Modern Elementary Particle Physics: Explaining and Extending the Standard Model

This book is written for students and scientists wanting to learn about the Standard Model of particle physics. Only an introductory course knowledge about quantum theory is needed. The text provides a pedagogical description of the theory, and incorporates the recent Higgs boson and top quark discoveries. With its clear and engaging style, this new edition retains its essential simplicity. Long and detailed calculations are replaced by simple approximate ones. It includes introductions to accelerators, colliders, and detectors, and several main experimental tests of the Standard Model are explained. Descriptions of some well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model prepare the reader for new developments. It emphasizes the concepts of gauge theories and Higgs physics, electroweak unification and symmetry breaking, and how force strengths vary with energy, providing a solid foundation for those working in the field, and for those who simply want to learn about the Standard Model.

Gordon Kane is Victor Weisskopf Distinguished University Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. From 2005 until 2012, he directed the Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics (MCTP), a leading center for the advancement of theoretical physics. In 2012, he received the Lilienfeld Prize from the American Physical Society. Kane is an internationally recognized scientific leader in theoretical and phenomenological particle physics, Higgs physics, supersymmetry, cosmology, dark matter, and theories for physics beyond the Standard Model. In recent years, he has been a leader in string phenomenology. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the British Institute of Physics.