136–39,
137,
150–51, 159

sequencing, genetic, 268

Shelter Island conference (1947), 122–23, 124, 143

Sherman, Richard, 315–16

Shor, Peter, 284

Signal Corps, U.S., 67

sines, 7

singularities, 250–51

SLAC, 293–300, 306, 308

Slater, John, 21

Slotnik, Murray, 155–56

Snell, Willebrord, 9–10

Snell’s Law, 9–12,
10,
12

software, 278

solar energy, 82–85

solar mass, 241, 250

solar system, 16, 83

Sommerfeld, Arnold, 83–84

sonic booms, 91

sound waves, 54, 183–84

Soviet Academy of Sciences, 181

space:

   curvature of, 238–39, 241, 246–47, 255–57, 310

   Euclidean, 258

   flat, 258–60

   isotropic, 240

space exploration, xv, 16

“Space-Time Approach to Non-Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, The” (Feynman), 65, 97–99

“Space-Time Approach to Quantum Electrodynamics, A” (Feynman), 140, 147, 157

space-time curvature, 238–39, 241, 246–47, 255–57, 310

special relativity, theory of, 6, 19, 27, 60, 97, 117

spherical mass distribution, 240–41

spin, 24–25, 100–102, 116, 120–21, 128–29, 174–75, 186–88, 190, 209, 210–11, 247–48, 251, 283–84

spin ½ particles, 100–101, 187

spin 2 particles, 247–48, 251

spin down, 24–25, 116, 283–84

spin up, 24–25, 116, 283–84

square of the wave function, 52–53

square roots, 116

Stanford University, 273, 293–300

Star Trek: The Next Generation,
180

State Department, U.S., 165, 181

statistical mechanics, 277

statistics, 185, 277

Steinberger, Jack, 222–23

strangeness (strange particles), 196, 200–201, 202, 205–6, 273, 291–92, 305

strange quarks, 291–92, 305

string theory, 234, 235, 251–55

strong interactions, 194, 201, 204–17, 219, 222–23, 257–58, 288, 293–96, 298–99, 300, 302, 304–7, 309–13

SU(3) symmetry group, 289–91, 305

Sudarshan, E. C. G., 212–14, 216

“sum over paths” approach, 65, 73–74, 97, 99, 117–18, 126–28, 145–46, 153, 176, 178–79, 185, 256–57

supercomputers, 186

superconductivity, 170–72, 179, 188–89, 190, 271

superfluidity, 171–92

superposition, 25

superstring theory, 254–55

Sykes, Christopher, 317

symmetries, quantum, 198–200, 202–11, 215–16, 247, 289–91, 301–5

symmetry transformation, 247, 289–91, 301–5

tau particles, 205–6

temperature, 170–75, 181–88

tensor (
T
) interaction, 212, 213, 215

tetrahedrons, 199

text miniaturization, 264–67, 272–73

“theory of everything” (TOE), 253–54

“Theory of Positrons, The” (Feynman), 135, 147

“There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” (Feynman), 263–64

thermal energy, 174, 183, 248, 250–51, 275

thermonuclear bomb, 84–85, 194

theta particles, 205–6

Thinking Machines, 277, 316

third-order differential equations, 86

’t Hooft, Gerardus, 304–5

Thouless, David, 192

time:

   arrow of, 40–41

   in computer processing, 278–79

   direction in, xii, 34–35, 38–42, 47–48, 107, 129–40, 144–46, 148–54, 169, 173, 193

Time,
217

Tizsa, László, 185–86

Tomonaga, Sin-Itiro, 148–49

tornadoes, 187

“toy” theories, 148

trajectories, of particles, 48–50, 52–58, 65, 69–70, 73–74, 97, 99, 100–104, 107, 117–18, 126–28, 145–46, 153, 154, 176, 178–79, 185, 193–94, 210–12, 256–57, 309–10

transistors, 272

triangles, 9

Trinity test site, 90–91, 93, 108

truth, scientific, 310–11

tuberculosis, 44, 79–80

Tuck, Helen, 317

two-component neutrino formalism, 215–16

two-dimensional elastic theory, 317

“two fluid” model, 185–86

“Two Men in Search of the Quark” (Edson), 287

two-slit devices, 25–26

“typewriter symbols,” 5

unitary approaches, 145, 178–79

universal computing systems, 281–82

universe:

