Introduction to Elementary Particles 2nd Edition by David Griffiths (PDF)

Description

In the second, revised edition of a well-established textbook, the author 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.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is possibly the best textbook on any subject that I have ever read. And when I say read I mean cover to cover, several times! (The book is now so shabby and food stained that I’m thinking of buying another copy.) The previous reviews have said it all but I want to summarize some quick points.1. The footnotes and references are in a class of their own. You MUST read them to get full value. They contain a wealth of critical information.2. The narrative style and method of explanation in this book makes me feel as though David Griffith is talking one-on-one to me alone. In my opinion he is peerless as a teacher!3. The ability of this text to present some of the most complex mathematical material in an a simple, accessible and meaningful way using ordinary, jargon free language is just amazing. Of course particle physics is never going to be simple in laymen’s terms but the ability to simplify the difficult ideas it contains as much as possible is critical for a student.4. The ability of David Griffiths to make the subject – even at its most formal and driest points – exciting and alive is a rare and special skill.5. The problems posed at the end of each section are the gateway to true understanding. They are clear, practical, have a definite educational purpose and are often fun to solve as well.5. If you are affiliated with a university or other teaching institution and can get hold of the Solutions Manual, you MUST do so. It is a gem in itself and an essential part of the total “David Griffiths” experience.Although this book is an absolute must if you are studying the subject and even if you are merely interested in it, there are a couple of minor quibbles that I need to bring to your attention.Firstly, I would have loved to see a bit more on the fascinating subject of Renormalization and especially some of the deeper implications of Renormalization Theory. As it is the subject is treated in a very practical way and the book contains just enough material to enable one to solve the problems and to get on with other things. A little more would have been nice.Secondly, and much more seriously, my copy of the book arrived with a double sided printout of 53 errata. These range from minor typos to complete show stoppers (if left uncorrected)! In fact there are so many of them, and they often have such serious effect on the text that I have broken a habit of a life-time and penciled in the corrections on the pages themselves. I would normally regard this as inexcusable vandalism but the constant referral to the errata sheet had become tiresome. I regard Wiley the publishers of this book to be one of the best technical publishers in the world and I can only guess at the glitch which let so many errors get through to the print stage. Having said this, once the errors are noted and corrected one can get back to the study and enjoyment of this fine work.

⭐I got this book before presenting at my first Geophysics conference. My first of two flights had been delayed and so I was one of the last people on the plane for the second flight and I ended up having to gate-check my bag for the conference with all of my presentation and conference clothes, registration, and other important information. When the gate assistant asked if I wanted to grab anything from my bag I opened it and grabbed just this book, not any of the other stuff… yeah I was excited for this. I put the book in my arm and got on the plane. As I made my way to my seat at the back of the plane, everyone was looking at me and giving me weird looks. I had gotten on a plane late before and that had not been the case. So I looked down and realized the front cover of the book was facing out. I quickly turned it around, so the front cover was facing me, and I got fewer looks the rest of the way to my seat. I enjoyed reading about elementary particles for the rest of the flight. Still can’t believe that was all I actually grabbed for the flight, that could have gone so wrong. Love the book, still have it. It and particle physics hold a special place in my heart.

⭐Griffiths signature clear and welcoming style makes this an excellent introduction to this subject. Very similar to his electrodynamics book in that way. An excellent text for those new to this subject and reasonably current as well given all that has been happening in particle physics the last several years.

⭐High Energy Physics would be fascinating even if it were not constantly in the news but even people with a smattering of Quantum Mechanics and strong quantitative backgrounds in general, such as engineers and applied mathematicians, find the subject impenetrable. The troubles begin upon opening any of the many painstakingly written texts on Quantum Field Theory. It all seems dreadfully contrived, especially the covariance of the formalism, and one can do all the exercises yet still be treading water when attempting to read the latest exciting news from Fermilab or CERN or…Give this a try instead: read Griffiths once from cover to cover. Ignore all the excellent footnotes, references and exercises on your first reading. Work through, line for line, Bjorken and Drell’s 1964 “Relativistic Quantum Mechanics”. It’s readily accessible to the reader described in the first line of this review. You will then have covered a staggering amount of fantastic physics, and not a moment will have been wasted in your pursuit of a grasp of the latest screaming headlines about the Higgs and exotic hadrons. You will also have done a lot of the exquisite mathematical needlepoint that the real hep guys do 24/7. Continue to graze in Griffiths. Over and over. Read every footnote, try some exercises, snoop around a few of the references. You may surprise yourself: you may even develop a critical streak.The SM ? Bring it on.Hint: a strange and noisy coffee shop is for me an easier place to concentrate than my quiet study at home.Oh. Did I forget to say? This is such a good book.

