Uniting the usually distinct areas of particle physics and quantum field theory, gravity and general relativity, this expansive and comprehensive textbook of fundamental and theoretical physics describes the quest to consolidate the basic building blocks of nature, by journeying through contemporary discoveries in the field, and analyzing elementary particles and their interactions. Designed fo...

We analyze Niels Bohr’s proposed two-slit interference experiment with highly charged particles which argues that the consistency of elementary quantum mechanics requires that the electromagnetic field must be quantized. In the experiment a particle’s path through the slits is determined by measuring the Coulomb field that it produces at large distances; under these conditions the interference ...

In 1954, Yang and Mills founded the non-Abel gauge field theory [1 ]. Since then, the gauge field theory has developed greatly, and has been widely applied to elementary particle theory. Now, we believe that, four kinds of fundamental interactions in nature are all gauge interactions and can be described by gauge field theories. It is generally believed that the principle of local gauge invaria...

Sargent plot, summarizes part of one of the pioneers experiments on nuclear beta decay. Here it is proposed to be used as a motivation, to teach undergraduate students some basic features of the weak interactions. This is done by considering only elementary aspects of special relativity and quantum theories. 1 – Introduction It has been elapsed a time interval of eighty years, since B. W. Sarge...

A central problem in the physics of elementary particles concerns the establishment of their quantum numbers. Recent developments in the theoretical classification of particles states have added impetus to this ac­ tivity as a means of making meaningful confrontation between theoretical proposals and experiment. In this review we confine our attention to the in­ ternal quantum numbers of spin a...

Gauge theories are theories that are invariant under a characteristic group of “gauge” transformations. General relativity is invariant under transformations of the diffeomorphism group. This has prompted many philosophers and physicists to treat general relativity as a gauge theory, and diffeomorphisms as gauge transformations. I argue that this approach is misguided. The theories of three of ...

Spontaneous breaking of parity or time reversal invariance offers a solution to the strong CP problem, the stability of which under quantum gravitational effects provides an upper limit on the scale of symmetry breaking. Even more important, these Planck scale effects may provide a simple and natural way out of the resulting domain wall problem. ∗Invited talk at the 4th Hellenic School on Eleme...

During the past fifty years, our concept of an elementary particle has undergone a fundamental change. Today we understand hadrons as bound states of quarks, and thus as composite. In strong interaction physics, quarks have become the smallest building blocks of nature. But the binding force between quarks confines them to their hadron, which cannot be split into its quark constituents. In term...

After a very brief review of twentieth century elementary particle physics, prospects for the next century are discussed. First and most important are technological limits of opportunities; next, the future experimental program, and finally the status of the theory, in particular its limitations as well as its opportunities. Invited talk given at the International Conference on Fundamental Scie...

The theory of elementary particles permitting to explain their constitution, sizes, bond energy, possible channels of decay, spectrum of weights and other properties is offered.