Symmetries, Particles and Fields

Symmetries, Particles and Fields PDF Author: Ben Allanach
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781739940690
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122

Get Book Here

Book Description
A coursebook for a Master's level course at the University of Cambridge to prepare students for a Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics. Lie groups and Lie algebras are important in the construction of quantum field theories that describe interactions between known particles. One particle states are described in terms of irreducible representations of the Poincare group, a Lie group. Quantum fields may be acted on by operators of the Poincare group. Gauge theories, which describe many of the interactions in the Standard Model of particle physics, also rely on Lie groups. We assume knowledge of quantum mechanics, linear algebras, and vector spaces at the undergraduate level. We do not require knowledge of quantum field theory, although the book was designed with the assumption that some basic quantum field theory is studied simultaneously (in particular, the construction of Lagrangian densities in terms of fields); then, a few applications will make more sense. After some basic properties and preliminaries, we introduce matrix Lie groups, which rely on continuous parameters. Differentially, these act as a Lie algebra. The exponential map connects the Lie algebra to the Lie group. We then introduce representations in terms of square matrices, describing how to construct various new representations in terms of combinations of others. The group of rotations in three-dimensional space SO(3) is examined, along with SU(2) and the connection to angular momentum states in quantum theory. Representations of each are covered. The relativistic symmetries (the Lorentz group and the Poincare group in four dimensions) are studied from the point of view of their group elements and Lie algebras. Analysis of compact simple Lie algebras and their finite representations comes from mapping them to a geometrical picture involving roots and weights via the Cartan matrix. An overview of the results of the Cartan classification of simple Lie algebras is included. An application in terms of representations of a global SU(3)F flavour symmetry explains some features of the spectrum of hadronic particles. Further properties of the spectrum lead one to introduce an additional local SU(3)c colour symmetry leading to a particular gauge theory called quantum chromodynamics. We cover abelian and non-abelian gauge theories before returning to irreducible induced representations of the Poincare group, which are used to describe one-particle states.

Symmetries, Particles and Fields

Symmetries, Particles and Fields PDF Author: Ben Allanach
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781739940690
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 122

Get Book Here

Book Description
A coursebook for a Master's level course at the University of Cambridge to prepare students for a Ph.D. in theoretical particle physics. Lie groups and Lie algebras are important in the construction of quantum field theories that describe interactions between known particles. One particle states are described in terms of irreducible representations of the Poincare group, a Lie group. Quantum fields may be acted on by operators of the Poincare group. Gauge theories, which describe many of the interactions in the Standard Model of particle physics, also rely on Lie groups. We assume knowledge of quantum mechanics, linear algebras, and vector spaces at the undergraduate level. We do not require knowledge of quantum field theory, although the book was designed with the assumption that some basic quantum field theory is studied simultaneously (in particular, the construction of Lagrangian densities in terms of fields); then, a few applications will make more sense. After some basic properties and preliminaries, we introduce matrix Lie groups, which rely on continuous parameters. Differentially, these act as a Lie algebra. The exponential map connects the Lie algebra to the Lie group. We then introduce representations in terms of square matrices, describing how to construct various new representations in terms of combinations of others. The group of rotations in three-dimensional space SO(3) is examined, along with SU(2) and the connection to angular momentum states in quantum theory. Representations of each are covered. The relativistic symmetries (the Lorentz group and the Poincare group in four dimensions) are studied from the point of view of their group elements and Lie algebras. Analysis of compact simple Lie algebras and their finite representations comes from mapping them to a geometrical picture involving roots and weights via the Cartan matrix. An overview of the results of the Cartan classification of simple Lie algebras is included. An application in terms of representations of a global SU(3)F flavour symmetry explains some features of the spectrum of hadronic particles. Further properties of the spectrum lead one to introduce an additional local SU(3)c colour symmetry leading to a particular gauge theory called quantum chromodynamics. We cover abelian and non-abelian gauge theories before returning to irreducible induced representations of the Poincare group, which are used to describe one-particle states.

