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A Standard Model Workbook

Thomas A. Moore Pomona College
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Newly Released
“I found this textbook to be a delightful overview of particle physics for an undergraduate course.”
- Jonas Mureika, Loyola Marymount University

This introduction to the Standard Model of particle physics provides students with a classroom-tested workbook to optimize learning this material in student-centered classes. Developed to support a one-semester upper-level undergraduate or graduate course, it includes hundreds of homework problems that will guide students to a clear understanding of this fascinating field.

Print Book ISBN 978-1-940380-17-9, US $78
eBook ISBN 978-1-940380-18-6, US $58.60

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Summary

A Standard Model Workbook provides upper-level undergraduates a one-semester introduction to the Standard Model of particle physics. Its classroom-tested workbook design offers multiple paths through the material, consisting of short chapters that provide an overview of a topic followed by opportunities for students to work out the details for themselves, concluding with homework problems to further develop students’ understanding of the concepts. This allows students to truly own the materials by working through it and allows instructors to construct an active, student-centered class.

Topics include a review of special relativity and quantum mechanics; the Lagrangian mechanics of fields; some basic quantum field theory; Feynman diagrams; solutions to the Dirac equation; the U(1), SU(2), and SU(3) symmetries and their implications for electrodynamics; the electroweak theory and quantum chromodynamics; renormalization; the Higgs mechanism; fermion and neutrino masses; experimental tests and applications of the Standard Model; and a look at possibilities beyond the Standard Model. The book is designed to offer multiple paths through the material so that instructors can choose what to emphasize. A detailed Instructor’s Manual is available for this text.

Resources

An Interview with Author Tom Moore
Errata
Resources for Adopting Professors

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1. Introduction

Section I. Relativity

Chapter 2. Special Relativity
Chapter 3. Index Notation

Section II. Classical Fields

Chapter 4. A Classical Scalar Field
Chapter 5. The Klein-Gordon Equation
Chapter 6. Noether’s Theorem

Section III. Quantum Mechanics

Chapter 7. Basic Quantum Mechanics
Chapter 8. Operators and Time Evolution
Chapter 9. Angular Momentum

Shortcut to 15

Chapter 10. Feynman Diagram Quick Start

Section IV. Quantum Field Theory

Chapter 11. Creation and Annihilation Operators
Chapter 12. The Quantized Scalar Field
Chapter 13. Interactions and Feynman Diagrams

Section V. Connection to Experiment

Chapter 14. Fermi’s Golden Rule
Chapter 15. Toy Universe Predictions

Section VI. Spin – ½ Particles

Chapter 16. The Dirac Equation
Chapter 17. Transforming Dirac Spinors
Chapter 18. Quantizing the Dirac Field

Section VII. The Electroweak Theory

Chapter 19. Electromagnetism from U(1)
Chapter 20. Quantum Electrodynamics
Chapter 21. Renormalization
Chapter 22. Applications of QED
Chapter 23. The Weak Interaction from SU(2)
Chapter 24. The Weak Interaction’s Leftist Bias
Chapter 25. The Unified Electroweak Theory

Section VIII. Particle Masses

Chapter 26. The Higgs Mechanism
Chapter 27. Fermion Masses and Mixing
Chapter 28. Neutrino Masses and Mixing
Chapter 29. Applications of the Electroweak Theory

Section IX. Chromodynamics

Chapter 30. Chromodynamics from SU(3)
Chapter 31. Applications of QCD

Section X. And Beyond!

Chapter 32. Beyond the Standard Model

Appendix

Appendix A. Potentials From Interactions

Index

Reviews

“Moore blends clear and efficient prose with well-chosen exercises that are an essential part of the exposition, helping students build both fluency with the concepts and facility with the calculations. This workbook guides the student from first steps to the sort of mastery through computation that is prized by working physicists.”
-William Loinaz, Amherst College

“I found this textbook to be a delightful overview of particle physics for an undergraduate course. Moore clearly understands his student audience and their capabilities / limitations, and tunes the pacing and parceling of the material accordingly.”
-Jonas Mureika, Loyola Marymount University

Thomas A. Moore

Thomas A. Moore Pomona College

Thomas A. Moore is a professor in the physics department of Pomona College.  He graduated from Carleton College in 1976, and earned an M. Phil. in 1978 and a Ph. D. in 1981 from Yale University. He then taught at Carleton College and Luther College before taking his current position at Pomona College in 1987, where he won a Wig Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1991. He served as an active member of the national Introductory University Physics Project (IUPP), and has published a number of articles about astrophysical sources of gravitational waves, detection of gravitational waves, and new approaches to teaching physics. His previous books include A Traveler's Guide to Spacetime (McGraw-Hill, 1995) on special relativity, and a six-volume introductory calculus-based physics text called Six Ideas That Shaped Physics (McGraw-Hill, 2003). 

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