Non-accelerator Particle Physics

Abstract

The recent and collider experiments have made it abundantly clear that all known physics below the energy of 100 GeV or so is successfully described in terms of a spontaneously broken local gauge field theory based on the symmetry group , the standard model of electroweak interactions. The progress in our understanding is perhaps more spectacular in the electroweak arena than that of low energy hadron dynamics, but the underlying physical theory for both sectors is widely accepted as correct. There is now experimental evidence for quantum one-loop corrections to the lowest order weak process in the standard model, making this theory slowly approach the level of success of quantum electrodynamics. It is also clear that there is a lot more physics beyond the standard model that needs to be understood before we can claim progress in unravelling the nature of the various inputs to this model, such as the origin of symmetry breaking, quantization of electric charge, stability of matter and the nature of B - L symmetry, which guarantees this stability in the standard model, etc. As we attempt to make our leap into this uncharted domain to explore physics above the 100 GeV frontier, one straightforward way is to build machines with higher energies, as are being planned. But this often runs into the roadblock of public policy making, an area where not too many physicists feel comfortable. We must, therefore, explore ways around this roadblock by making the fiscal dependence of our research on society as minimal as possible. One clever way, that is already being pursued on an expanded scale by experimentalists, bypasses the expensive accelerators and instead pursues experiments that look for indirect signals of TeV and multi-TeV energies in such studies as solar and atmospheric neutrinos, neutrinoless double beta decay, dark matter, monopoles, etc. Each of these experiments has the potential to change the landscape of physics (or, in the worst case scenario, to expand the frontier of validity of the standard model a lot further than at present). This book is an outstanding and timely volume that provides a complete, comprehensive and intellectually stimulating discussion of the physics that has been learned and can be explored using non-accelerator methods, a lucid discussion of their theoretical implications and a clear overall perspective of the field. Virtually no topic of interest has been left out and all the details are mentioned carefully. Starting with an introduction to modern particle physics including symmetries, unified theories and grand unification, the book goes on to explore all the topics that can be categorized under non-accelerator particle physics - from proton decay and neutron oscillation to neutrino mass and the search for monopoles, dark matter and even the fifth force. All the chapters start with a clear introduction to the necessary physical ideas, followed by recent developments in the theoretical as well as experimental areas. The book is instructive reading for all experts as well as beginners in the field and will be very useful as a textbook in an advanced course on particle phenomenology. It will also serve as an excellent reference book for active researchers in the field. On the whole, it is a superb new addition to the field of particle theory and phenomenology and it fills a gap in the literature in the field. It can be wholeheartedly recommended to all practicing and aspiring particle physicists.