The Fundamental Physical Constants And The Frontier Of Measurement

Fundamental physical constants are used throughout the world by scientists and technologists in the course of every kind of theoretical and experimental research work. The book examines the present state of the measurement arts, and gives indications of likely future developments. This comprehensive and stimulating volume will certainly become a standard reference work in the field of measurement science for physicists, metrologists and workers in other physical science disciplines where a high accuracy of measurement is required.

One of the exciting characteristics of metrology is its intimate relationship between fundamental physics and the leading edge of technology which is needed to perform advanced and challenging experiments and measurements. This title includes a set of lectures which present the relevant progress in Metrology.

The spectroscopy of trapped ions or laser-cooled atoms offers the prospect of visible frequency standards to match or even exceed the accuracy of the caesium standard. The development of satellite methods for time comparisons has improved by more than an order of magnitude the accuracy with which national laboratories can routinely compare their clocks. Mechanical metrology has not been left behind. Driven by the need to improve manufacturing technology, major advances have taken place in computer control machining and mechanical measuring systems. These, and many other fascinating developments in the field of metrology are presented in this book.

The reliability and accuracy of systems of measurement continue to advance. We are about to enter a period of the most stable measurement system we can imagine with the anticipated new definitions of the SI units of measurement; a direct link between fundamental physics and metrology which will eliminate the current definition of the kilogram, until now based upon an artifact. This book presents selected papers from Course 185 of the Enrico Fermi International School of Physics, held in Varenna, Italy, in July 2012 and jointly organized with the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM). The papers delivered at the school covered some of the most advanced topics in the discipline of metrology, including nano-technologies; quantum information and quantum devices; biology and medicine; food; surface quality; ionising radiation for health, environment, art and archaeology; and climate. The continuous and striking advances in basic research concerning atomic frequency standards operating both in the visible range and at microwave levels and the applications to satellite systems are also considered, in the framework of a historical review of the international organization of metrology, as are the problems inherent in uncertainty statements and definitions. This book will be of interest to all those whose work involves scientific measurement at the highest levels of accuracy.

The book is devoted to one of the important areas of theoretical and experimental physics—the calculation of the accuracy of measurements of fundamental physical constants. To achieve this goal, numerous methods and criteria have been proposed. However, all of them are focused on identifying a posteriori uncertainty caused by the idealization of the model and its subsequent computerization in comparison with the physical system. This book focuses on formulating an a priori interaction between the level of a detailed description of a material object (the number of registered quantities) and the lowest uncertainty in measuring a physical constant. It contains the materials necessary for the optimal design of models describing a physical phenomenon. It will appeal to scientists and engineers, as well as university students.

The object of this NATO Advanced Study Institute was to pre sent a tutorial 'introduction both to the basic physics of recent spectacular advances achieved in the field of metrology and to the determination of fundamental physical constants. When humans began to qualify their description of natural phenomena, metrology, the science of measurement, developed along side geometry and mathematics. However, flam antiquity to modern times, the role of metrology was mostly restricted to the need of commercial, social or scientific transactions of local or at most national scope. Beginning with the Renaissance, and particularly in western Europe during the last century, metrology rapidly developed an international character as a result of growing needs for more accurate measurements and common standards in the emerging indus trial society. Although the concerns of metrology are deeply rooted to fundamental sciences, it was, until recently, perceived by much of the scientific community as mostly custodial in character.

This book is a collection of chapters linked together by a logical framework aimed at exploring the modern role of the measurement science in both the technically most advanced applications and in everyday life Provides a unique methodological approach to understanding modern measurements Important methods and devices are presented in a synthetic and easy-to-understand way Includes end-of-chapter exercises and solutions

Surveys the wide range of meters and techniques for calibrating and intercomparing the power of radio frequencies and microwaves in the range 1MHz to 200 GHz, a procedure necessary in many branches of science and technology. The reader is assumed to be at least a graduate level electrical engineer or physicist. Considers the fundamentals; calorimetry, which is the basis for most measurement; the various types of non-calorimeter power meters, including thermistor, thermoelectric, and diode types, and force-operated and other types; calibration and intercomparison methods; pulsed power measurements; related voltage and current measurement; and the international intercomparison of standards. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR