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Trapped Charged Particles and Fundamental Interactions
The development of ion traps has spurred significant experimental activities able to link measurable quantities to the most fundamental aspects of physics. The first chapter sets the scene and motivates the use of ion traps with an in-depth survey of the low-energy electroweak sector of the standard model amenable to precision test. The next parts then introduce and review aspects of the theory, simulation and experimental implementation of such traps. Last but not least, two important applications, namely high resolution mass spectrometry in Penning traps and tests of fundamental physics - such as the CPT theorem - with trapped antiprotons are discussed.
The Universe Before the Big Bang : Cosmology and String Theory
Terms such as "expanding Universe", "big bang", and "initial singularity", are nowadays part of our common language. The idea that the Universe we observe today originated from an enormous explosion (big bang) is now well known and widely accepted, at all levels, in modern popular culture. But what happens to the Universe before the big bang? And would it make any sense at all to ask such a question? In fact, recent progress in theoretical physics, and in particular in String Theory, suggests answers to the above questions, providing us with mathematical tools able in principle to reconstruct the history of the Universe even for times before the big bang.
The Standard Model and Beyond ; Proceedings of the 2nd International Summer School in High Energy Physics, Muğla, 25–30 September 2006
This volume collects the edited tutorial lectures given at The Second International Summer School in High Energy Physics in Mgla, Turkey, in September 2006 - an annual event with international participation and a special focus on work done in the regions of central Asia. With emphasis on the standard model and beyond, lectures were devoted to presenting an introduction and update to many of the relevant topics, such as chiral perturbation theory, the Higgs mechanism, heavy flavour and b physics, CP violation, the AdS/CFT correspondence, ideas on grand unification and neutrino physics and astrophysics
The Invisible Universe : Dark Matter and Dark Energy
The last two chapters of the book present Eshelby's sophisticated theory in a didactically accessible way, knowledge of which is very important from a formative point of view. This theory, in fact, has an astonishing number of practical applications and allows many results of the elastic continuum to be reunited in a single formal structure of general validity.
Symmetry Breaking ; 1st ed.
Devoted to classical field theory, such a mechanism is explained in terms of the occurrence of disjoint sectors and their stability properties and of an improved version of the Noether theorem. For infinitely extended quantum systems, discussed in the second part, the mechanism is related to the occurrence of disjoint pure phases and characterized by a symmetry breaking order parameter, for which non perturbative criteria are discussed, following Wightman, and contrasted with the standard Goldstone perturbative strategy. The Goldstone theorem is discussed with a critical look at the hypotheses that emphasizes the crucial role of the dynamical delocalization induced by the interaction range. The Higgs mechanism in local gauges is explained in terms of the Gauss law constraint on the physical states.
Symmetry Breaking ; 2nd ed.
Presents a more detailed and thorough discussion of the mechanism of symmetry breaking in classical field theory in relation with the Noether theorem. Moreover, the link between symmetry breaking without massless Goldstone bosons in Coulomb systems and in gauge theories is made more explicit in terms of the delocalized Coulomb dynamics. Furthermore, the chapter on the Higgs mechanism has been significantly expanded with a non-perturbative treatment of the Higgs phenomenon, at the basis of the standard model of particle physics, in the local and in the Coulomb gauges.
Supersymmetric Mechanics ; Vol.3 : Attractors and Black Holes in Supersymmetric Gravity
This is the third volume in a series of books on the general topics of Supersymmetric Mechanics, with the first and second volumes being published as Lect. Notes Phys. 698, Supersymmetric Mechanics - Vol. 1: Supersymmetry, Noncommutativity and Matrix Models (ISBN: 3-540-33313-4), and Lect. Notes Phys. 701, Supersymmetric Mechanics - Vol. 2: The Attractor Mechanism and Space Time Singularities (ISBN: 3-540-34156-0). The aim of this ongoing collection is to provide a reference corpus of suitable, introductory material to the field, by gathering the significantly expanded and edited versions of all tutorial lectures, given over the years at the well established international and annual INFN-Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati Winter School on the Attractor Mechanism.
