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Various free scientifc texts from Physics World
Launched in 2017 as a trial from IOP Publishing, the Physics World Discovery collection includes many popular subjects including everything from dark universe to quantitative finance and from antimatter to proton-beam therapy. Each text from the collection is the perfect springboard for getting you up to speed with the latest developments in physics.
The Dark Universe
Description - Just over 95% of our Universe comes in the shrouded form of dark energy and dark matter that we can neither explain nor directly detect. Together, these two dark entities play out a cosmic battle of epic proportions, with the gravity of dark matter slowly pulling structures in the Universe together, and dark energy fuelling the Universe's accelerated expansion, making it ever harder for those structures to grow. In this book we will explore this dark enigma and introduce the cosmologist's toolkit of observations and techniques that allow us to confront different theories on the dark Universe. I'll explain why I believe that, to truly understand the dark Universe, we will need some new physics that will forever change our cosmic view.
Space Weather
Description - Space weather—changes in the Earth's environment that can often be traced to physical processes in the Sun—can have a profound impact on critical Earth-based infrastructures such as power grids and civil aviation. Violent eruptions on the solar surface can eject huge clouds of magnetized plasma and particle radiation, which then propagate across interplanetary space and envelop the Earth. These space weather events can drive major changes in a variety of terrestrial environments, which can disrupt, or even damage, many of the technological systems that underpin modern societies. The aim of this book is to offer an insight into our current scientific understanding of space weather, and how we can use that knowledge to mitigate the risks it poses for Earth-based technologies. It also identifies some key challenges for future space-weather research, and considers how emerging technological developments may introduce new risks that will drive continuing investigation.
Quantitative Finance
Description - Quantitative finance is a field that has risen to prominence over the last few decades. It encompasses the complex models and calculations that value financial contracts, particularly those which reference events in the future, and apply probabilities to these events. While adding greatly to the flexibility of the market available to corporations and investors, it has also been blamed for worsening the impact of financial crises. But what exactly does quantitative finance encompass, and where did these ideas and models originate? We show that the mathematics behind finance and behind games of chance have tracked each other closely over the centuries and that many well-known physicists and mathematicians have contributed to the field.
Proton Beam Therapy
Description - Cancer therapy is a multi-modality approach including surgery, systemic or targeted chemotherapy, radiation (external beam or radionuclide), and immunotherapy. Radiation is typically administered using external beam photon therapy. Proton therapy has been around for more than 60 years but was restricted to research laboratories until the 1990s. Since then clinical proton therapy has been growing rapidly with currently more than 50 facilities worldwide. The interest in proton therapy stems from the physical properties of protons allowing for advanced dose sculpting around the target and sparing of healthy tissue. This review first evaluates the basics of proton therapy physics and technology and then outlines some of the current physical, biological, and clinical challenges. Solving these will ultimately determine whether proton therapy will continue on its path to becoming mainstream.
Complex Light
Description - The emerging field of complex light?Xthe study and application of custom light beams with tailored intensity, polarization or phase?Xis a focal point for fundamental breakthroughs in optical science. As this review will show, those advances in fundamental understanding, coupled with the latest developments in complex light generation, are translating into a range of diverse and cross-disciplinary applications that span microscopy, high-data-rate communications, optical trapping and quantum optics. We can expect more twists along the way, too, as researchers seek to manipulate and control the propagation speed of complex light beams, while others push the more exotic possibilities afforded by complex light in quantum-entanglement experiments.