Supersymmetric models of particle physics predict new superpartner matter states for each particle in the Standard Model. These superpartners will have wide ranging implications, from cosmology to observations at high energy accelerators, such as CERN's LHC. In this 2006 text, the authors develop the basic concepts of supersymmetry and show how it can be incorporated into a theoretical framework for describing unified theories of elementary particles. They develop the technical tools of supersymmetry using four-component spinor notation familiar to high energy experimentalists and phenomenologists. The text takes the reader from an abstract formalism to a straightforward recipe for writing supersymmetric gauge theories of particle physics, and ultimately to the calculations necessary for practical applications at colliders and in cosmology. This is a comprehensive, practical and accessible introduction to supersymmetry for experimental and phenomenological particle physicists and gradu
《粒子物理學中的超對稱》內容簡介：This book is intended to be an elementary and practical introduction to supersymmetry in particle physics. More precisely, I aim to provide an accessible, self-contained account of th
Twenty-five years ago, Michael Green, John Schwarz, and Edward Witten wrote two volumes on string theory. Published during a period of rapid progress in this subject, these volumes were highly influential for a generation of students and researchers. Despite the immense progress that has been made in the field since then, the systematic exposition of the foundations of superstring theory presented in these volumes is just as relevant today as when first published. A self-contained introduction to superstrings, Volume 1 begins with an elementary treatment of the bosonic string, before describing the incorporation of additional degrees of freedom: fermionic degrees of freedom leading to supersymmetry and internal quantum numbers leading to gauge interactions. A detailed discussion of the evaluation of tree-approximation scattering amplitudes is also given. Featuring a new preface setting the work in context in light of recent advances, this book is invaluable for graduate students and r
Now in paperback, this book provides a self-contained introduction to the cohomology theory of Lie groups and algebras and to some of its applications in physics. No previous knowledge of the mathematical theory is assumed beyond some notions of Cartan calculus and differential geometry (which are nevertheless reviewed in the book in detail). The examples, of current interest, are intended to clarify certain mathematical aspects and to show their usefulness in physical problems. The topics treated include the differential geometry of Lie groups, fibre bundles and connections, characteristic classes, index theorems, monopoles, instantons, extensions of Lie groups and algebras, some applications in supersymmetry, Chevalley-Eilenberg approach to Lie algebra cohomology, symplectic cohomology, jet-bundle approach to variational principles in mechanics, Wess-Zumino-Witten terms, infinite Lie algebras, the cohomological descent in mechanics and in gauge theories and anomalies. This book will
The interacting boson-fermion model has become in recent years the standard model for the description of atomic nuclei with an odd number of protons and/or neutrons. This book describes the mathematical framework on which the interacting boson-fermion model is built and presents applications to a variety of situations encountered in nuclei. The book addresses both the analytical and the numerical aspects of the problem. The analytical aspect requires the introduction of rather complex group theoretic methods, including the use of graded (or super) Lie algebras. The first (and so far only) example of supersymmetry occurring in nature is also discussed. The book is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject and will appeal to both theoretical and experimental physicists. The large number of explicit formulas for level energies, electromagnetic transition rates and intensities of transfer reactions presented in the book provide a simple but detailed way to analyse experimental data.
This is a pedagogical introduction to the harmonic superspace method in extended supersymmetry. Inspired by exciting developments in superstring theory, it provides a systematic treatment of the quantum field theories with N=2 and N=3 supersymmetry in harmonic superspace. The authors present the harmonic superspace approach as a means of providing an off-shell description of the N=2 supersymmetric theories, both at the classical and quantum levels. Furthermore, they show how it offers a unique way to construct an off-shell formulation of a theory with higher supersymmetry, namely the N=3 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Harmonic Superspace makes manifest many remarkable geometric properties of the N=2 theories, for example, the one-to-one correspondence between N=2 supersymmetric matter, and hyper-Kähler and quaternionic manifolds. This book will be of interest to researchers and graduate students working in the areas of supersymmetric quantum field theory, string theory and complex g
This volume provides a comprehensive and coherent introduction to modern quantum cosmology - the study of the universe as a whole according to the laws of quantum mechanics. In particular, it presents a useful survey of the many profound consequences of supersymmetry (supergravity) in quantum cosmology. After a general introduction to quantum cosmology, the reader is led through Hamiltonian supergravity and canonical quantization and quantum amplitudes through to models of supersymmetric mini superspace and quantum wormholes. The book is rounded off with a look at exciting further developments, including the possible finiteness of supergravity. Ample introductory material is included, ensuring this topical volume is well suited as a graduate text. Researchers in theoretical and mathematical physics, applied maths and cosmology will also find it of immediate interest.