String Theory and Fundamental Interactions : Gabriele Veneziano and Theoretical Physics : Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
Examines the many ramifications this and similar early work has spawned over the past decades and the reader will find state-of-the art tutorial reviews on string cosmology, string dualities and symmetries, and much more. The book includes a concise updated scientific biography of, and an interview with, Prof. Veneziano, in which he relates his personal views about the present and future of fundamental physics.
String Theory : from Gauge Interactions to Cosmology ; Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on String Theory: From Gauge Interactions to Cosmology, Cargèse, France, from 7 to 19 June 2004
String Theory is our current best candidate for the unification of all fundamental forces, including gravity, in a consistent quantum framework. In this collection of lectures delivered at the Cargèse Summer School "String Theory: from Gauge Interactions to Cosmology'', world leading experts provide an up-to-date survey of the latest developments in this topic, including the gauge/gravity correspondence, superstring cosmology and cosmic strings, topological string theory and matrix models, physics beyond the standard model and the landscape of vacua of string theory, conformal field theory and critical phenomena in statistical mechanics.
Special Relativity : Will it Survive the Next 101 Years?
After a century of successes, physicists still feel the need to probe the limits of the validity of theories based on special relativity. Canonical approaches to quantum gravity, non-commutative geometry, string theory and unification scenarios predict tiny violations of Lorentz invariance at high energies. The present book, based on a recent seminar devoted to such frontier problems, contains reviews of the foundations of special relativity and the implications of Poincaré invariance as well as comprehensive accounts of experimental results and proposed tests.
Quantum Field Theory : A Modern Perspective
View of certain topics in field theory loosely knit together as it grew out of courses on field theory and particle physics taught at Columbia University and the City College of CUNY. The first few chapters, up to Chapter 12, contain material that generally goes into any course on quantum field theory, although there are a few nuances of presentation which readers may find to be different from other books. This first part of the book can be used for a general course on field theory, omitting, perhaps, the last three sections in Chapter 3, the last two in Chapter 8 and sections 6 and 7 in Chapter 10. The remaining chapters cover some of the more modern developments over the last three decades, involving topological and geometrical features. The introduction given to the mathematical basis of this part of the discussion is necessarily brief and should be accompanied by books on the relevant mathematical topics as indicated in the bibliography. Professor Nair also concentrates on developments pertinent to a better understanding of the standard model. There is no discussion of supersymmetry, supergravity, developments in field theory inspired by string theory, etc. There is also no detailed discussion of the renormalization group. Each of these topics would require a book in its own right to do justice to the topic. Quantum Field Theory: A Modern Perspective serves as a portal to so many more topics of detailed and ongoing research, referring readers to more detailed treatments for many specific topics. The book also contains extensive references, providing readers a more comprehensive perspective on the literature and the historical development of the subject.
Particle Physics Reference Library ; Vol.1 : Theory and Experiments
This first volume of the handbook series contains articles on the standard model of particle physics, both from the theoretical and experimental perspective. It also covers related topics, such as heavy-ion physics, neutrino physics and searches for new physics beyond the standard model.
IFAE 2007 ; Incontri di Fisica delle Alte Energie = Italian Meeting on High Energy Physics Napoli, 11–13 April 2007
This book collects the Proceedings of the Workshop "Incontri di Fisica delle Alte Energie (IFAE) 2007, Napoli, 11-13 April 2007". This is the sixth edition of a series of meetings on fundamental research in particle physics and was attended by about 160 researchers. Presentations, both theoretical and experimental, addressed the status of Physics of the Standard Model and beyond, Flavour phyisc, Neutrino and Astroparticle physics, new technology in high energy physics. Special emphasis was given to the expectations of the forthcoming Large Hadron Collider, due in operation at the end of 2007.
