This book begins with relativistic quantum mechanics, which lays the foundation for the rest of the text. The phenomenology and physics of fundamental interactions are emphasized through a detailed discussion of the empirical fundamentals of unified theories of strong, electromagnetic, and weak interactions. The principles of local gauge theories and the minimal standard model of the fundamental interactions are developed and characteristic applications are worked out. Further possibilities and the theory of interactions of elementary particles probing complex nuclei are also discussed. Numerous exercises with solutions make this an ideal text for graduate courses on quantum mechanics and elementary particle physics. "I very much enjoyed reading this book because great care has gone into its preparation ... . The author has achieved a good balance between the presentation of mathematical material and its use in the description of physical phenomena." (Physics Today)

Klappentext

After an introduction to relativistic quantum mechanics, which lays the foundation for the rest of the text, the author moves on to the phenomenology and physics of fundamental interactions via a detailed discussion of the empirical principles of unified theories of strong, electromagnetic, and weak interactions. There then follows a development of local gauge theories and the minimal standard model of the fundamental interactions together with their characteristic applications. The book concludes with further possibilities and the theory of interactions for elementary particles probing complex nuclei.
Numerous exercises with solutions make this an ideal text for graduate courses on quantum mechanics and elementary particle physics.

Inhalt

1 Fermion Fields and Their Properties.- 2 Electromagnetic Processes and Interactions.- 3 Weak Interactions and the Standard Model of Strong and Electroweak Interactions.- 4 Beyond the Minimal Standard Model.- 5 Scattering of Strongly Interacting Particles on Nuclei.- 6 Hadronic Atoms.- Appendix A. Lorentz Invariant Distributions.- Appendix B. 5-Matrix, Cross Sections, Decay Probabilities.- Appendix C2. Traces.- Appendix D. The Group SU(3).- Appendix E. Dirac Equation with Central Fields.- Books, Monographs and General Reviews of Data.- Exercises: Further Hints and Selected Solutions.