Description
This book presents a structured and accessible introduction to the Standard Model of particle physics through a sequence of 15 carefully designed lectures. Developed from decades of teaching experience, each lecture is organized around clear learning objectives and is intended to fit a 90 minute session, encouraging active engagement through discussion and follow up exercises.
Adopting a step by step narrative approach, the book guides readers through the conceptual foundations that lead to one of the greatest achievements of modern physics. Emphasis is placed on clarity, logical progression, and physical insight rather than technical formalism. Complex mathematical frameworks, such as gauge theories and Lie groups, are introduced only insofar as they support understanding, allowing readers with minimal mathematical background to grasp the essential ideas without becoming overwhelmed.
This book fills a crucial gap by providing a coherent and pedagogically effective pathway into particle physics. While not aiming for exhaustive technical completeness, it equips motivated readers with the conceptual tools needed to pursue more advanced studies and engage with the scientific literature independently.
Suitable for advanced undergraduates in physics, engineering graduates, and readers from related disciplines with a basic knowledge of calculus, this book offers an approachable yet rigorous exploration of the beauty, structure, and significance of the Standard Model.
Four-Dimensional World: the Arena for Relativistic Particles.- Unifying Quantum Mechanics and Special Relativity: The Klein-Gordon Equation.- Quantum Relativistic Equation for Spin ½ Particles: The Dirac Equation.- Symmetries of the Lagrangian Density.- Lagrangian Density for Scalar Fields.- The Dirac Lagrangian and Global Invariance.- U(1) Gauge Theory: Electromagnetism.- Non-Abelian Gauge Theory.- Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking.- Higgs Mechanism.- Elementary Particles in Nature.- Weinberg-Salam Model: The Good and Bad Generators.- Weinberg-Salam Model: Mass of the Gauge Fields and Electron.- Quantum Chromodynamics: The U(3) Gauge Theory of Strong Interaction.- The Standard Model and Beyond.
Christopher C. Bernido is from Research Center for Theoretical Physics, Central Visayan Institute Foundation, and Department of Physics, University of San Carlos.
