Gauge Theories in the Twentieth Century (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781860942822)

By the end of the 1970s, it was clear that all the known forces of nature (including, in a sense, gravity) were examples of gauge theories, characterized by invariance under symmetry transformations chosen independently at each position and each time. These ideas culminated with the finding of the W and Z gauge bosons (and perhaps also the Higgs boson). This important book brings together the key papers in the history of gauge theories, including the discoveries of: the role of gauge transformations in the quantum theory of electrically charged particles in the 1920s; nonabelian gauge groups in the 1950s; vacuum symmetry-breaking in the 1960s; asymptotic freedom in the 1970s. A short introduction explains the significance of the papers, and the connections between them.

Author: John C. Taylor
ISBN-10: 1860942822
ISBN-13: 9781860942822
Publisher: Imperial College Press
Language: English
Published: 10/22/2001
Pages: 404
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.82lbs
Size: 10.12h x 7.92w x 0.93d