Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics

Book excerpt: The Standard Model is the most comprehensive physical theory ever developed. This textbook conveys the basic elements of the Standard Model using elementary concepts, without the theoretical rigor found in most other texts on this subject. It contains examples of basic experiments, allowing readers to see how measurements and theory interplay in the development of physics. The author examines leptons, hadrons and quarks, before presenting the dynamics and the surprising properties of the charges of the different forces. The textbook concludes with a brief discussion on the discoveries of physics beyond the Standard Model, and its connections with cosmology. Quantitative examples are given, and the reader is guided through the necessary calculations. Each chapter ends in the exercises, and solutions to some problems are included in the book. Complete solutions are available to instructors at www.cambridge.org/9781107406094.