This book takes the reader from some elementary ideas about groups to the essence of the Standard Model of particle physics along a relatively straight and intuitive path. Groups alone are first used to arrive at a classical analog of the Dirac equation. Using elementary quantum mechanics, this analog can be turned into the actual Dirac equation, which governs the motion of the quarks and leptons of the Standard Model. After an introduction to the gauge principle, the groups introduced in the beginning of the book are used to give an introduction to the Standard Model. The idea is to give an Olympian view of this evolution, one that is often missing when absorbing the detailed subject matter of the Standard Model as presented in an historical approach to the subject.
Sample Chapter(s)
Chapter 1: Groups (216 KB)
Contents:
- Preface
- Groups
- A Semblance of the Dirac Equation From Groups
- Minimalist Quantum Mechanics
- Gauge Principle
- Standard Model Beginnings
- Particles of the Standard Model and QCD
- Appendix A: The Particle Enigma
- Appendix B: Spinor Representations of the Lorentz Group
- Appendix C: The Schwinger Term
- Appendix D: The Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
- A Few Reference Books
- Index
Readership: Undergraduate students and academics interested in the Standard Model.
