Bücher der Reihe Cambridge Monographs on Particle Physics, Nuclear Physics & Cosmology

Describing the fundamental theory of particle physics and its applications, this book provides a detailed account of the Standard Model, focusing on techniques that can produce information about real observed phenomena. The book begins with a pedagogic account of the Standard Model, introducing essential techniques such as effective field theory and path integral methods. It then focuses on the use of the Standard Model in the calculation of physical properties of particles. Rigorous methods are emphasized, but other useful models are also described. This second edition has been updated to include recent theoretical and experimental advances, such as the discovery of the Higgs boson. A new chapter is devoted to the theoretical and experimental understanding of neutrinos, and major advances in CP violation and electroweak physics have been given a modern treatment. This book is valuable to graduate students and researchers in particle physics, nuclear physics and related fields.

Now thoroughly revised and up-dated, this book describes techniques for handling and analysing data obtained from high-energy and nuclear physics experiments. The observation of particle interactions involves the analysis of large and complex data samples. Beginning with a chapter on real-time data triggering and filtering, the book describes methods of selecting the relevant events from a sometimes huge background. The use of pattern recognition techniques to group the huge number of measurements into physically meaningful objects like particle tracks or showers is then examined and the track and vertex fitting methods necessary to extract the maximum amount of information from the available measurements are explained. The final chapter describes tools and methods which are useful to the experimenter in the physical interpretation and in the presentation of the results. This indispensable guide will appeal to graduate students, researchers and computer and electronic engineers involved with experimental physics.