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Introduction to Elementary Particles |  | Author: David Griffiths
Publisher: Wiley-VCH
Category: Book
List Price: $105.00
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as of 11/21/2009 11:38 EST details
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Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 41404
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Pages: 470
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.8 x 6.7 x 0.8
ISBN: 3527406018
Dewey Decimal Number: 620
EAN: 9783527406012
ASIN: 3527406018
Publication Date: October 20, 2008
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Product Description
In Introduction to Elementary Particles, Second, Revised Edition, author David Griffiths strikes a balance between quantitative rigor and intuitive understanding, using a lively, informal style. The first chapter provides a detailed historical introduction to the subject, while subsequent chapters offer a quantitative presentation of the Standard Model. A simplified introduction to the Feynman rules, based on a "toy" model, helps readers learn the calculational techniques without the complications of spin. It is followed by accessible treatments of quantum electrodynamics, the strong and weak interactions, and gauge theories. New chapters address neutrino oscillations and prospects for physics beyond the Standard Model. The book contains a number of worked examples and many end-of-chapter problems. A complete solution manual is available for instructors.
- Revised edition of a well-established text on elementary particle physics
- With a number of worked examples and many end-of-chapter problems
- Helps the student to master the Feynman rules
- Solution manual available for instructors
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
Fantastic overview of a complex subject November 13, 2009
J. M. Newman (Flushing, NY, USA)
Griffith's introductory book on the Standard Model of particle physics is a magnificently accessible overview of a very complex subject. The book covers all of the major topics, including the quark model, quantum electodynamics (subatomic level electromagnetic interactions), quantum chromodynamics (strong nuclear force interactions), Feynman diagrams (used to calculate information about particle interactions), electroweak theory (involved in nuclear decay processes). He also presents one of the most easily comprehensible discussions of quantum field theory I've seen.
Griffith's writing style is engaging and entertaining, which is very unusual for an advanced physics text. The book is a pleasure to read even if you don't really understand the topics. It was good enough that I sat and read the whole book, end to end.
What this book does not have is detailed mathematical derivations of the theories presented. Griffiths provides references to books that contain the proofs and derivations, but he focuses solely on the whats and hows. Another unfortunate drawback is that the book doesn't contain solutions to the problems at the end of each chapter, which would have been nice to have.
To really appreciate the book, one should have a college level science background, but one doesn't need to be a full blown physicist or mathematician to appreciate the book (I am a professional chemist, and my mathematical background is not all that advanced). All in all, this is, in my opinion, the best introduction to the Standard Model that's out there.
The best introductory textbook on elementary particles November 7, 2009
Bojan Tunguz (Greencastle, IN USA)
One of the most interesting and most intellectually far-reaching areas of modern Physics is Particle Physics. No other area of Physics has as conceptually profound implications for our understanding of how the world works on the very fundamental level, and nowhere else have the experiments been as monumental and imposing. And yet, particle Physics is rarely if ever taught in undergraduate Physics curriculum. The reason often given for this is that mathematical sophistication required for fully understanding this subject is far beyond the capability of most undergraduates. However, if done properly, the mathematical sophistication need not be beyond what is required in an upper level Electricity and Magnetism or Quantum Mechanics courses. To the contrary - the most important results in Particle Physics can be obtained by mathematical means that are not nearly as demanding as those in those other two upper level Physics courses. A perfect example of this are the textbooks by David Griffiths. He has been well known to generations of Physics students who had used his Electricity and Magnetism or Quantum Mechanics textbooks. These textbooks have become a de-facto standard for teaching those subjects. These textbooks are also known for many very demanding problems that require many, many pages of mathematical manipulation. And yet, most of these manipulations are much harder than anything you'll encounter in Griffiths' "Introduction to Elementary particles." There is still a collection of worked-out examples, but nowhere nearly at the level of what one finds in his other books. The presentation is characteristically accessible and pedagogical. A considerable amount of space is devoted to historical and experimental considerations, and this textbook also serves as a useful history of the development of particle Physics.
The second edition greatly streamlines some presentations and introduces a few new topics that have been of interest in particle Physics in recent decades - most notably the neutrino oscillations. The chapter on future developments is mostly descriptive, and mercifully short on certain topics that have enjoyed a lot of attention lately but have been woefully short on experimental verifications, such as supersymmetry and string theory. In the end we are left off with a picture of current understanding of particle Physics that shows this field of research both as a tremendous success and still a work in progress. Hopefully in the upcoming decades we'll be able to fill in many of the holes and come up with a more streamlined understanding of nature at the most fundamental level. Until then, textbooks like this one will be the best and surest way of getting the basic facts about the nature of elementary particles.
Arrived at the date expected, in perfect condition. October 21, 2009
Sergio Sampaio (Portugal)
There's not much to say, really. The package arrived in perfect conditions at the nearest post office.
As for the item itself, it's a good book on the subject.
 Interesting but... June 29, 2009
V. Isoz (Suisse)
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
The book is nice to read during a sunny week-end but does not contain detail proofs of equations and this is what i was looking for. Nice try... but missed...
Great introduction to particle physics December 4, 2008
Matthew C.
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Griffith's book is a straight-forward and easy-to-follow introduction to particle physics. The book doesn't require the reader to have much background in particle physics, mostly just quantum mechanics and Lagrangian physics. Quantum field theory is definitely not necessary to learn from this book, although it'll probably be helpful.
The book focuses more on "how" rather than "why," so it's a great starting point for experimentalists. Griffith's writes in a very casual and simple style; you won't find much mathematical jargon here. I'd recommend this book over Quarks and Leptons: An Introductory Course in Modern Particle Physics. Once you learn from this text the basics of the Standard Model and how to calculate amplitudes, cross-sections, decay rates, etc., you'll be ready to move on to more theoretical material (such as Quarks and Leptons: An Introductory Course in Modern Particle Physics) to answer the question of "why."
Showing reviews 1-5 of 18
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