   dimensions of, 251–54

   evolution of, 256–58

   expansion of, 239–40, 257–60

up quarks, 291–92, 305

uranium, 66, 68, 77, 84, 86, 90

uranium 235, 66, 86, 90

uranium 238, 66

vacuum, 104–5

vacuum polarization, 113–15, 136–40,
137,
150–51, 156–57, 159

variables, 188–89, 255–56, 280–82

V-A
(vector-axial vector) interaction, 212–16, 292

vector (
V
) interaction, 212–16, 292

Veltman, Martinus, 304–5

Venter, Craig, 269

virtual particles, 29, 42, 112–13, 115, 126, 130–31, 133,
137,
154–56, 259–61, 304, 310

viscosity, 181–82

vision, 226

von Neumann, John, 39, 71, 86

vortex lines, 187–88, 189–90

Walker, Arthur, 240

Warner Brothers, 228

wave functions, 52–56, 70, 117–20, 173, 182–84, 185, 188–89

wave-particle duality, 10–12, 24, 52–56

weak interactions, 194, 201, 204–17, 219, 222–23, 257–58, 288, 293–96, 298–99, 300, 302, 304–7, 309–13

Weinberg, Steven, 219, 246, 249, 304–5, 310

Weisskopf, Victor, 124, 125, 128, 143, 235

Welton, Ted, 17, 18–20, 88, 99, 211, 317

Weyl, Herman, 105–6

What Do
You
Care What Other People Think?
(Feynman), 45

Wheeler, John Archibald, 22, 32–35, 36, 37–40, 41, 42, 45, 48–50, 59, 68–69, 74, 77, 81, 82, 113, 122, 131, 140

Wigner, Eugene, 22, 39–40, 61, 68–69, 76

Wilczek, Frank, 306–7, 312, 319

William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, 21–22

Wilson, Kenneth, 310

Wilson, Robert, 66, 67, 96

Wolfram, Stephen, 278, 318

World War II, 66, 67, 77–80

wormholes, 256

Wu, Chien-Shiung, 208

Yale University, 196, 266

Yang, Chen Ning “Frank,” 207–9, 211, 212, 301–4, 305, 306, 307, 309

Yang-Mills theory, 301–4, 305, 306, 307

Zel’dovich, Yakov, 259

zero energy, 102–3, 118, 257–58, 306–7

zero mass, 269, 301, 304

zero-order predictions, 102–3, 118

zero temperature, 170, 174–75, 185–86

Zweig, George, 292–93, 295

More praise for
Quantum Man

“A worthy addition to the Feynman shelf and a welcome follow-up to the standard-bearer, James Gleick’s
Genius
.”

—
Kirkus Reviews

“Enlightening.”

—George Johnson,
New York Times

“Entertaining and masterly. A great read.”

—Brian Greene, author of
The Elegant Universe

“Such a charismatic figure deserves a charismatic, knowledgeable, and literate physicist as his warts-and-all biographer. Lawrence Krauss fits the bill admirably and rises to the challenge with style, panache, and deep understanding.”

—Richard Dawkins, author of
The God Delusion

“Krauss’s wonderful biography puts Feynman’s remarkable contributions to science front and center, accessibly, in the context of his life and times. Feynman would approve.”

—Frank Wilczek, MIT, Nobel Laureate in Physics

“Highly recommended for readers who want to get to know one of the preeminent scientists of the 20th century.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“A rich and entertaining biography.”

—Dan Falk,
New Scientist

“If your interest is in Feynman the physicist, [
Quantum Man
] is an excellent place to start.”

—Jon Turney,
Times Higher Education

“An enlightening addition to the field.”

—George Johnson,
The Scotsman

Copyright © 2011 by Lawrence M. Krauss

All rights reserved

First published as a Norton paperback 2012

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Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition as follows:

Krauss, Lawrence Maxwell.

Quantum man : Richard Feynman’s life in science /
Lawrence M. Krauss. — 1st ed.

p. cm. — (Great discoveries)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-393-06471-1 (hardcover)

1. Feynman, Richard P. (Richard Phillips), 1918–1988.
2. Physicists—United States—Biography. I. Title. II. Series.

QC16.F49K73 2011

530.092—dc22

[B]

2010045512

ISBN 978-0-393-34065-5 pbk.

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