| The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Allen Lane |
| Publication date | 29 Oct 2011 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 272 |
| ISBN | 9781846144325 |
The Quantum Universe: Everything That Can Happen Does Happen is a 2011 book by theoretical physicists Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw. The book aims to provide an explanation of quantum mechanics and its impact on the modern world that it accessible to a general reader. The authors say that "our goal in writing this book is to demystify quantum theory". Starting with the concepts of wave-particle duality and a non-technical description of the path integral formulation of quantum mechanices, the book explains the uncertainty principle, energy levels in atoms, the physics of semi-conductors and transistors, and the Standard Model of particle physics. A more mathematcial Epilogue discusses the role of quantum mechanics in models of stellar evolution, and derives the Chandrasekhar limit for the maximum mass of a stable white dwarf.