The purpose of this textbook is to explain the Standard Model of particle physics to a student with an undergraduate preparation in physics. Today we can claim to have a fundamental picture of the strong and weak subnuclear forces. Through an interplay between theory and experiment, we have learned the basic equations through which these forces operate, and we have tested these equations against observations at particle accelerators. The story is beautiful and full of surprises. Using a simplified presentation that does not assume prior knowledge of quantum field theory, this book begins from basic concepts of special relativity and quantum mechanics, describes the key experiments that have clarified the structure of elementary particle interactions, introduces the crucial theoretical concepts, and builds up to the full description of elementary particle interactions as we know them today.

Table of Contents

Part I Preliminaries and Tools

1 Introduction

2 Symmetries of Space-Time

3 Relativistic Wave Equations

4 The Hydrogen Atom and Positronium

5 The Quark Model

6 Detectors of Elementary Particles

7 Tools for Calculation

Part II The Strong Interaction

8 Electron-Positron Annihilation

9 Deep Inelastic Electron Scattering

10 The Gluon

11 Quantum Chromodynamics

12 Partons and Jets

13 QCD at Hadron Colliders

14 Chiral Symmetry

Part Ill The Weak Interaction

15 The Current-Current Model of the Weak Interaction

16 Gauge Theories with Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking

17 The W and Z Bosons

18 Quark Mixing Angles and Weak Decays

19 CP Violation

20 Neutrino Masses and Mixings

21 The Higgs Boson

Part IV Epilogue

22 Epilogue

About the Author

Michael E. Peskin, Professor of Particle Physics and Astrophysics, SLAC, Stanford University

Michael E. Peskin received his Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University in 1978. He held postdoctoral appointments at Harvard, Cornell, and C.E.N. Saclay. In 1982, he joined the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, where he is now a Professor of Particle Physics and Astrophysics.