About the Course
What is Science?
Quantitative Description
Celestial and Terrestrial Motion
Work and Energy
Heat and Thermodynamics
Light
Maxwell and Electromagnetism
Atoms and Chemistry
Atomic Spectra
Quantum Theory
Cosmology
Readings
Credits
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About the course title:
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Quarks
are part of the fundamental building blocks of matter. They, along
with the leptons, are the the matter constituents of the fundamental
particles. There are 6 types of quarks (and so 6 antiquarks) which
combine to make protons, neutrons and a host of other particles.
They are among the smallest things in the universe.
In the graphic a neutron, made
of an up quark and two down quarks, undergoes beta decay and is
replaced with a proton (one down and two up quarks). The W boson
mediates the reaction. To assure charge and energy conservation
an electron and an antineutrino are created. For more, click here. |
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Quasars
are objects that reside in the most distant reaches of the universe.
They are very high energy sources, producing many times the energy
output of an entire galaxy, but occupying a region the size of our
solar system. Current understanding is that these objects are the
centers of active galaxies, home for supermassive black holes. They
are seen by us now as they existed billions of years ago.
In the image, a quasar ejects a jet of particles
extending 100,000 light years into space. This is quasar GB1508+57,
discovered by the Chandra X-Ray Observatory at a distance of 12
billion light years.
The small image at the upper left is the actual
photo taken by Chandra. For more on this, click here. |
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