Why did the matter in our universe not annihilate itself with antimatter immediately after its creation? The discovery of CP violation may answer this fundamental question. From the basics to front-line research, this account presents background information and theoretical tools necessary for understanding this phenomenon. Early chapters explore charge conjugation, parity, and time reversal symmetries before introducing the Kobayashi-Maskawa ansatz for CP violation and examining the theoretical understanding of CP violating K meson decays.Following chapters reveal how the discovery of B mesons provides a laboratoryin which to study CP violation and predict CP violation in B meson decays andrare K meson decays. Later chapters continue the search for a fundamental theory and address the problem of baryogenesis in the big bang universe. The importance of close links with experiment is stressed throughout. Each chapter concludes with problems. Detailed references are included. This book is suitable for graduate students and researchers in particle physics, atomic and nuclear physics and the history and philosophy of science. INDICE: Foreword; Part I. Basics of CP Violation: 1. Prologue; 2. Prelude:C, P and T in classical dynamics; 3. C, P and T in non-relativistic quantum mechanics; 4. C, P and T in relativistic quantum theories; 5. The arrival of strange particles; 6. Quantum mechanics of neutral particles; 7. CP phenomenology of strange decays; Part II. Theory of CP Violation: 8. The KM implementationof CP violation; 9. The theory of KL decays; 10. Fundamentals of B physics; 11. Basics of the CP phenomenology in B decays; 12. The nitty-gritty of B physics; 13. Rare K and B decays; 14. CPT invariance in K and B decays; 15. CP violation in other heavy systems; Part III. Looking Beyond the Standard Model: 16.The strong CP problem; 17. Setting the table for CP violation in the neutrinosector; 18. First alternative to the KM ansatz: left-right symmetric models; 19. CP violation from Higgs dynamics; 20. Providing shelter for Higgs dynamics- CP violation from supersymmetry; 21. Baryogenesis in the universe; Part IV.Summary: 22. Summary and perspectives; References; Index.
- ISBN: 978-0-521-05576-5
- Editorial: Cambridge University
- Encuadernacion: Rústica
- Páginas: 400
- Fecha Publicación: 20/03/2008
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés