Discrete Symmetries and CP Violation: From Experiment to Theory (Oxford Graduate Texts)

Abstract

Discrete Symmetries and CP Violation: From Experiment to Theory by Marco Sozzi discusses C(harge conjugation), P(arity) and T(ime reversal) discrete symmetries and of course CP symmetry in microscopic (atomic, nuclear and particle) physics. It includes a detailed description of key or representative experiments, and major achievements and recent developments are also mentioned.Though lots of excellent textbooks already exist which cover the basics of discrete symmetries and CP violation in theory and experiment, Sozzi has fully achieved the goal of presenting a book that describes the basics of this subject in detail, from an experimental point of view as well as from theory. He also succeeds in finding links between experiments and theory, leading to a better understanding of the subject. Besides, as an experimentalist, discrete symmetries and CP violation appear to the author as ideal subjects to convey the depth and excitement of experimental `beautiful' physics, which Marco S Sozzi - in my opinion - has managed to do brilliantly.Though mainly addressed to graduate students, the book may also be useful to undergraduates (by skipping some of the more advanced sections and utilizing the brief introduction to some topics in the appendices) and to young researchers looking for a wider modern overview of the issues related to CP symmetry. At the end of each chapter, further reading sections are conveniently provided for the reader to find relevant literature for further studies. Problems to solve at the end of each chapter act as 'little tests'. Unfortunately, their solutions are currently absent: perhaps a publication that includes them is planned in the near future.To conclude, the book succeeds in being a complete and self-consistent text describing in up-to-date detail the investigation of discrete symmetries in sub-atomic physics. It also emphasizes the concepts and ingenuity behind many delicate, careful, and by all means 'beautiful' experiments.