The Standard Model and Beyond

by Paul Langacker

Overview

This new edition of The Standard Model and Beyond presents an advanced introduction to the physics and formalism of the standard model and other non-abelian gauge theories. It provides a solid background for understanding supersymmetry, string theory, extra dimensions, dynamical symmetry breaking, and cosmology. In addition to updating all of the experimental and phenomenological results from the first edition, it contains a new chapter on collider physics; expanded discussions of Higgs, neutrino, and dark matter physics; and many new problems.

The book first reviews calculational techniques in field theory and the status of quantum electrodynamics. It then focuses on global and local symmetries and the construction of non-abelian gauge theories. The structure and tests of quantum chromodynamics, collider physics, the electroweak interactions and theory, and the physics of neutrino mass and mixing are thoroughly explored. The final chapter discusses the motivations for extending the standard model and examines supersymmetry, extended gauge groups, and grand unification.

Thoroughly covering gauge field theories, symmetries, and topics beyond the standard model, this text equips readers with the tools to understand the structure and phenomenological consequences of the standard model, to construct extensions, and to perform calculations at tree level. It establishes the necessary background for readers to carry out more advanced research in particle physics.

Supplementary materials are provided on the author’s website and a solutions manual is available for qualifying instructors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367573447
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	06/30/2020
Series:	Series in High Energy Physics, Cosmology and Gravitation
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	650
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Paul Langacker is an Emeritus Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently a Senior Scientist at Princeton University and a long-term visitor at the Institute for Advanced Study. His research has emphasized the connections between fundamental theory and experiment, and has included work in precision electroweak physics, grand unification, neutrino physics, Z’ physics, and string phenomenology.

Table of Contents

Notation and Conventions

Review of Perturbative Field Theory

Lie Groups, Lie Algebras, and Symmetries

Gauge Theories

The Strong Interactions and QCD

Collider Physics

The Weak Interactions

The Standard Electroweak Theory

Neutrino Mass and Mixing

Beyond the Standard Model

Appendix A: Canonical Commutation Rules

Appendix B: Derivation of a Simple Feynman Diagram

Appendix C: Unitarity, the Partial Wave Expansion, and the Optical Theorem

Appendix D: Two, Three, and nBody Phase Space

Appendix E: Calculation of the Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Electron

Appendix F: BreitWigner Resonances

Appendix G: Implications of P, C, T, and Gparity for Nucleon Matrix Elements

Appendix H: Quantum Mechanical Analogs of Symmetry Breaking

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

… Paul Langacker is a pioneer in the field of high-precision tests of the Standard Model. … Langacker’s book is likely to play a pivotal role at this juncture when the plethora of ‘new physics’ and alternative models have emerged while experimental data has become too intricate to be comprehensible even to the experts. … Masterly treatment on the Standard Model by Langacker in Chapter 7, in my opinion, is the heart of the book. … Decades of past experience of the author in the area of precision tests make the writing lucid and transparent. … A thorough study of the book would enable the reader to unravel the intricacies involved in the claims of ‘new physics.’ … Langacker comprehensively demonstrates the spectacular successes of the Standard Model … This book would be of great utility to learn and do high quality particle physics in the age of LHC for both theorists and experimentalists. What about ‘new physics’? As and when this happens, the contents of the book would be helpful to focus on the matter-of-fact physics and interpret the new data. …
—Contemporary Physics, Volume 52, Issue 3, 2011

… This substantial book — at more than 600 pages — gives a detailed and lucid summary of the theoretical foundations of the Standard Model, and possible extensions beyond it. …I heartily recommend it to particle physicists as a great single-volume reference, especially useful to experimentalists. It also provides a firm, graduate-level foundation for theoretical physicists who plan to pursue concepts beyond the Standard Model to a greater depth.
—Philip Burrows, John Adams Institute, Oxford University, UK, CERN Courier, June 2010

The Standard Model and Beyond is a state-of-the-art description of what we know about the particles and forces that build up the world we see. Most books that cover these topics are quantum field theory books that treat the quarks and leptons, and the electromagnetic, weak, and strong forces as examples. This is the first treatment with the opposite priorities, focusing on the structure and applications of the Standard Model and bringing in the field theory as needed, in a pedagogically reliable and thorough treatment. Langacker knows well that the Standard Model is the platform on which a deeper understanding of the laws of nature will be constructed, perhaps from clues soon to come from the Large Hadron Collider, and provides preparation so the reader can participate in that progress.
—Gordon Kane, Victor Weisskopf Collegiate Professor of Physics and Director of the Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

This book is a valuable addition to the field and will remain a classic reference for years to come. It is an indispensable guide to the elementary particle physics of the next decade. It contains many important topics which are hard to find elsewhere except in their undistilled original form. A suitable balance has been struck between standard and more speculative topics. The many exercises are well-chosen and interesting. This fine book deserves to be the primary text in a full-year course at the graduate level for students who have already been exposed to quantum field theory.
—Jonathan L. Rosner, University of Chicago, Illinois, USA

Editorial Reviews

"The textbook by Paul Langacker gives a comprehensive…overview about the Standard Model of Elementary Particle Physics and beyond…. the full Standard Model including mathematical foundations and current experimental references is fully reviewed. After each chapter, the reader finds quite an extensive set of problems which allows [them] to deepen the previously learned knowledge…The book is clearly not intended to serve theorists in their daily life but rather an experimental physicist to understand the theory behind and perform some simple calculations. However, as a kind of compendium and standard reference it is a worthy tool for everybody in the field."

—Wolfgang G. Hollik (Hamburg) in Zentralblatt MATH 1376.

"The 2009 first edition of The Standard Model and Beyond provided a long-needed and thorough introductory textbook that focused on the advances in phenomenology that led to the highly successful Standard Model of Elementary Particle Physics. Its author, Paul Langacker, is well known not only for his research, but also his communication skills both as a lecturer and writer. However, much has happened over the last seven years, as the Higgs scalar was discovered, thus completing the minimal spectrum of the Standard Model, whilst the field of neutrino physics continued to mature. At the same time, a number of leading speculations regarding ‘new physics’, beyond the Standard Model, failed to be observed, causing a re-examination of some beliefs. This newly updated second edition explores such constraints on ‘new physics’ ideas, in addition to exploring recent discoveries and advances in the field. The text remains lucid, thorough, and well-worth having, and so I strongly recommend it as a resource for students and researchers who wish to understand, and help continue, the legacy of scientific exploration and discovery."
—William J. Marciano, Senior Physicist, Physics Depart

From the Publisher