An introduction to the standard model of particle physics. 2nd ed. (English) Zbl 1126.81002

Cottingham, W. Noel; Greenwood, Derek A.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (ISBN 978-0-521-85249-4/hbk). xix, 272 p. (2007).

The second edition of this textbook summarizes in less than 300 pages the accumulation of theoretical and experimental facts in the Standard Model of Elementary Particles. The expectancy is that the reader masters the non-relativistic Quantum Mechanics and possesses elementary knowledge of Particle Physics. The main task of the book is to present in a self-contained manner theoretical concepts from electromagnetic and weak interaction of leptons and quarks to the strong interaction of quarks. In the first part of the book, the mathematical foundations are exposed: matrix algebra, Lorentz transformation, symmetry groups, Lagrange formalism, Dirac equation. The field quantization is then introduced and how actually simple Quantum Field calculations are performed is illustrated and the renormalization is qualitatively explained. Symmetry breaking and Miggs-mechanism, massive gauge fields, electroweak theory, the Kobayashi-Masakawa-Matrix and the CP-violation, quantum chromodynamics and Neutrino masses and mixing, anomalies, are disussed in the rest of the book. In the previous edition it was assumed that neutrinos are massless, whereas in the present edition the considerations are extended to non-vanishing neutrino masses. An account of the advances in the theory of strong interactions and neutrino physics is another novelty compared to the first edition. A noticeable feature of the text is that it stays steadily compact and avoids introducing too many details. There are many derivations of the formulas, calculation of processes and illustrative problems at the end of each chapter.

Reviewer: Serban Misicu (Bucureşti)

MSC:

81-01	Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to quantum theory
81V22	Unified quantum theories
81T13	Yang-Mills and other gauge theories in quantum field theory
81T15	Perturbative methods of renormalization applied to problems in quantum field theory
81T50	Anomalies in quantum field theory
81V05	Strong interaction, including quantum chromodynamics
81V10	Electromagnetic interaction; quantum electrodynamics
81V15	Weak interaction in quantum theory
70S05	Lagrangian formalism and Hamiltonian formalism in mechanics of particles and systems
70S10	Symmetries and conservation laws in mechanics of particles and systems
70S15	Yang-Mills and other gauge theories in mechanics of particles and systems

Keywords:

standard model; renormalisation; symmetry breaking; neutrino oscillations; anomalies

Citations:

Zbl 0965.81136