Related papers: Matter and Interactions: a particle physics perspe…
The thesis deals with the effect of magnetic fields on elementary particle interactions, of which the neutrino is of prime concern. The initial part focuses on the quantum field theoretical description of scattering processes which involves…
A rigorous treatment of light-matter interactions typically requires an interacting quantum field theory. However, most applications of interest are handled using classical or semiclassical models, which are valid only when quantum-field…
A core level of basic information for physics is identified, based on an analysis of the characteristics of the parameters space, time, mass and charge. At this level, it is found that certain symmetries operate, which can be used to…
Quantum particles and classical particles are described in a common setting of classical statistical physics. The property of a particle being "classical" or "quantum" ceases to be a basic conceptual difference. The dynamics differs,…
The quantum field theory in the presence of classical background electromagnetic fields is reviewed. We give a pedagogical introduction to the Feynman-Furry method of describing non-perturbative interactions with very strong electromagnetic…
The oldest enigma in fundamental particle physics is: Where do the observed masses of elementary particles come from? Inspired by observation of the empirical particle mass spectrum we propose that the masses of elementary particles arise…
In this paper we show how Feynman diagrams, which are used as a tool to implement perturbation theory in quantum field theory, can be very useful also in classical mechanics, provided we introduce also at the classical level concepts like…
Quantum mechanics and classical mechanics are two very different theories, but the correspondence principle states that quantum particles behave classically in the limit of high quantum number. In recent years much research has been done on…
The paper offers the full action for an electromagnetic field with electrical and magnetic charges; Feynman laws are formulated for the calculation of the interaction cross-sections for electrically and magnetically charged particles on the…
According to classical physics particles are basic building blocks of the world. Classical particles are distinguishable objects, individuated by physical characteristics. By contrast, in quantum mechanics the standard view is that…
Our present understanding of elementary particle interactions is the synergic result of developments of theoretical ideas and of experimental advances that lead to the theory known as the Standard Model of particle physics. Despite the…
The gap between classical mechanics and quantum mechanics has an important interpretive implication: the Universe must have an irreducible fundamental level, which determines the properties of matter at higher levels of organization. We…
[A brief review intended for a general physics colloquium audience.] Astrophysicists now know that 80% of the matter in the universe is `dark matter', composed of neutral and weakly interacting elementary particles that are not part of the…
Quantum mechanics can seem like a departure from everyday experience of the physical world, but constructivist theories assert that learners build new ideas from their existing ones. To explore how students can navigate this tension, we…
We describe the very nature of the elementary particles, which our (visible) Universe consists of. We point out that they are not point-like, and we depict their ways of interacting. We also address puzzles that occur even in the absence of…
Motivated by a revision of the classical equations of electromagnetism that allow for the inclusion of solitary waves in the solution space, the material collected in these notes examines the consequences of adopting the modified model in…
Quantum interference phenomena are widely viewed as posing a challenge to the classical worldview. Feynman even went so far as to proclaim that they are the only mystery and the basic peculiarity of quantum mechanics. Many have also argued…
The mathematical representation of the physical objects determines which mathematical branch will be applied during the physical analysis in the systems studied. The difference among non-quantum physics, like classic or relativistic…
A tutorial overview is given on interactions between atoms and surfaces that are mediated by the electromagnetic field. The emphasis is on dispersion (or van der Waals) forces and transitions induced by thermal fluctuations in the near…
Traditional textbook explanations of the Compton effect treat the photon electron interaction as a particle collision. This explanation is a pedagogical disaster, implying that sometimes interactions are particle-like whereas quantum…