This is a practical introduction to the principal ideas in gauge theory and their applications to elementary particle physics. It explains technique and methodology with simple exposition backed up by many illustrative examples. Derivations, some of well known results, are presented in sufficient detail to make the text accessible to readers entering the field for the first time. The book focuses on the strong interaction theory of quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak interaction theory of Glashow, Weinberg, and Salam, as well as the grand unification theory, exemplified by the simplest SU(5) model. Not intended as an exhaustive survey, the book nevertheless provides the general background necessary for a serious student who wishes to specialize in the field of elementary particle theory. Physicists with an interest in general aspects of gauge theory will also find the book highly useful.
A thoroughly revised edition of a landmark textbook on gauge theories and their applications to particle physics This completely revised and updated graduate-level textbook is an ideal introduction to gauge theories and their applications to high-energy particle physics, and takes an in-depth look at two new laws of nature—quantum chromodynamics and the electroweak theory. From quantum electrodynamics through unified theories of the interactions among leptons and quarks, Chris Quigg examines the logic and structure behind gauge theories and the experimental underpinnings of today's theories. Quigg emphasizes how we know what we know, and in the era of the Large Hadron Collider, his insightful survey of the standard model and the next great questions for particle physics makes for compelling reading. The brand-new edition shows how the electroweak theory developed in conversation with experiment. Featuring a wide-ranging treatment of electroweak symmetry breaking, the physics of the Higgs boson, and the importance of the 1-TeV scale, the book moves beyond established knowledge and investigates the path toward unified theories of strong, weak, and electromagnetic interactions. Explicit calculations and diverse exercises allow readers to derive the consequences of these theories. Extensive annotated bibliographies accompany each chapter, amplify points of conceptual or technical interest, introduce further applications, and lead readers to the research literature. Students and seasoned practitioners will profit from the text's current insights, and specialists wishing to understand gauge theories will find the book an ideal reference for self-study. Brand-new edition of a landmark text introducing gauge theories Consistent attention to how we know what we know Explicit calculations develop concepts and engage with experiment Interesting and diverse problems sharpen skills and ideas Extensive annotated bibliographies
The Standard Model is the foundation of modern particle and high energy physics. This book explains the mathematical background behind the Standard Model, translating ideas from physics into a mathematical language and vice versa. The first part of the book covers the mathematical theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, fibre bundles, connections, curvature and spinors. The second part then gives a detailed exposition of how these concepts are applied in physics, concerning topics such as the Lagrangians of gauge and matter fields, spontaneous symmetry breaking, the Higgs boson and mass generation of gauge bosons and fermions. The book also contains a chapter on advanced and modern topics in particle physics, such as neutrino masses, CP violation and Grand Unification. This carefully written textbook is aimed at graduate students of mathematics and physics. It contains numerous examples and more than 150 exercises, making it suitable for self-study and use alongside lecture courses. Only a basic knowledge of differentiable manifolds and special relativity is required, summarized in the appendix.
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Most appealing... technical accuracy and lightness of tone... Impeccable.”—Wall Street Journal “A porthole into another world.”—Scientific American “Brings science dissemination to a new level.”—Science The most trusted explainer of the most mind-boggling concepts pulls back the veil of mystery that has too long cloaked the most valuable building blocks of modern science. Sean Carroll, with his genius for making complex notions entertaining, presents in his uniquely lucid voice the fundamental ideas informing the modern physics of reality. Physics offers deep insights into the workings of the universe but those insights come in the form of equations that often look like gobbledygook. Sean Carroll shows that they are really like meaningful poems that can help us fly over sierras to discover a miraculous multidimensional landscape alive with radiant giants, warped space-time, and bewilderingly powerful forces. High school calculus is itself a centuries-old marvel as worthy of our gaze as the Mona Lisa. And it may come as a surprise the extent to which all our most cutting-edge ideas about black holes are built on the math calculus enables. No one else could so smoothly guide readers toward grasping the very equation Einstein used to describe his theory of general relativity. In the tradition of the legendary Richard Feynman lectures presented sixty years ago, this book is an inspiring, dazzling introduction to a way of seeing that will resonate across cultural and generational boundaries for many years to come.
