UNDER THE SPELL OF THE GAUGE PRINCIPLE — by G 't HooftThe University of Bologna and its Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with the Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics and the Italian Physical Society, celebrated in 1998 the bicentenary of a great pioneer in the field of electric phenomena — Luigi Galvani, the father of macroelectricity. During these two centuries, the physics of electric phenomena has given rise first to the Maxwell equations, then to quantum electrodynamics, and finally to the synthesis of all reproducible phenomena, the “Standard Model”. A cornerstone of the Standard Model is quantum chromodynamics (QCD), which describes the interaction between quarks and gluons in the innermost part of the structure of matter.The discovery of QCD will be recalled in the future as one of the greatest achievements of mankind. Many physicists, the world over, have contributed to its creation on both the experimental and the theoretical front. Professor Antonino Zichichi has played an important role in this scientific venture, as documented by his works which are reproduced in this invaluable volume.One of the founders of European physics, Professor Victor F Weisskopf, contributes with his memories of the time when QCD had many problems. This volume owes its existence to a founding father of QCD, Professor Vladimir N Gribov, whose sudden demise prevented him from directly contributing to its final edition. Two world leaders in subnuclear theoretical physics, Professors Gerardus 't Hooft and Gabriele Veneziano, illustrate the significance of the contributions of Antonino Zichichi in QCD.

For the Galvani Bicentenary Celebrations, the University of Bologna and its Academy of Sciences singled out subnuclear physics as the field of scientific research to be associated with this important event, as it would best illustrate, for the new generation of students, the challenge inherent in fundamental sciences.Subnuclear physics was born 50 years ago and has represented, ever since, the new frontiers of Galilean science. In his opening lecture delivered on the first day of the new academic year, Professor Antonino Zichichi analytically reviewed the basic conceptual developments and main discoveries achieved in subnuclear physics during the last 50 years. Given the importance of this field of fundamental research, Professor Zichichi was invited to expand the contents of his lecture into a book, and the outcome is this invaluable volume.

This unique volume contains a tribute to Lord Patrick M S Blackett through the testimony of Professor Antonino Zichichi, who was one of Blackett's pupils in the experiment at the Sphinx Observatory, Europe's highest lab (3580 meters a.s.l.), at Jungfraujoch. The book presents an overview of Blackett's most significant discoveries, such as the so called 'vacuum polarization' effect, the first example of 'virtual physics' and the 'strange particles', that opened a new horizon towards the existence of the subnuclear universe. After discussing the profound implications of Blackett's pioneering contributions to Subnuclear Physics, the book also recalls his deep interest in the promotion of scientific culture. Blackett was firmly convinced that physicists must be engaged directly to let the people outside our labs know what the role of science is in the progress of our civilisation. In particular, according to Blackett and his friend Bertrand Russell, the Manhattan Project was the example of how the new frontiers of science and technology would have been implemented in the future. In this respect, the role of dedicated institutions is discussed, as a new bridge between traditional university teaching and the big projects for the future of science and technology.

V N Gribov, one of the founders of modern particle physics, shaped our understanding of QCD as the microscopic dynamics of hadrons. This volume collects his papers on quark confinement, showing the road he followed to arrive at the theory and formulating the theory itself. It begins with papers providing a beautiful physical explanation of asymptotic freedom based on the phenomenon of antiscreening and demonstrating the inconsistency of the standard perturbative treatment of the gluon fields (Gribov copies, Gribov horizon). It continues with papers presenting the Gribov theory according to which confinement of colour is determined by the existence of practically massless quarks. The last two papers conclude Gribov''s twenty-year-long study of the problem; QCD is formulated as a quantum field theory containing both perturbative and nonperturbative phenomena, and the confinement is based on the supercritical binding of light quarks. Contents: Quantization of Non-Abelian Gauge Theories (V N Gribov); Instability of Non-Abelian Gauge Theories and Impossibility of Choice of Coulomb Gauge (V N Gribov); Local Confinement of Charge in Massless QED (V N Gribov); Outlook (V N Gribov); Possible Solution of the Problem of Quark Confinement (V N Gribov); Orsay Lectures on Confinement (I) (V N Gribov); Orsay Lectures on Confinement (II) (V N Gribov); Orsay Lectures on Confinement (III) (V N Gribov); The Theory of Quark Confinement (V N Gribov); QCD at Large and Short Distances (V N Gribov); and other papers. Readership: Graduate students, and researchers in quantum field theory and particle physics.

This 2003 book is a rigorous introduction to the theory of complex angular momenta, based on the methods of field theory. This is an English translation of the famous lecture course given by Vladimir Gribov in 1969. Besides their historical significance, these lectures are highly relevant to modern research in theoretical physics.

Almost all theories of fundamental interactions are nowadays based on the gauge concept. Starting with the historical example of quantum electrodynamics, we have been led to the successful unified gauge theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions, and finally to a non abelian gauge theory of strong interactions with the notion of permanently confined quarks. The. early theoretical work on gauge theories was devoted to proofs of renormalizability, investigation of short distance behaviour, the discovery of asymptotic freedom, etc . . , aspects which were accessible to tools extrapolated from renormalised perturbation theory. The second phase of the subject is concerned with the problem of quark confinement which necessitates a non-perturbative understanding of gauge theories. This phase has so far been marked by the introduc tion of ideas from geometry, topology and statistical mechanics in particular the theory of phase transitions. The 1979 Cargese Institute on "Recent Developments on Gauge Theories" was devoted to a thorough discussion of these non-perturbative, global aspects of non-abelian gauge theories. In the lectures and seminars reproduced in this volume the reader wilf find detailed reports on most of the important developments of recent times on non perturbative gauge fields by some of the leading experts and innovators in this field. Aside from lectures on gauge fields proper, there were lectures on gauge field concepts in condensed matter physics and lectures by mathematicians on global aspects of the calculus of variations, its relation to geometry and topology, and related topics.

Murray Gell-Mann is one of the leading physicists in the world. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1969 for his work on the SU(3) symmetry. His list of publications, albeit relatively short, is highly impressive — he has written mainly papers, which have become landmarks in physics. In 1953, Gell-Mann introduced the strangeness quantum number. In 1954, he proposed, together with F Low, the idea of the renormalization group. In 1958, Gell-Mann wrote, together with R Feynman, an important paper on the V-A theory of weak interactions. In 1961, Gell-Mann published his ideas on the SU(3) symmetry. In 1964, he proposed the quark model for hadrons. In 1971, Gell-Mann, together with H Fritzsch, proposed the color quantum number; and in 1972, the theory of QCD. These major publications of Gell-Mann are collected in this volume, thus providing physicists with easy access to the important publications of Gell-Mann.

An accessible graduate-level introduction to quantum electrodynamics, a core topic in particle and theoretical physics.