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In the last hundred years, modern physics and cosmology have shown that there exist regions of the universe forever beyond our reach, hidden by truly ultimate horizons. Such regions exist in those remote parts of the universe where, from our point of view, space expands faster than the speed of light. They are found in black holes, where the gravity is strong enough to retain even light within its field of attraction. And in the realm of the very small, quarks must remain forever confined to their world of extreme density and can never be removed from it. The aim of this book is to describe these ultimate horizons, how they were discovered, how they shape our view of the world, and what clues we have about a world beyond them.
List of contents
Horizons.- The Vanishing Stars.- The Secret Glow of Black Holes.- The Visions of the Accelerating Observer.- The Smallest Possible Thing.- Primordial Matter.-The Last Veil.
About the author
Helmut Satz, geb. 1936, war von 1971 bis 2001 Professor für Theoretische Physik an der Universität Bielefeld. Sein Forschungsschwerpunkt ist die Physik der ersten Sekundenbruchteile nach dem Urknall. Zusammen mit seinem Schüler Frithjof Karsch machte er Bielefeld zu einem der weltweit führenden Zentren für die Untersuchung von Materie bei extrem hohen Dichten und Temperaturen.
Summary
In the last hundred years, modern physics and cosmology have shown that there exist regions of the universe forever beyond our reach, hidden by truly ultimate horizons. Such regions exist in those remote parts of the universe where, from our point of view, space expands faster than the speed of light. They are found in black holes, where the gravity is strong enough to retain even light within its field of attraction. And in the realm of the very small, quarks must remain forever confined to their world of extreme density and can never be removed from it. The aim of this book is to describe these ultimate horizons, how they were discovered, how they shape our view of the world, and what clues we have about a world beyond them.
Additional text
From the reviews:
“This book is one of the most interesting introductions to today's problems and advances in the fields of cosmology, particle and nuclear physics that I have seen. … There are numerous examples where the reader is given easy ‘visualizations’ of scientific findings. … Helmut is interested in understanding old and new problems of physics and, building on many years of studies and deep reflection, successfully transmits this enthusiasm to the reader. It certainly triggers further thinking.” (Hermine K. Wöhri, CERN Courier, April, 2014)
Report
From the reviews:
"This book is one of the most interesting introductions to today's problems and advances in the fields of cosmology, particle and nuclear physics that I have seen. ... There are numerous examples where the reader is given easy 'visualizations' of scientific findings. ... Helmut is interested in understanding old and new problems of physics and, building on many years of studies and deep reflection, successfully transmits this enthusiasm to the reader. It certainly triggers further thinking." (Hermine K. Wöhri, CERN Courier, April, 2014)