Fields, Symmetries, and Quarks

Fields, Symmetries, and Quarks PDF Author: Ulrich Mosel
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3662038412
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 301

Get Book Here

Book Description
This revised and extended edition of the book Fields, Symmetries, and Quarks, originally published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Hamburg, 1989, contains a new chapter on electroweak interactions which has also grown out of lectures that I have given in the meantime. In addition, a number of changes, mainly in the metric used, in the discussion of the theory of strong interactions, QCD, and in the chapter on hadron physics, have been made and errors have been corrected. The motivation for this book, however, is still the same as it was 10 years ago: This is a book on quantum field theory and our present understanding of leptons and hadrons for advanced students and the non-specialists and, in particular, the experimentalists working on problems of nuclear and hadron physics. I am grateful to Dr. S. Leupold for a very careful reading of the revised manuscript, many corrections, and helpful suggestions and to C. Traxler for producing the figures and for constructive discussions.

Symmetry Principles Particle Physics

Symmetry Principles Particle Physics PDF Author: W. M. Gibson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521207874
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 404

Get Book Here

Book Description
An understanding of the properties and interactions of the elementary particles is an essential prerequisite of research work in high energy physics. Much progress in the subject has been achieved with the aid of symmetry principles. In this 1980 book the concept of symmetry or invariance is employed as a unifying theme. Using a careful explanation of the mathematical formalism and with many applications to particular cases, the authors introduce the reader to the symmetry schemes which dominate the world of the particle physicist. The presentation will also appeal to mathematicians and physicists in other fields who are interested in the applications of the general principles of symmetry. After a brief survey of the particles and a review of the relevant quantum mechanics, the principal symmetries are studied in turn. Some technical points are relegated to appendices and the book contains extensive references.

Deformations of Spacetime Symmetries

Deformations of Spacetime Symmetries PDF Author: Michele Arzano
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783662630969
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Get Book Here

Book Description


Symmetries and Group Theory in Particle Physics

Symmetries and Group Theory in Particle Physics PDF Author: Giovanni Costa
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3642154824
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 300

Get Book Here

Book Description
Symmetries, coupled with the mathematical concept of group theory, are an essential conceptual backbone in the formulation of quantum field theories capable of describing the world of elementary particles. This primer is an introduction to and survey of the underlying concepts and structures needed in order to understand and handle these powerful tools. Specifically, in Part I of the book the symmetries and related group theoretical structures of the Minkowskian space-time manifold are analyzed, while Part II examines the internal symmetries and their related unitary groups, where the interactions between fundamental particles are encoded as we know them from the present standard model of particle physics. This book, based on several courses given by the authors, addresses advanced graduate students and non-specialist researchers wishing to enter active research in the field, and having a working knowledge of classical field theory and relativistic quantum mechanics. Numerous end-of-chapter problems and their solutions will facilitate the use of this book as self-study guide or as course book for topical lectures.

Particles And Quantum Fields

Particles And Quantum Fields PDF Author: Hagen Kleinert
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 9814740926
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 1628

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is an introductory book on elementary particles and their interactions. It starts out with many-body Schrödinger theory and second quantization and leads, via its generalization, to relativistic fields of various spins and to gravity. The text begins with the best known quantum field theory so far, the quantum electrodynamics of photon and electrons (QED). It continues by developing the theory of strong interactions between the elementary constituents of matter (quarks). This is possible due to the property called asymptotic freedom. On the way one has to tackle the problem of removing various infinities by renormalization. The divergent sums of infinitely many diagrams are performed with the renormalization group or by variational perturbation theory (VPT). The latter is an outcome of the Feynman-Kleinert variational approach to path integrals discussed in two earlier books of the author, one representing a comprehensive treatise on path integrals, the other dealing with critial phenomena. Unlike ordinary perturbation theory, VPT produces uniformly convergent series which are valid from weak to strong couplings, where they describe critical phenomena.The present book develops the theory of effective actions which allow to treat quantum phenomena with classical formalism. For example, it derives the observed anomalous power laws of strongly interacting theories from an extremum of the action. Their fluctuations are not based on Gaussian distributions, as in the perturbative treatment of quantum field theories, or in asymptotically-free theories, but on deviations from the average which are much larger and which obey power-like distributions.Exactly solvable models are discussed and their physical properties are compared with those derived from general methods. In the last chapter we discuss the problem of quantizing the classical theory of gravity.

