Modern Physics

How key concepts in modern physics came from the work of a New Zealander whom Einstein labelled ‘a second Newton’. By the mid-nineteenth century, physicists believed they had discovered the last secrets of the universe. Then a new world opened up: one of waves, particles, and new, fundamental forces.This mysterious world swiftly captured the public imagination, not least because of the technical revolution that emerged from it, giving the world everything from radio to TV, X-ray machines, smoke detectors, and more. One of the key movers of this new world was Ernest Rutherford, a no-nonsense New Zealander who became popularly known as the ‘father of the atom’ in recognition of his pioneering role in particle physics. But he was far more than that.Through his roles at Manchester University and then the Cavendish Laboratory in England, he steered a new generation of highly influential physicists such as Niels Bohr, helping to shape much of the way we understand physics today. This book ex

量子力學和相對論統稱為近代物理學，是20世紀物理學最偉大的發現，沒有它們就不會有今天的計算機、激光、核能、納米、宇宙探索等各種各樣的高新技術。本教材在相對論部分著重闡明狹義相對論的基本原理及其在物理學中的重要意義。關於洛倫茲變換、時空觀和時空幾何的討論，如同時性的相對性和動鐘變慢和長度縮短及動力學方面的內容如相對論質量和動量、相對論能量的學習，都有助於大家加深對狹義相對論的理解；並簡要介紹廣義相對論的基本原理和時空觀。在量子物理部分我們將大至順著人類對微觀粒子本性認識的發展歷史，通過黑體輻射規律、光電效應現象、康普頓效應、粒子的波動性等這些對經典物理而言是不可思議的怪事，通過引入普朗克、愛因斯坦、德布羅意、玻恩、海森伯等相繼提出的量子物理中一些基本概念、規律和方法，著重介紹微觀粒子的波粒二象性、薛定諤方程及其應用、固定物理基礎。使讀者從中體會和欣賞微觀世界的和諧與優美,受到創新思維和探究精神的啟迪。