Klappentext

The last few years have seen particular excitement in particle physics, culminating in the experimental confirmation of the W and Z particles. Ian Kenyon, who was involved in the UA1 experiment at CERN that searched for the particles, provides an introduction to particle physics and takes a refreshingly non-historical approach. The aim of the book has been to concentrate on the 'standard model' and the gauge symmetries because these form the core of the subject. Leptons, quarks and forces are introduced at the beginning. After this introduction the gauge theories are dealt with in order of increasing complexity. Attention is then focussed on the hadrons - deep inelastic scattering of hadrons, then hadron spectroscopy and finally hadron interactions. Current developments beyond the standard model appear in the last chapter.

Zusammenfassung
This is a refreshing, non-historic approach to particle physics. It concentrates on the 'standard model' and the gauge symmetries, since these form the core of the subject. After this introduction, the gauge theories are covered followed by the hadrons.

Inhalt
Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. Leptons, quarks and forces. Experimental techniques. QED and the gauge principle. Symmetries and conservation laws. Colour and quantum chromodynamics. The V-A theory of weak interactions. Electroweak unification. Electroweak probes of hadron structure. Hadronic flavour. Hadron-hadron interactions. Ways forward. Appendix A: two-body kinematics, cross sections and decay rates. Appendix B: Breit-Wigner formula. Appendix C: Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for SU(2). Appendix D: Dirac equation and its solutions. Appendix E: the electromagnetic cross-section for 1/2+1/2+ - 1/2+1/2+. Appendix F: problems and solutions. Appendix G: tables of particle properties. Index.