Electroweak Theory

Concise introduction to electroweak theory for graduate students and researchers in elementary particle physics.

E. A. Paschos (Author)

9780521860987, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 March 2007

260 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1.6 cm, 0.684 kg

Review of the hardback: '… the author has an enviable skill of describing complicated phenomena in clear and concise prose. As a teacher of the subject myself, his discussion of field theories in Part II has given me a deeper insight and a better understanding which I can give to my students.' The Observatory

The electroweak theory unifies two basic forces of nature: the weak force and electromagnetism. This 2007 book is a concise introduction to the structure of the electroweak theory and its applications. It describes the structure and properties of field theories with global and local symmetries, leading to the construction of the standard model. It describes the particles and processes predicted by the theory, and compares them with experimental results. It also covers neutral currents, the properties of W and Z bosons, the properties of quarks and mesons containing heavy quarks, neutrino oscillations, CP-asymmetries in K, D, and B meson decays, and the search for Higgs particles. Each chapter contains problems, stemming from the long teaching experience of the author, to supplement the text. This will be of great interest to graduate students and researchers in elementary particle physics.

Preface
Part I. The Road to Unification: 1. The electromagnetic current and its properties
2. The weak currents
3. The quark model
Part II. Field Theories with Global or Local Symmetries: 4. Yang–Mills theories
5. Spontaneous breaking of symmetries
6. Construction of the model
7. The Higgs mechanism in the Glashow–Salam–Weinberg model
8. The leptonic sector
9. Incorporating hadrons
Part III. Experimental Consequences and Comparisons: 10. Deep inelastic scattering
11. Charged current reactions
12. Neutral currents in semileptonic reactions
13. Physics of neutrinos
14. Heavy quarks
15. CP violation: K mesons
16. CP violation: D and B mesons
17. Higgs particles
Epilogue
Appendix A. Conventions, spinors, and currents
Appendix B. Cross sections and traces
Appendix C. Identities for quark bilinears
Index.

Subject Areas: Particle & high-energy physics [PHP], Mathematics [PB]