This two-volume set provides an accessible, practical, and comprehensive introduction to the three gauge theories of the standard model of particle physics: quantum electrodynamics (QED), quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and the electroweak theory. For each of them, the authors provide a thorough discussion of the main conceptual points, a detailed exposition of many practical calculations of physical quantities, and a comparison of these quantitative predictions with experimental results. For this third edition, much has been rewritten to reflect developments over the last decade, both in the curricula of university courses and in particle physics research. On the one hand, substantial new material has been introduced that is intended for use in undergraduate physics courses. New introductory chapters provide a precise historical account of the properties of quarks and leptons and a qualitative overview of the quantum field description of their interactions, at a level appropriate to third year courses. The chapter on relativistic quantum mechanics has been enlarged and is supplemented by additional sections on scattering theory and Green functions, in a form appropriate to fourth-year courses. On the other hand, since precision experiments now test the theories beyond lowest order in perturbation theory, an understanding of the data requires a more sophisticated knowledge of quantum field theory, including ideas of renormalization. The treatment of quantum field theory has therefore been considerably extended to provide a uniquely accessible and self-contained introduction to quantum field dynamics as described by Feynman graphs. The level is suitable for advanced fourth-year undergraduates and first-year graduates. These developments are all contained in the first volume, which ends with a discussion of higher order corrections in QED. The second volume is devoted to the non-Abelian gauge theories of QCD and the electroweak theory. As in the first two editions, emphasis is placed throughout on developing realistic calculations from a secure physical and conceptual basis.
Volume 1 of this revised and updated edition provides an accessible and practical introduction to the first gauge theory included in the Standard Model of particle physics: quantum electrodynamics (QED).The book includes self-contained presentations of electromagnetism as a gauge theory as well as relativistic quantum mechanics. It provides a uniqu
The fourth edition of this well-established, highly regarded two-volume set continues to provide a fundamental introduction to advanced particle physics while incorporating substantial new experimental results, especially in the areas of CP violation and neutrino oscillations. It offers an accessible and practical introduction to the three gauge theories included in the Standard Model of particle physics: quantum electrodynamics (QED), quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and the Glashow-Salam-Weinberg (GSW) electroweak theory. In the first volume, a new chapter on Lorentz transformations and discrete symmetries presents a simple treatment of Lorentz transformations of Dirac spinors. Along with updating experimental results, this edition also introduces Majorana fermions at an early stage, making the material suitable for a first course in relativistic quantum mechanics. Covering much of the experimental progress made in the last ten years, the second volume remains focused on the two non-Abelian quantum gauge field theories of the Standard Model: QCD and the GSW electroweak theory. A new chapter on CP violation and oscillation phenomena describes CP violation in B-meson decays as well as the main experiments that have led to our current knowledge of mass-squared differences and mixing angles for neutrinos. Exploring a new era in particle physics, this edition discusses the exciting discovery of a boson with properties consistent with those of the Standard Model Higgs boson. It also updates many other topics, including jet algorithms, lattice QCD, effective Lagrangians, and three-generation quark mixing and the CKM matrix. This revised and updated edition provides a self-contained pedagogical treatment of the subject, from relativistic quantum mechanics to the frontiers of the Standard Model. For each theory, the authors discuss the main conceptual points, detail many practical calculations of physical quantities from first principles, and compare these quantitative predictions with experimental results, helping readers improve both their calculation skills and physical insight.
This is the first advanced, systematic and comprehensive look at weak decays in the framework of gauge theories. Included is a large spectrum of topics, both theoretical and experimental. In addition to explicit advanced calculations of Feynman diagrams and the study of renormalization group strong interaction effects in weak decays, the book is devoted to the Standard Model Effective Theory, dominating present phenomenology in this field, and to new physics models with the goal of searching for new particles and interactions through quantum fluctuations. This book will benefit theorists, experimental researchers, and Ph.D. students working on flavour physics and weak decays as well as physicists interested in physics beyond the Standard Model. In its concern for the search for new phenomena at short distance scales through the interplay between theory and experiment, this book constitutes a travel guide to physics far beyond the scales explored by the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
Acquaints readers with the main concepts and literature of elementary particle physics and quantum field theory. In particular, the book is concerned with the elaboration of gauge field theories in nuclear physics; the possibility of creating fundamental new states of matter such as an extended quark-gluon plasma in ultra-relativistic heavy ion collisions; and the relation of gauge theories to the creation and evolution of the universe. Divided into three parts, it opens with an introduction to the general principles of relativistic quantum field theory followed by the essential ingredients of gauge fields for weak and electromagnetic interactions, quantum chromodynamics and strong interactions. The third part is concerned with the interface between modern elementary particle physics and "applied disciplines" such as nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Includes references and numerous exercises.
