Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics

by Veltman, Martinus

• ISBN13: 9789812381491
• ISBN10: 981238149X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-06-01
• Publisher: World Scientific Pub Co Inc

Summary

This book provides a comprehensive overview of modern particle physics accessible to anyone with a true passion for wanting to know how the universe works. We are introduced to the known particles of the world we live in. An elegant explanation of quantum mechanics and relativity paves the way for an understanding of the laws that govern particle physics. These laws are put into action in the world of accelerators, colliders and detectors found at institutions such as CERN and Fermilab that are in the forefront of technical innovation. Real world and theory meet using Feynman diagrams to solve the problems of infinities and deduce the need for the Higgs boson.

Facts and Mysteries in Elementary Particle Physics offers an incredible insight from an eyewitness and participant in some of the greatest discoveries in 20th century science. From Einstein's theory of relativity to the elusive Higgs particle, this book will fascinate and educate anyone interested in the world of quarks, leptons and gauge theories.

This book also contains many thumbnail sketches of p

Author Biography

Martinus Veltman, born in 1931 in Waalwijk, the Netherlands, studied at the University of Utrecht. He started as a fellow at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland, and later became Professor of Theoretical Physics in Utrecht. Together with his then student 't Hooft he developed the mathematical implementation of gauge theories. In 1977 he deduced an equation that allowed a prediction of the mass of the top quark. In 1981 he accepted a position at the University of Michigan. After retirement he moved back to the Netherlands. The top quark with a mass as predicted was found at Fermilab in 1995, and in 1999 't Hooft and Veltman were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics, "for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics"

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(4)
Acknowledgments	5	(1)
Further Reading	5	(1)
Thumbnail Sketches	6	(1)
Equations	7	(1)
Preliminaries	8	(27)
Atoms, Nuclei and Particles	8	(7)
Photons	15	(4)
Antiparticles	19	(2)
Mass and Energy	21	(3)
Events	24	(6)
Electron-Volts and Other Units	30	(2)
Particle Names and the Greek Alphabet	32	(1)
Scientific Notation	33	(2)
The Standard Model	35	(50)
Introduction	35	(5)
Conservation of Energy and Charge	40	(3)
Quantum Numbers	43	(2)
Color	45	(4)
The Electron-Neutrino, Electron Number and Crossing	49	(4)
The First Family	53	(2)
Families and Forces	55	(7)
The Spin 1/2 Particles	62	(6)
The Spin 1 and 2 Particles	68	(1)
Forces and Interactions	69	(2)
Classification of Interactions	71	(4)
Electromagnetic, Weak, Strong, Higgs and Gravitational Interactions	75	(2)
Representing Interactions	77	(6)
The Origin of Quantum Numbers	83	(2)
Quantum Mechanics, Mixing	85	(30)
Introduction	85	(3)
The Two-Slit Experiment	88	(4)
Amplitude and Probability	92	(7)
Cabibbo and CKM Mixing	99	(9)
Neutrino Mixing	108	(1)
Particle Mixing	109	(6)
Energy, Momentum and Mass-Shell	115	(25)
Introduction	115	(3)
Conservation Laws	118	(8)
Relativity	126	(5)
Relativistic Invariance	131	(5)
The Relation E = mc2	136	(4)
Detection	140	(21)
Introduction	140	(6)
Photoelectric Effect	146	(6)
Bubble Chambers	152	(5)
Spark Chambers	157	(2)
Proportional Wire Chambers	159	(2)
Accelerators and Storage Rings	161	(28)
Energy Bubbles	161	(4)
Accelerators	165	(13)
Secondary Beams	178	(3)
The Machine Builders	181	(8)
The CERN Neutrino Experiment	189	(30)
Introduction	189	(6)
Experimental Set-up	195	(5)
Neutrino Physics	200	(5)
The First Neutrino Experiments	205	(3)
Vector Bosons	208	(5)
Missed Opportunities	213	(5)
Epilogue	218	(1)
The Particle Zoo	219	(25)
Introduction	219	(3)
Bound States	222	(3)
The Structure of Quark Bound States	225	(4)
Spin of a Bound State	229	(1)
Mesons	230	(4)
Baryons	234	(2)
Exotics	236	(1)
Discovering Quarks	237	(4)
Triplets versus Doublets and Lepton-Quark Symmetry	241	(3)
Particle Theory	244	(41)
Introduction	244	(2)
Feynman Rules	246	(9)
Infinities	255	(3)
Perturbation Theory	258	(6)
Renormalizability	264	(3)
Weak Interactions	267	(3)
Compton Scattering	270	(3)
Neutral Vector Bosons	273	(3)
Charmed Quarks	276	(3)
The Higgs Particle	279	(2)
General Higgs Couplings	281	(1)
Speculations	282	(1)
ρ-Parameter	283	(2)
Finding the Higgs	285	(8)
Quantum Chromodynamics	293	(11)
Introduction	293	(2)
Confinement	295	(2)
Asymptotic Freedom	297	(3)
Scaling	300	(4)
Epilogue	304	(5)
Name Index	309	(8)
Subject Index	317	(20)
Photo Credits	337