This book takes a fresh approach to the teaching of discrete symmetries which are central to fundamental physics: mirror symmetry, matter/anti-matter symmetry, and time reversal. It is self-contained and includes detailed discussions of relevant experiments - conveying some of the fascination and intellectual challenges of experimental physics.
This book takes a fresh approach to the teaching of discrete symmetries which are central to fundamental physics: mirror symmetry, matter/anti-matter symmetry, and time reversal. It is self-contained and includes detailed discussions of relevant experiments - conveying some of the fascination and intellectual challenges of experimental physics.
Electric dipole moments (EDMs) have interested physicists since 1950, when it was first suggested that there was no experimental evidence that nuclear forces are symmetric under parity (P) transformation. This question was regarded as speculative because the existence of an EDM, in addition to P violation, requires a violation of time-reversal (T) symmetry. In 1964 it was discovered that the invariance under CP transformation, which combines charge conjugation (C) with parity, is violated in K-meson decays. This provided a new incentive for EDM searches. Since the combined operations of CPT are expected to leave a system invariant, breakdown of CP invariance should be accompanied by a violation of time-reversal symmetry. Thus there is a reason to expect that EDMs should exist at some level. The original neutron EDM experiments were later supplemented with checks of T invariance in atoms and molecules. These investigations are pursued now by many groups. Over the years, the upper limit on the neutron EDM has been improved by seven orders of magnitude, and the upper limit on the electron EDM obtained in atomic experiments is even more strict.
The violation of charge-conjugation and parity symmetries is a leading area of research in particle and nuclear physics, with important implications for understanding the generation of matter in the universe. This book provides a self-contained introduction and is designed to bring beginning researchers to the forefront of the field.
This book is a concise yet thorough study of charge-parity (CP) asymmetry, particularly within the B meson system. Beginning with an introduction to the topic, the book covers discrete symmetry, antiparticles and CP symmetry before moving on to CP violations in both the quark sector and the B meson system. It also examines the accelerators and experiments involved in unveiling the asymmetry within the weak interactions, and finishes with an outlook on investigations beyond the Standard Model. The book offers a fascinating insight into the research of CP asymmetry and is an essential reference for experimental physicists and other researchers related to the field. Key Features Comprehensive study of charge-parity (CP) asymmetry within the B meson system Examines accelerators and the experiments that help to unveil the asymmetry within the weak interactions Offers an outlook on investigations in the field beyond the Standard Model An essential reference for experimental physicists and other researchers related to the field
Madam Chien Shiung Wu, the great physicist of 20th century physics, passed away in February 1997. Born in 1912, she became a towering scientific figure in the second half of the century. Madam Wu and Madame Curie will forever be commemorated as the two great female physicists of the 20th century. On 16-18 August 1997, scientists from around the globe, many of them distinguished in their own right, gathered in Nanjing, where Madam Wu spent her undergraduate years to celebrate the glorious achievements of the great lady.This important volume constitutes the proceedings of the conference. The main advances in fundamental symmetry, nuclear, particle and general physics since parity symmetry breaking and the prospects at the turn of the century are addressed by world-renowned experts. The historical developments in the studies of the β-decay mechanism, vector current conservation, parity, charge conjugation and time reversal nonconservation are vividly depicted by Madam Wu's close friends, including several Nobel laureates.
The original edition of Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics was used with great success for single-semester courses on nuclear and particle physics offered by American and Canadian universities at the undergraduate level. It was also translated into German, and used overseas. Being less formal but well-written, this book is a good vehicle for learning the more intuitive rather than formal aspects of the subject. It is therefore of value to scientists with a minimal background in quantum mechanics, but is sufficiently substantive to have been recommended for graduate students interested in the fields covered in the text.In the second edition, the material begins with an exceptionally clear development of Rutherford scattering and, in the four following chapters, discusses sundry phenomenological issues concerning nuclear properties and structure, and general applications of radioactivity and of the nuclear force. This is followed by two chapters dealing with interactions of particles in matter, and how these characteristics are used to detect and identify such particles. A chapter on accelerators rounds out the experimental aspects of the field. The final seven chapters deal with elementary-particle phenomena, both before and after the realization of the Standard Model. This is interspersed with discussion of symmetries in classical physics and in the quantum domain, bringing into full focus the issues concerning CP violation, isotopic spin, and other symmetries. The final three chapters are devoted to the Standard Model and to possibly new physics beyond it, emphasizing unification of forces, supersymmetry, and other exciting areas of current research.The book contains several appendices on related subjects, such as special relativity, the nature of symmetry groups, etc. There are also many examples and problems in the text that are of value in gauging the reader's understanding of the material.
This lecture note provides a tutorial review of non-Abelian discrete groups and presents applications to particle physics where discrete symmetries constitute an important principle for model building. While Abelian discrete symmetries are often imposed in order to control couplings for particle physics—particularly model building beyond the standard model—non-Abelian discrete symmetries have been applied particularly to understand the three-generation flavor structure. The non-Abelian discrete symmetries are indeed considered to be the most attractive choice for a flavor sector: Model builders have tried to derive experimental values of quark and lepton masses, mixing angles and CP phases on the assumption of non-Abelian discrete flavor symmetries of quarks and leptons, yet lepton mixing has already been intensively discussed in this context as well. Possible origins of the non-Abelian discrete symmetry for flavors are another topic of interest, as they can arise from an underlying theory, e.g., the string theory or compactification via orbifolding as geometrical symmetries such as modular symmetries, thereby providing a possible bridge between the underlying theory and corresponding low-energy sector of particle physics. The book offers explicit introduction to the group theoretical aspects of many concrete groups, and readers learn how to derive conjugacy classes, characters, representations, tensor products, and automorphisms for these groups (with a finite number) when algebraic relations are given, thereby enabling readers to apply this to other groups of interest. Further, CP symmetry and modular symmetry are also presented.