⭐Good book for the topic, I just happened to purchase a copy that was missing the first 17 pages of the first chapter.

⭐This is on the whole a very good book for those who want to know the development of particle physics and also how to use Feynman diagrams to calculate particle decay rates and scattering cross sections. The explanation of how to calculate color factors in Quantum Chromodynamics is probably one of the clearest in any text book. Anyone who works through this book will have a good knowledge of how to calculate Feynman diagrams for any given Lagrangian (even one you might think of yourself 🙂 ).However the Feynman rules are just handed down from ‘heaven’ as it were and no attempt is made to show where they come from. This is surprising as there are quite simple derivations using Fermi’s Golden Rule which are available and that avoid the complications of quantum Field theory. Such derivations are included in books such as Halzen and Martin and Mark Thomson.For this reason I can only give the book 4 stars

⭐Very good explanations. Doesn’t require much background, mostly introductory quantum mechanics. Very good for the first course on the subject.But don’t expect anything very deep here. For instance, only the idea behind Higgs mechanism is explained, without much detour into Lie groups, or even writing out the Lagrangian for Standard model and deriving Weak interactions theory from symmetry breaking. Anyone looking for deep mathematical insight should consult other books as well. For instance, QFT in a Nutshell is very good and Peskin and Schroeder is a classic.But I would recommend still buying Griffith’s Elementary Particles – after the more abstract treatment of other books it’s sometimes good to get a refreshing view from the introductory level with a lot of physical insights.

⭐As the other two books of Griffiths, it’s the best book on it’s level.Griffiths begins with the interesting History of elementary particles, form the electron to the Standrad Model (I’ve never read it before), letting you how every kind of particle was discovered. Then it makes a review of the elementary forces and gives a intuitive notion of how their behaviour. Then, it explains the Dirac’s equation and explains its solutions. After this, each elementary force (QED, QCD and weak), are explained. It has also has a chapter on gauge freedom, SU(2) group and Higgs mechanism. It aso has a final chapter with the future and the challenges of the Elementary Particles such as String Theory, Dark Matter and Grand Unification Theories.The writing style is mainly fenomenological and one doesn’t need high level mathematics. Even though it uses Feynman diagrams (only at first order), it’s not explained where they come form and one might think they are pure mathematical stuff, or worst, the lines are the actual paths of the particles. So the diagrams should be covered with a Quantum Field Theory book.It’s also remarkable the friendly style that characteristizes Griffiths.So, excellent book to adquire an intuitive idea in the world of the elementary particles and their forces. If you want a formal and rigurous mathematical background you should check a Quantum Field Theory book.

⭐I have three of Griffiths’ books…QM, EM and this one. All three have a common theme. Clarity. The explanations are outstanding in this book (like the others); he takes the time to “talk” to the reader and take them through the material. Granted, some of the material in this book ain’t easy, but the clarity of his explanations make it much easier that it could be.If you are interested in a mathematical introduction to particle physics or (like me) just wanted to understand some more of the detail around the standard model, the Higgs and all that…then I would recommend. Not cheap…but worth it.

⭐This is a great book for someone taking a course in High Energy Physics. I would highly recommend it. It is quite a nice style to read (think NOT Bourbaki!).I read this alongside the Manchester Series High Energy Physics book, but honestly I think one is better off sticking with Griffiths, I personally found the Manchester to be a bad book with very little content.

Keywords

Free Download Introduction to Elementary Particles 2nd Edition in PDF format
Introduction to Elementary Particles 2nd Edition PDF Free Download
Download Introduction to Elementary Particles 2nd Edition 2020 PDF Free
Introduction to Elementary Particles 2nd Edition 2020 PDF Free Download
Download Introduction to Elementary Particles 2nd Edition PDF
Free Download Ebook Introduction to Elementary Particles 2nd Edition