Download PDF Elementary Particle Physics Volume 1: Quantum Field Theory and Particles by Yorikiyo Nagashima

Sinopsis

Particle physics, also known as high-energy physics, is the field of natural science that pursues the ultimate structure of matter. This is possible in two ways. One is to look for elementary particles, the ultimate constituents of matter at their smallest scale, and the other is to clarify what interactions are acting among them to construct matter as we see them. The exploitable size of microscopic objects becomes smaller as technology develops. What was regarded as an elementary particle at one time is recognized as a structured object and relinquishes the title of “elementary particle” to more fundamental particles in the next era. This process has been repeated many times throughout the history of science.

In the 19th century, when modern atomic theory was established, the exploitable size of the microscopic object was 10 10 m and the atom was “the elementary particle”. Then it was recognized as a structured object when J.J. Thomson extracted electrons in 1897 from matter in the form of cathode rays. Its real structure (the Rutherford model) was clarified by investigating the scattering pattern of α-particles striking a golden foil. In 1932, Chadwick discovered that the nucleus, the core of the atom, consisted of protons and neutrons. In the same year, Lawrence constructed the first cyclotron. In 1934 Fermi proposed a theory of weak interactions. In 1935 Yukawa proposed the meson theory to explain the nuclear force acting among them.

It is probably fair to say that the modern history of elementary particles began around this time. The protons and neutrons together with their companion pions, which are collectively called hadrons, were considered as elementary particles until ca. 1960. We now know that they are composed of more fundamental particles, the quarks. Electrons remain elementary to this day. Muons and τ-leptons, which were found later, are nothing but heavy electrons, as far as the present technology can tell, and they are collectively dubbed leptons. Quarks and leptons are the fundamental building blocks of matter. The microscopic size that can be explored by modern technology is nearing 10 19 m. The quarks and leptons are elementary at this level. They may or may not be at a smaller level. The popular string theory regards the most fundamental matter constituent not as a particle but as a string at the Planck scale ( 10 35 m), but in this book we limit ourselves to treating only experimentally established facts and foreseeable extensions of their models.

Content

1. Introduction
2. Particles and Fields
3. Lorentz Invariance
4. Dirac Equation
5. Field Quantization
6. Scattering Matrix
7. Qed: Quantum Electrodynamics
8. Radiative Corrections and Tests of Qed*
9. Symmetries
10. Path Integral: Basics
11. Path Integral Approach to Field Theory
12. Accelerator and Detector Technology
13. Spectroscopy
14. The Quark Model
15. Weak Interaction
16. Neutral Kaons and CP Violation*
17. Hadron Structure
18. Gauge Theories
19. Epilogue
20. Spinor Representation

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