From parity violation to hadronic structure and more : Refereed and selected contributions from Grenoble, France, June 8-11, 2004
Almost 50 years after the proposal of Lee and Young in 1956 to test the hypothesis of parity violation in weak interactions and the subsequent experimental verification of parity violation by C. S. Wu, parity violation has today become a useful property of weak interactions. This is due to the fact that the focus nowadays has changed: parity violation in weak interactions is no more a topic of investigation but is used as a tool in many different fields ranging from nuclear physics to the search for the hidden extra dimensions requested by string theory. For our first workshop which took place June 5-8, 2002, at the Institut fiir Ke- physik of the Johannes Gutenberg-Universitat Mainz, we concentrated on the in vestigation of the strangeness contribution in the nucleon. This book contains the refereed and selected papers of the second workshop "From Parity Violation to Hadron Structure and more (Part II)", which took place June 8-11, in the Labo- toire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie, in Grenoble. These papers appear in EPJAdirect, the electronic-only part of EPJA, and they are accessible without restrictions. They will also appear in printed form and can be ordered through Springer. The excellent presentations show the dramatic and steady progress in the accuracy of measured parity violating asymmetries over the last few years.
Enumerative Invariants in Algebraic Geometry and String Theory : Lectures given at the C.I.M.E. Summer School held in Cetraro, Italy June 6–11, 2005
Starting in the middle of the 80s, there has been a growing and fruitful interaction between algebraic geometry and certain areas of theoretical high-energy physics, especially the various versions of string theory. Physical heuristics have provided inspiration for new mathematical definitions (such as that of Gromov-Witten invariants) leading in turn to the solution of problems in enumerative geometry. Conversely, the availability of mathematically rigorous definitions and theorems has benefited the physics research by providing the required evidence in fields where experimental testing seems problematic. The aim of this volume, a result of the CIME Summer School held in Cetraro, Italy, in 2005, is to cover part of the most recent and interesting findings in this subject.
Conformal and Potential Analysis in Hele-Shaw Cells
This monograph aims at giving a presentation of recent and new ideas that arise from the problems of planar fluid dynamics and which are interesting from the point of view of geometric function theory and potential theory. In particular, this book is concerned with geometric problems for Hele-Shaw flows. Also Hele-Shaw flows on parameter spaces (e.g., the Teichmüller space) are treated and connections with string theory are revealed. Ultimately, the interaction between several branches of complex and potential analysis, and planar fluid mechanics is discussed.
Collider Physics within the Standard Model : A Primer
In 2013 the late Prof. Altarelli wrote: The discovery of the Higgs boson and the non-observation of new particles or exotic phenomena have made a big step towards completing the experimental confirmation of the standard model of fundamental particle interactions. It is thus a good moment for me to collect, update and improve my graduate lecture notes on quantum chromodynamics and the theory of electroweak interactions, with main focus on collider physics. I hope that these lectures can provide an introduction to the subject for the interested reader, assumed to be already familiar with quantum field theory and some basic facts in elementary particle physics as taught in undergraduate courses.
Lectures on Quantum Gravity
A primary goal was to foster interaction and communication between participants from different cultures, both in the layman’s sense of the term and in terms of approaches to quantum gravity. We hope that the links formed by students and the school will persist throughout their professional lives, continuing to promote interaction and the essential exchange of ideas that drives research forward. This volume contains improved and updated versions of the lectures given at the School. It has been prepared both as a reminder for the participants, and so that these pedagogical introductions can be made available to others who were unable to attend. We expect them to serve students of all ages well.
Complex Geometry : An Introduction
Complex geometry studies (compact) complex manifolds. It discusses algebraic as well as metric aspects. The subject is on the crossroad of algebraic and differential geometry. Recent developments in string theory have made it an highly attractive area, both for mathematicians and theoretical physicists. The book contains detailed accounts of the basic concepts and the many exercises illustrate the theory. Appendices to various chapters allow an outlook to recent research directions.
Basic bundle theory and K-Cohomology invariants
Based on several recent courses given to mathematical physics students, this volume is an introduction to bundle theory with the aim to provide newcomers to the field with solid foundations in topological K-theory. A fundamental theme, emphasized in the book, centers around the gluing of local bundle data related to bundles into a global object. One renewed motivation for studying this subject, which has developed for almost 50 years in many directions, comes from quantum field theory, especially string theory, where topological invariants play an important role.
