Resource Letter: SM-1: The standard model and beyond
Jonathan L. Rosner
Enrico Fermi Institute and Department of Physics, University of Chicago, 5640 South Ellis Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois 60637
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Received 22 July 2002; accepted 22 November 2002
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This Resource Letter provides a guide to literature on the standard model of elementary particles and
possible extensions. In the successful theory of quarks and leptons and their interactions, important
questions remain, such as the mechanism of electroweak symmetry breaking, the origin of quark and
lepton masses, the source of the baryon asymmetry of the Universe, and the makeup of its matter
and energy density. References are cited for quarks and leptons, gauge theories, color and
chromodynamics, weak interactions, electroweak unification, CP violation, dynamics of heavy
quarks, Higgs bosons, precision electroweak measurements, supersymmetry, dynamical electroweak
symmetry breaking, composite quarks and leptons, grand unification and extended gauge groups,
string theories, large extra dimensions, neutrino masses, cosmic microwave background radiation,
dark matter, dark energy, accelerator facilities, and non-accelerator experiments. ©
2003 American
Association of Physics Teachers.
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DOI: 10.1119/1.1539087
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I. INTRODUCTION
The ‘‘Standard Model’’ of elementary particle physics en-
compasses the progress of the past half-century in under-
standing the weak, electromagnetic, and strong interactions.
During this period tremendous strides were made in bringing
quantum field theory to bear upon a wide variety of phenom-
ena.
The arsenal of techniques for understanding the strong in-
teractions in the 1960s included principles based on analyt-
icity, unitarity, and symmetry. The successes of the emerging
quark model often seemed mysterious. The ensuing decade
yielded a theory of strong interactions, quantum chromody-
namics
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QCD
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, permitting calculations of a wide range of
properties of the
hadrons
, or strongly interacting particles,
and has been validated by the discovery of its force-carrier,
the
gluon
.
In the 1960s the weak interactions were represented by a
phenomenological four-fermion theory of no use for higher-
order calculations. Attempts to describe weak interactions
with heavy boson exchange bore fruit when these interac-
tions were unified with electromagnetism and a suitable
mechanism for generation of heavy boson mass was found.
This
electroweak theory
has been spectacularly successful,
leading to the prediction and observation of the
W
and
Z
bosons and to precision tests confirming the theory’s validity
in higher-order calculations.
This Resource Letter begins with sections devoted to the
resources available for study of the standard model of par-
ticle physics and its extensions: periodicals
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Sec. II
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, confer-
ence proceedings
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Sec. III
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, texts and reviews
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Sec. IV
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, his-
torical references
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Sec. V
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, popular literature
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Sec. VI
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,
Internet resources
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Sec. VII
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, and a guide to Nobel prizes
related to the subject
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Sec. VIII
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.
A description of Standard Model research literature fol-
lows. In Sec. IX, based in part on Ref. 1, the ingredients of
the standard model—the quarks and leptons and their
interactions—are introduced, and QCD is discussed briefly.
The unified theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions
is described, its role in explaining CP violation is explained,
and its missing piece—the Higgs boson—is mentioned.
Important questions remain that are not addressed in the
standard model. These include the unification of the elec-
troweak and strong interactions
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possibly including gravity
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,
the origin of quark and lepton masses, the source of the
baryon asymmetry of the Universe, and the nature of its un-
seen matter and energy density. Some proposed standard
RESOURCE LETTER
Roger H. Stuewer,
Editor
School of Physics and Astronomy, 116 Church Street SE,
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
This is one of a series of Resource Letters on different topics intended to guide college physicists,
astronomers, and other scientists to some of the literature and other teaching aids that may help
improve course content in specified fields.
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The letter E after an item indicates elementary level or
material of general interest to persons becoming informed in the field. The letter I, for intermediate
level, indicates material of somewhat more specialized nature; and the letter A indicates rather
specialized or advanced material.
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No Resource Letter is meant to be exhaustive and complete; in time
there may be more than one letter on some of the main subjects of interest. Comments on these
materials as well as suggestions for future topics will be welcomed. Please send such communications
to Professor Roger H. Stuewer, Editor, AAPT Resource Letters, School of Physics and Astronomy,
University of Minnesota, 116 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455; e-mail:
302
302
Am. J. Phys.
71
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4
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, April 2003
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© 2003 American Association of Physics Teachers
