Introduction to Elementary Particles [Hardcover]

David Griffiths (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471603864 | ISBN-13: 978-0471603863 | Publication Date: March 15, 1987

This is the first quantitative treatment of elementary particle theory that is accessible to undergraduates. Using a lively, informal writing style, the author strikes a balance between quantitative rigor and intuitive understanding. The first chapter provides a detailed historical introduction to the subject. Subsequent chapters offer a consistent and modern presentation, covering the quark model, Feynman diagrams, quantum electrodynamics, and gauge theories. A clear introduction to the Feynman rules, using a simple model, helps readers learn the calculational techniques without the complications of spin. And an accessible treatment of QED shows how to evaluate tree-level diagrams. Contains an abundance of worked examples and many end-of-chapter problems.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons Inc (March 15, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471603864
• ISBN-13: 978-0471603863
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #678,504 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

113 of 114 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the absolute must for the beginner., August 3, 2000

By 

Felix Matathias (Manhattan, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Introduction to Elementary Particles (Hardcover)

This is the absolute must for the beginner high energy student, theorist or experimentalist , graduate or undergraduate. This should be your first book on the subject. Anything else is too hard or too naive.This is the book that will take you by the hand, do the calculations, show you the history of the subject and tell you what is important and what is not, in short show you what high energy physics is all about. It has the ultimate material and structure.

If you dont know what a quark is or why people keep talking about its color, or you have never seen Dirac's equation, or you have no idea about what a cross section may be or how to solve problems in relativistic kinematics, THIS BOOK will take you by hand, teach you and care for you. If your friends tell you how cool a Feynman diagram is but you have never seen one and would like to understand what it is, what is its meaning and how to calculate one, then this book will take you by the hand and explain it to you. It will open the secret gardens of particle physics in front of your eyes. It is full with great physical intuition, not just mathematics all over the place.

And after you feel comfortable with the first shock of the Feynman diagrams and the Dirac equation and Electrodynamics, then you can sail away to the second part of the book that covers Quantum Chromodynamics, weak interactions and gauge theories. Then and only then make the jump to the more "difficult" books.

You can read this book on your own, you dont need a professor or a course. Griffiths is there. He knows your questions and answers them beforehand (like Mandl). He is such a great pedagogist. Dear fellow student of high energy physics, take my word and at least take a look at the book in your library. I am sure that you will like it a lot.

P.S. Another book of this magnitude and style is Gordon Kane's "Modern Elementary Particle Physics". If you cannot affort to buy both then buy this one! (Sorry Dr. Kane)

42 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Griffiths defines "Introductory Course", September 3, 2003

By 

Alexander Scott (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Introduction to Elementary Particles (Hardcover)

David Griffiths' texts are indispensable for any beginner, and are used to "translate" more advanced texts. I used his "Quantum Mechanics" to fill in the gaps at the advanced graduate level, and his "Electrodynamics" was essential to understanding Jackson. I'm sorry that I waited so long to purchase his "Elementary Particles".

This book contains all the background that professors expect you to have already been exposed to: particle classification schemes, the November Revolution, relativistic kinematics, and fundamental force overviews. Griffiths then goes on to discuss Feynman rules, QED, QCD, electroweak and gauge theories. Griffiths also works out some essential problems, like muon decay, that you will want to see done, but I think it is done better by Lahiri and Pal (that, however, is a field theory book, which might be more advanced than is necessary to some people in particle physics).

This is a great text for anyone starting out in particle physics and for anyone who needs to review the fundamentals. My only bone with Griffiths is that sometimes more of the work is left to the reader than is appropriate (those problems worked out in gory detail are a godsend when you genuinely aren't getting the point).

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Companion, March 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Introduction to Elementary Particles (Hardcover)

It's a good thing that Griffiths has written this book about particles. So many other professors have tried but have failed miserably. Griffiths on the other hand is a gifted writer and teacher. This book is well written and easy to learn from. The text includes a chapter on bound state and another on home to calculate amplitudes from Feynmann diagrams. You won't always find mathmatical rigor in this text, but it will always be claer and readable.