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Standard Model

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:27 pm
by mhazelm
What book do you all think is best for a good introductory overview of the standard model? It's the one thing that is really not covered at my university, though touched on in the modern physics classes. But mostly, I've never had any exposure to the standard model whatsoever. So I'd like to teach myself enough of the basics to do well on the PGRE and also to carry on discussions when people from other places bring it up. What do you think is a good reference for this purpose?

Re: Standard Model

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:33 pm
by Helio
this one is pretty good for the start. little math, just concepts mostly, but gives the ideas.

http://www.amazon.com/Ideas-Particle-Ph ... 0521386772

Re: Standard Model

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 7:48 pm
by quizivex
I thought this one was awesome!

It's a short book that tells you all the facts you'd ever need to know about particles for the GRE, or for a physicist who's not going into HEP but wants to painlessly see what the field is all about. The only math used is the middle school algebra needed to explain the conservation rules.

Re: Standard Model

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 8:04 pm
by babazula
mhazelm wrote:What book do you all think is best for a good introductory overview of the standard model? It's the one thing that is really not covered at my university, though touched on in the modern physics classes. But mostly, I've never had any exposure to the standard model whatsoever. So I'd like to teach myself enough of the basics to do well on the PGRE and also to carry on discussions when people from other places bring it up. What do you think is a good reference for this purpose?
I took a course on Standard Model, and I can send you the lecture notes if you want. The outline of the course was:

PCT - Conventions and Results
Dirac Equation and γ-Matrices
Dirac Field
Charge Conjugation
Time Reversal
Applications of P,C and T

Broken Symmetries in Field Theory
Symmetry in Quantum Theory
Higgs Mechanism

Weak Decay Processes
Weak Decays
CP Violation
Intermediate Vector Bosons

Weinberg-Salam Gauge Field Theory
Electro-Weak Theory

QCD, perturbative aspects
QCD as a non abelian gauge theory
e−e+ → hadrons
Deep Inelastic Scattering

QCD, low energy aspects
QCD as the theory of Strong Interactions
U(1)A Symmetry and θ parameter in QCD
Pions as Goldstone Bosons
Effective Lagrangians
Electromagnetic Interactions, π0 → γγ decay

P.S: The lecture notes requires preliminary knowledge in Quantum Field Theory ( both Canonical Quantization and Path Integral Methods ), and Symmetries and Particle Physics.

Re: Standard Model

Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2009 10:30 pm
by YF17A
Don't worry about learning the Standard Model for the PGRE...if you accomplish your goal of understanding it well enough to converse with physicists, you will automatically know all the "buzzword" topics that are tested on the PGRE. Those topics would probably be: names of elementary particles, the quark model, and specific physical systems where the nontrivial characteristics of the Standard Model show up (Cobalt beta decay = parity violation, kaons = CP violation, neutrino oscillations --> massive neutrinos, etc.).

From your background, you clearly know enough math to be comfortable with a moderately technical introduction. I would highly recommend Griffiths' Introduction to Elementary Particles. It's written in the same spirit as his QM text, and although many things are introduced without motivation, he gets you calculating Feynman diagrams and understanding SM phenomenology pretty fast. Good luck!