The Standard Model (Part 2)

Check out my video on the big ideas that go into the Standard Model of particle physics!

In the late 1800s physics had 3 main pillars: classical mechanics, statistical mechanics and electromagnetism. But they contradict each other! That was actually good – because resolving the contradictions helped lead us to special relativity and quantum mechanics.

I explain how this worked, or more precisely how it could have worked: the actual history is far more messy. For example, Planck and Einstein weren’t really thinking about the ultraviolet catastrophe when they came up with the idea that the energy of light comes in discrete packets:

• Helge Kragh, Max Planck: the reluctant revolutionary, Physics World, 1 December 2000.

Then, I sketch out how deeper thoughts on electromagnetism led us to the concept of ‘gauge theory’, which is the basis for the Standard Model.

This is a very quick intro, just to map out the territory. I’ll go into more detail later.

By the way, if you prefer to avoid YouTube, you can watch my videos at the University of Edinburgh:

• Edinburgh Explorations.