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe PDF Author: Sean Carroll
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0593186583
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 305

Get Book Here

Book Description
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Most appealing... technical accuracy and lightness of tone... Impeccable.”—Wall Street Journal “A porthole into another world.”—Scientific American “Brings science dissemination to a new level.”—Science The most trusted explainer of the most mind-boggling concepts pulls back the veil of mystery that has too long cloaked the most valuable building blocks of modern science. Sean Carroll, with his genius for making complex notions entertaining, presents in his uniquely lucid voice the fundamental ideas informing the modern physics of reality. Physics offers deep insights into the workings of the universe but those insights come in the form of equations that often look like gobbledygook. Sean Carroll shows that they are really like meaningful poems that can help us fly over sierras to discover a miraculous multidimensional landscape alive with radiant giants, warped space-time, and bewilderingly powerful forces. High school calculus is itself a centuries-old marvel as worthy of our gaze as the Mona Lisa. And it may come as a surprise the extent to which all our most cutting-edge ideas about black holes are built on the math calculus enables. No one else could so smoothly guide readers toward grasping the very equation Einstein used to describe his theory of general relativity. In the tradition of the legendary Richard Feynman lectures presented sixty years ago, this book is an inspiring, dazzling introduction to a way of seeing that will resonate across cultural and generational boundaries for many years to come.

Symmetries, Lie Algebras and Representations

Symmetries, Lie Algebras and Representations PDF Author: Jürgen Fuchs
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521541190
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 464

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book gives an introduction to Lie algebras and their representations. Lie algebras have many applications in mathematics and physics, and any physicist or applied mathematician must nowadays be well acquainted with them.

Physics from Symmetry

Physics from Symmetry PDF Author: Jakob Schwichtenberg
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319666312
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Get Book Here

Book Description
This is a textbook that derives the fundamental theories of physics from symmetry. It starts by introducing, in a completely self-contained way, all mathematical tools needed to use symmetry ideas in physics. Thereafter, these tools are put into action and by using symmetry constraints, the fundamental equations of Quantum Mechanics, Quantum Field Theory, Electromagnetism, and Classical Mechanics are derived. As a result, the reader is able to understand the basic assumptions behind, and the connections between the modern theories of physics. The book concludes with first applications of the previously derived equations. Thanks to the input of readers from around the world, this second edition has been purged of typographical errors and also contains several revised sections with improved explanations.

Symmetries and Conservation Laws in Particle Physics

Symmetries and Conservation Laws in Particle Physics PDF Author: Stephen Haywood
Publisher: World Scientific
ISBN: 1848166591
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 167

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book will explain how group theory underpins some of the key features of particle physics. It will examine symmetries and conservation laws in quantum mechanics and relate these to groups of transformations. Group theory provides the language for describing how particles (and in particular, their quantum numbers) combine. This provides understanding of hadronic physics as well as physics beyond the Standard Model. The symmetries of the Standard Model associated with the Electroweak and Strong (QCD) forces are described by the groups U(1), SU(2) and SU(3). The properties of these groups are examined and the relevance to particle physics is discussed.Stephen Haywood, author of Symmetries And Conservation Laws In Particle Physics, explains how his book can help experimental physicists and PhD students understand group theory and particle physics in our new video View the interview at http: //www.youtube.com/watch'v=jbQk78TBLS