Gauge Theories in Particle Physics, 40th Anniversary Edition: A Practical Introduction, Volume 1 : From Relativistic Quantum Mechanics to QED Fifth Edition

Abstract

The fifth edition of this well-established, highly regarded two-volume set continues to provide a fundamental introduction to advanced particle physics while incorporating substantial new experimental results, especially in the areas of Higgs and top sector physics, as well as CP violation and neutrino oscillations. It offers an accessible and practical introduction to the three gauge theories comprising the Standard Model of particle physics: quantum electrodynamics (QED), quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and the Glashow-Salam-Weinberg (GSW) electroweak theory.

Volume 1 of this updated edition provides a broad introduction to the first of these theories, QED. The book begins with self-contained presentations of relativistic quantum mechanics and electromagnetism as a gauge theory. Lorentz transformations, discrete symmetries, and Majorana fermions are covered. A unique feature is the elementary introduction to quantum field theory, leading in easy stages to covariant perturbation theory and Feynman graphs, thereby establishing a firm foundation for the formal and conceptual framework upon which the subsequent development of the three quantum gauge field theories of the Standard Model is based. Detailed tree-level calculations of physical processes in QED are presented, followed by an elementary treatment of one-loop renormalization of a model scalar field theory, and then by the realistic case of QED. The text includes updates on nucleon structure functions and the status of QED, in particular the precision tests provided by the anomalous magnetic moments of the electron and muon.

The authors discuss the main conceptual points of the theory, detail many practical calculations of physical quantities from first principles, and compare these quantitative predictions with experimental results, helping readers improve both their calculation skills and physical insight. Each volume should serve as a valuable handbook for students and researchers in advanced particle physics looking for an introduction to the Standard Model of particle physics.

Ian J.R. Aitchison is Emeritus Professor of Physics at the University of Oxford. He has previously held research positions at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Saclay, and the University of Cambridge. He was a visiting professor at the University of Rochester and the University of Washington, and a scientific associate at CERN and SLAC. Dr. Aitchison has published over 90 scientific papers mainly on hadronic physics and quantum field theory. He is the author of two books and joint editor of further two.

Anthony J.G. Hey is now Honorary Senior Data Scientist at the UK’s National Laboratory at Harwell. He began his career with a doctorate in particle physics from the University of Oxford. After a career in particle physics that included a professorship at the University of Southampton and research positions at Caltech, MIT and CERN, he moved to Computer Science and founded a parallel computing research group. The group were one of the pioneers of distributed memory message-passing computers and helped establish the ‘MPI’ message passing standard. After leaving Southampton in 2001 he was director of the UK’s ‘eScience’ initiative before becoming a Vice-President in Microsoft Research. He returned to the UK in 2015 as Chief Data Scientist at the U.K.’s Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. He then founded a new ‘Scientific Machine Learning’ group to apply AI technologies to the ‘Big Scientific Data’ generated by the Diamond Synchrotron, the ISIS neutron source, and the Central Laser Facility that are located on the Harwell campus. He is the author of over 100 scientific papers on physics and computing and editor of ‘The Feynman Lectures on Computation’.