This book is a modern pedagogic introduction to the ideas and techniques of quantum field theory. After a brief overview of particle physics and a survey of relativistic wave equations and Lagrangian methods, the quantum theory of scalar and spinor fields, and then of gauge fields, is developed. The emphasis throughout is on functional methods, which have played a large part in modern field theory. The book concludes with a brief survey of 'topological' objects in field theory and, new to this edition, a chapter devoted to supersymmetry.
In this third volume of The Quantum Theory of Fields, available for the first time in paperback, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg continues his masterly exposition of quantum field theory. This volume presents a self-contained, up-to-date and comprehensive introduction to supersymmetry, a highly active area of theoretical physics. The text introduces and explains a broad range of topics, including supersymmetric algebras, supersymmetric field theories, extended supersymmetry, supergraphs, non-perturbative results, theories of supersymmetry in higher dimensions, and supergravity. A thorough review is given of the phenomenological implications of supersymmetry, including theories of both gauge and gravitationally-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Also provided is an introduction to mathematical techniques, based on holomorphy and duality, that have proved so fruitful in recent developments. This book contains much material not found in other books on supersymmetry, including previously unpu
The interacting boson-fermion model has become in recent years the standard model for the description of atomic nuclei with an odd number of protons and/or neutrons. This book describes the mathematical framework on which the interacting boson-fermion model is built and presents applications to a variety of situations encountered in nuclei. The book addresses both the analytical and the numerical aspects of the problem. The analytical aspect requires the introduction of rather complex group theoretic methods, including the use of graded (or super) Lie algebras. The first (and so far only) example of supersymmetry occurring in nature is also discussed. The book is the first comprehensive treatment of the subject and will appeal to both theoretical and experimental physicists. The large number of explicit formulas for level energies, electromagnetic transition rates and intensities of transfer reactions presented in the book provide a simple but detailed way to analyse experimental data.
Available for the first time in paperback, The Quantum Theory of Fields is a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory from Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg. The first volume introduces the foundations of quantum field theory, the second volume examines modern applications, and finally the third volume presents supersymmetry, an area of theoretical physics likely to be at the centre of progress in the physics of elementary particles and gravitation. The development is fresh and logical throughout, with each step carefully motivated by what has gone before. The presentation of modern mathematical methods is throughout interwoven with accounts of applications in both elementary particle and condensed matter physics. The three volumes contain much original material, and are peppered with examples and insights drawn from the author's experience as a leader of elementary particle research. Exercises are included at the end of each chapter.
