The glue that binds us all: Nature's strong force and the origin of mass in the visible universe
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117
Physics West
The vast bulk of visible matter in our universe exists due to nature's strong force, whose fundamental constituents are quarks and gluons. One of the great achievements in physics is the development of a successful quantum theory of the strong force, Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), a theory of breathtaking simplicity on the surface but containing multitudes of riches within, a deeper understanding of which continues to elude us. I will provide an elementary introduction to QCD and its mysteries, outline its most striking achievements, discuss what problems endure and outline current and future experiments that aim to address them. Time permitting, I will briefly describe many-body features of QCD in extreme conditions and its interdisciplinary connections to other areas of physics across wide energy scales spanning black holes to ultracold atomic gases.
Yeshpal Singh