The search for the elementary constituents of the physical universe and the interactions between them has transformed over time and continues to evolve today, as we seek answers to questions about the existence of stars, galaxies, and humankind. Integrating both theoretical and experimental work, Exploring Fundamental Particles traces the development of this fascinating field, from the discoveries of Newton, Fermi, and Feynman to the detection of CP violation and neutrinos to the quest to observe the Higgs boson and beyond.
An Accessible yet In-Depth Account of How Fundamental Particles Shape Our World
The book first examines the experiments and theoretical ideas that gave rise to the standard model. It discusses special relativity, angular momentum, spin, the Dirac electron, quantum field theory, Feynman diagrams, Pauli’s neutrino, Fermi’s weak interaction, Yukawa’s pion, the muon neutrino, quarks, leptons, and flavor symmetry.
The authors then explain the violation of the symmetry between matter and antimatter, known as CP violation. They cover the discoveries of CP violation in the decays of kaons and B mesons as well as future experiments that could detect possible CP violation beyond the standard model.
In the next part, the authors present experimental results involving the once-mysterious neutrino. They explore the evidence that neutrinos have mass, new neutrino experiments in various countries, and the potential of neutrino astronomy to offer a new perspective on stars and galaxies.
The final section focuses on the one undetected particle of the standard model: the Higgs boson. The authors review the experiments that established important constraints on the mass of the Higgs particle. They also highlight recent experiments of the Tevatron particle accelerator at Fermilab, along with the near future impact of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN and the longer term impact of the International Linear Collider (ILC).
The Foundation for New Discoveries
A clear picture of the historic breakthroughs and latest findings in the particle physics community, this book guides you through the theories and experiments surrounding fundamental particles and the main forces between them. It sets the stage for the next transformation in modern science.
GENESIS OF THE STANDARD MODEL
The Foundation of Modern Physics: The Legacy of Newton
Simple Quantitative Laws
Fundamental Interactions
Fields
Cosmological Principles
Was Newton Wrong? The Relation of New Theories to Old
The Role of Probability
Waves That Are Particles; Particles That Are Waves
Particles versus Waves
What Is Light? Light Is a Wave
The Birth of Special Relativity
What Is Light? Light Is a Particle
De Broglie and Schrödinger: The Electron as a Wave
Particles That Spin
Angular Momentum and Spin
Helicity
The Dirac Electron
Polarization and the Photon Spin
Understanding Quantum Electrodynamics: Feynman to the Rescue
Quantum Field Theory and Feynman Diagrams
Gregarious Particles and Lonesome Particles: Spin and Statistics
The Birth of Particle Physics: Pauli’s Neutrino, Fermi’s Weak Interaction, and Yukawa’s Pion
Electron, Proton, and Neutron
Beta Decay and Pauli’s Neutrino
Fermi’s Weak Interaction
Nuclear Forces and Yukawa’s Pion
The Muon: Who Ordered That?
The Muon Neutrino: A New Kind of Nothing
Strange Particles
Learning to Live with Gell-Mann’s Quarks
Origin of the Quark Theory
A Weekend in November: The Discovery of Charm
Another Version of the Rutherford
Scattering Experiment
Quantum Chromodynamics
Jets
Beautiful Symmetries Found and Lost
Discrete and Continuous Symmetries
Mirror Symmetry: P for Parity
Madame Wu’s Amazing Discovery
C for Charge Conjugation
CP Symmetry
T for Time Reversal
Emergence of the Standard Model
Weinberg: A Model of Leptons
The Experimental Triumph of the Standard Model
Flavor Physics
Standard Model with Two Families
Standard Model with Three Families
The Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa Matrix
Yukawa Couplings, Masses, and Mixing
Our Current View of Nature’s Building Blocks: (What We Have Learned So Far)
The Four Interactions of Nature
The Fundamental Building Blocks of Matter
Interactions Are Mediated by Particles
The Standard Model and Large Laboratories
CP VIOLATION: THE ASYMMETRY BETWEEN MATTER AND ANTIMATTER
CP Violation in Kaon Decays
The Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa Matrix: CP Violation in the Standard Model
CP Violation with B Mesons
CP Violation at the B Factories
CP Violation in the Bs System
Checking the Standard Model: The Rho-Eta Plane
CP Violation: Where Do We Go from Here?
Further Constraints on the Rho-Eta Plane
Quantities That Are Small in the Standard Model
THE AMAZING STORY OF THE NEUTRINO
The Mystery of the Missing Neutrinos: Neutrino Oscillations
Neutrinos from the Sun
Neutrino Astronomy: A New Way to Study the Universe
Neutrinos from Stars
Neutrinos from the Early Universe: Neutrinos as Dark Matter
Neutrino Mass and Physics beyond the Standard Model
CP Violation in Neutrino Mixing?
Experimental Search
Leptogenesis
THE HUNT FOR THE MYSTERIOUS HIGGS
Why We Believe in the Higgs
The Standard Model Needs the Higgs Mechanism
Theoretical Calculations Need the Higgs Particle
What We Know from Experiment So Far
Indirect Experimental Evidence for the Higgs Boson: The Importance of Virtual Effects
Detecting the Higgs Boson Directly
Direct Higgs Searches at LEP
Direct Higgs Searches at the Tevatron
What We Hope to Learn from the LHC
What Is the LHC?
Higgs Searches at LHC
Disaster? If the LHC Cannot Find the Higgs Boson
If the LHC Discovers the Higgs Boson, Is That the End of the Story?
Possibilities for the Future
Multi-Higgs Models
The Need for Further Tests and the Importance of ILC
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Important Twenty-First Century Experiments
Appendix 2: Renormalization, Running Coupling Constants, and Grand Unified Theories
Appendix 3: Complex Numbers, Complex Fields, and Gauge Invariance
Appendix 4: Unitary Matrices
Appendix 5: Energy and Momentum in Special Relativity and the Uncertainty Principle
Biography
Lincoln Wolfenstein is professor emeritus at Carnegie Mellon University. He has made landmark contributions to the particle physics community, including his prediction and study of the influence of matter on neutrino oscillations, now known as the Mikheyev–Smirnov–Wolfenstein effect. Dr. Wolfenstein has been a recipient of the J.J. Sakurai Prize of the American Physical Society and the Bruno Pontecorvo Prize of the Scientific Council of the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (Dubna, Russia).
João P. Silva is a faculty member at the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa and works at the Centro de Física Teórica de Partículas. Dr. Silva was a Fulbright Scholar at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. He also co-authored a research textbook on CP violation.
The authors are well qualified to undertake such an introduction to particle and high-energy physics in view of their theoretical and practical experience … For a clear and comparatively simple overview of the concepts, nomenclature and salient features of the Standard Model, this introductory text offers a wealth of information and can be recommended as a jumping off point for more detailed specialist study.
—Eric Sheldon, Contemporary Physics, 52, 2011