String Theory, first published in 1998, comprises two volumes which provide a comprehensive and pedagogic account of the subject. Volume 2 begins with an introduction to supersymmetric string theories and presents the important advances of recent years. The first three chapters introduce the type I, type II, and heterototic superstring theories and their interactions. The next two chapters present important recent discoveries about strongly coupled strings, beginning with a detailed treatment of D-branes and their dynamics, and covering string duality, M-theory, and black hole entropy. The final chapters are concerned with four-dimensional string theories, showing how some of the simplest string models connect with previous ideas for unifying the Standard Model. They collect many important results on world-sheet and spacetime symmetries. An appendix summarizes the necessary background on fermions and supersymmetry. An essential text and reference for graduate students and researchers i
This is a pedagogical introduction to the harmonic superspace method in extended supersymmetry. Inspired by exciting developments in superstring theory, it provides a systematic treatment of the quantum field theories with N=2 and N=3 supersymmetry in harmonic superspace. The authors present the harmonic superspace approach as a means of providing an off-shell description of the N=2 supersymmetric theories, both at the classical and quantum levels. Furthermore, they show how it offers a unique way to construct an off-shell formulation of a theory with higher supersymmetry, namely the N=3 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory. Harmonic Superspace makes manifest many remarkable geometric properties of the N=2 theories, for example, the one-to-one correspondence between N=2 supersymmetric matter, and hyper-Kähler and quaternionic manifolds. This book will be of interest to researchers and graduate students working in the areas of supersymmetric quantum field theory, string theory and complex g
Quantum field theory is the basic mathematical framework that is used to describe elementary particles. This textbook provides a complete and essential introduction to the subject. Assuming only an undergraduate knowledge of quantum mechanics and special relativity, this book is ideal for graduate students beginning the study of elementary particles. The step-by-step presentation begins with basic concepts illustrated by simple examples, and proceeds through historically important results to thorough treatments of modern topics such as the renormalization group, spinor-helicity methods for quark and gluon scattering, magnetic monopoles, instantons, supersymmetry, and the unification of forces. The book is written in a modular format, with each chapter as self-contained as possible, and with the necessary prerequisite material clearly identified. It is based on a year-long course given by the author and contains extensive problems, with password protected solutions available to lecturer
Quantum field theory forms the present theoretical framework for our understanding of the fundamental interactions of particle physics. This up-dated and expanded text examines gauge theories and their symmetries with an emphasis on their physical and technical aspects. Beginning with a new chapter giving a systematic introduction to classical field theories and a short discussion of their canonical quantization and the discrete symmetries C, P and T, the book provides a brief exposition of perturbation theory, the renormalization programme, and the use of the renormalization group equation. It then explores topics of current research interest including chiral symmetry and its breaking, anomalies, and low energy effective lagrangians and some basics of supersymmetry. A chapter on basics of the electroweak theory is now included. Professor Pokorski, a distinguished theoretical physicist, has presented here a self-contained text for graduate courses in physics; the only prerequisite is s
This is an introduction to Lie algebras and their applications in physics. The first three chapters show how Lie algebras arise naturally from symmetries of physical systems and illustrate through examples much of their general structure. Chapters 4 to 13 give a detailed introduction to Lie algebras and their representations, covering the Cartan-Weyl basis, simple and affine Lie algebras, real forms and Lie groups, the Weyl group, automorphisms, loop algebras and highest weight representations. Chapters 14 to 22 cover specific further topics, such as Verma modules, Casimirs, tensor products and Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, invariant tensors, subalgebras and branching rules, Young tableaux, spinors, Clifford algebras and supersymmetry, representations on function spaces, and Hopf algebras and representation rings. A detailed reference list is provided, and many exercises and examples throughout the book illustrate the use of Lie algebras in real physical problems. The text is written at
String Theory, first published in 1998, comprises two volumes which provide a comprehensive and pedagogic account of the subject. Volume 2 begins with an introduction to supersymmetric string theories and presents the important advances of recent years. The first three chapters introduce the type I, type II, and heterototic superstring theories and their interactions. The next two chapters present important recent discoveries about strongly coupled strings, beginning with a detailed treatment of D-branes and their dynamics, and covering string duality, M-theory, and black hole entropy. The final chapters are concerned with four-dimensional string theories, showing how some of the simplest string models connect with previous ideas for unifying the Standard Model. They collect many important results on world-sheet and spacetime symmetries. An appendix summarizes the necessary background on fermions and supersymmetry. An essential text and reference for graduate students and researchers i
This volume provides a comprehensive and coherent introduction to modern quantum cosmology - the study of the universe as a whole according to the laws of quantum mechanics. In particular, it presents a useful survey of the many profound consequences of supersymmetry (supergravity) in quantum cosmology. After a general introduction to quantum cosmology, the reader is led through Hamiltonian supergravity and canonical quantization and quantum amplitudes through to models of supersymmetric mini superspace and quantum wormholes. The book is rounded off with a look at exciting further developments, including the possible finiteness of supergravity. Ample introductory material is included, ensuring this topical volume is well suited as a graduate text. Researchers in theoretical and mathematical physics, applied maths and cosmology will also find it of immediate interest.
