CORE S104   Fundamental Quests in Science: From Subatomic to Cosmological

Where are we? What are we made of? How do we know? These are fundamental questions in science. Students explore these questions via several topics of much research in science today. Students look at fundamental questions at the cosmological scale, like the big bang, the structure of the universe, birth and death of stars, and the nature of black holes; and then inward to fundamental questions in the subatomic world, made up of baryons, mesons, leptons, and quarks. The exercise shows that the properties of elementary particles and their interactions are intimately tied to the cosmological questions. The discussion centers on what we know about these topics and how we investigate them. An important component of this course is the discussion of the outstanding puzzles today, like dark matter in the universe, the missing energy fueling its expansion, and whether certain fundamental particles exist or not. In exploring these questions the course provides an introductory coverage of the major physical theories: Newtonian mechanics, quantum mechanics, and relativity. How do these questions affect society and humanity? Students also examine some of the current controversies and debates.