Written primarily for researchers and graduate students who are new in this emerging field, this book develops the necessary tools so that readers can follow the latest advances in this subject. Readers are first guided to examine the basic informations on nucleon-nucleon collisions and the use of the nucleus as an arena to study the interaction of one nucleon with another. A good survey of the relation between nucleon-nucleon and nucleus-nucleus collisions provides the proper comparison to study phenomena involving the more exotic quark-gluon plasma. Properties of the quark-gluon plasma and signatures for its detection are discussed to aid future searches and exploration for this exotic matter. Recent experimental findings are summarised.

Special relativity and quantum mechanics, formulated early in the twentieth century, are the two most important scientific languages and are likely to remain so for many years to come. In the 1920's, when quantum mechanics was developed, the most pressing theoretical problem was how to make it consistent with special relativity. In the 1980's, this is still the most pressing problem. The only difference is that the situation is more urgent now than before, because of the significant quantity of experimental data which need to be explained in terms of both quantum mechanics and special relativity. In unifying the concepts and algorithms of quantum mechanics and special relativity, it is important to realize that the underlying scientific language for both disciplines is that of group theory. The role of group theory in quantum mechanics is well known. The same is true for special relativity. Therefore, the most effective approach to the problem of unifying these two important theories is to develop a group theory which can accommodate both special relativity and quantum mechanics. As is well known, Eugene P. Wigner is one of the pioneers in developing group theoretical approaches to relativistic quantum mechanics. His 1939 paper on the inhomogeneous Lorentz group laid the foundation for this important research line. It is generally agreed that this paper was somewhat ahead of its time in 1939, and that contemporary physicists must continue to make real efforts to appreciate fully the content of this classic work.

Filling a gap in the current literature, this book is the first entirely dedicated to high energy quantum chromodynamics (QCD) including parton saturation and the color glass condensate (CGC). It presents groundbreaking progress on the subject and describes many problems at the forefront of research, bringing postgraduate students, theorists and interested experimentalists up to date with the current state of research in this field. The material is presented in a pedagogical way, with numerous examples and exercises. Discussion ranges from the quasi-classical McLerran–Venugopalan model to the linear BFKL and nonlinear BK/JIMWLK small-x evolution equations. The authors adopt both a theoretical and an experimental outlook, and present the physics of strong interactions in a universal way, making it useful for physicists from various subcommunities of high energy and nuclear physics, and applicable to processes studied at all high energy accelerators around the world. A selection of color figures is available online at www.cambridge.org/9780521112574.

This is an updated version of the book published in 1985. QCD-motivated, it gives a detailed description of hadron structure and soft interactions in the additive quark model, where hadrons are regarded as composite systems of dressed quarks.In the past decade it has become clear that nonperturbative QCD, responsible for soft hadronic processes, may differ rather drastically from perturbative QCD. The understanding of nonperturbative QCD requires a detailed investigation of the experiments and the theoretical approaches. Bearing this in mind, the book has been rewritten paying special attention to the interplay of soft hadronic collisions and the quark model. It is at the crossroads of these domains that peculiar features of strong QCD reveal themselves.The book discusses constituent quarks, diquarks, the massive effective gluons and the problem of scalar isoscalar mesons. The quark-gluonium classification of meson states is also given. Experimentally observed properties of hadrons are presented together with the corresponding theoretical interpretation in the framework of the composite hadron structure.The text includes a large theoretical part, which shows how to treat composite systems (including relativistic ones) with a technique based on spectral integration. This technique provides the possibility of handling hadrons as weakly bound systems of quarks and, at the same time, takes into account confinement.Attention is focused on the composite structure revealing itself in high energy hadron collisions. Fields of applicability of the additive quark model are discussed, as is colour screening in hadronic collisions at high and superhigh energies. Along with a detailed presentation of hadron-hadron collisions, a description of hadron-nucleus collisions is given.

One of the Top Selling Physics Books according to YBP Library Services Suitable for graduate students, experienced researchers, and experts, this book provides a state-of-the-art review of the non-relativistic theory of high-energy ion-atom collisions. Special attention is paid to four-body interactive dynamics through the most important theoretical methods available to date by critically analyzing their foundation and practical usefulness relative to virtually all the relevant experimental data. Fast ion-atom collisions are of paramount importance in many high-priority branches of science and technology, including accelerator-based physics, the search for new sources of energy, controlled thermonuclear fusion, plasma research, the earth’s environment, space research, particle transport physics, therapy of cancer patients by heavy ions, and more. These interdisciplinary fields are in need of knowledge about many cross sections and collisional rates for the analyzed fast ion-atom collisions, such as single ionization, excitation, charge exchange, and various combinations thereof. These include two-electron transitions, such as double ionization, excitation, or capture, as well as simultaneous electron transfer and ionization or excitation and the like—all of which are analyzed in depth in this book. Quantum Theory of High-Energy Ion-Atom Collisions focuses on multifaceted mechanisms of collisional phenomena with heavy ions and atoms at non-relativistic high energies.

This book is designed for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in high energy heavy-ion physics. It is relevant for students who will work on topics being explored at RHIC and the LHC. In the first part, the basic principles of these studies are covered including kinematics, cross sections (including the quark model and parton distribution functions), the geometry of nuclear collisions, thermodynamics, hydrodynamics and relevant aspects of lattice gauge theory at finite temperature. The second part covers some more specific probes of heavy-ion collisions at these energies: high mass thermal dileptons, quarkonium and hadronization. The second part also serves as extended examples of concepts learned in the previous part. Both parts contain examples in the text as well as exercises at the end of each chapter.- Designed for students and newcomers to the field- Focuses on hard probes and QCD- Covers all aspects of high energy heavy-ion physics- Includes worked example problems and exercises

Written primarily for researchers and graduate students who are new in this emerging field, this book develops the necessary tools so that readers can follow the latest advances in this subject. Readers are first guided to examine the basic informations on nucleon-nucleon collisions and the use of the nucleus as an arena to study the interaction of one nucleon with another. A good survey of the relation between nucleon-nucleon and nucleus-nucleus collisions provides the proper comparison to study phenomena involving the more exotic quark-gluon plasma. Properties of the quark-gluon plasma and signatures for its detection are discussed to aid future searches and exploration for this exotic matter. Recent experimental findings are summarised.

This highly-regarded text provides a comprehensive introduction to modern particle physics. Extensively rewritten and updated, this 4th edition includes developments in elementary particle physics, as well as its connections with cosmology and astrophysics. As in previous editions, the balance between experiment and theory is continually emphasised. The stress is on the phenomenological approach and basic theoretical concepts rather than rigorous mathematical detail. Short descriptions are given of some of the key experiments in the field, and how they have influenced our thinking. Although most of the material is presented in the context of the Standard Model of quarks and leptons, the shortcomings of this model and new physics beyond its compass (such as supersymmetry, neutrino mass and oscillations, GUTs and superstrings) are also discussed. The text includes many problems and a detailed and annotated further reading list.

The principal goal of this book is to provide state-of-the-art coverage of the non-relativistic three- and four-body theories at intermediate and high energy ion-atom and ion-molecule collisions. The focus is on the most frequently studied processes: electron capture, ionization, transfer excitation and transfer ionization. The content is suitable both for graduate students and experienced researchers. For these collisions, the literature has seen enormous renewal of activity in the development and applications of quantum-mechanical theories. This subject is of relevance in several branches of science and technology, like accelerator-based physics, the search for new sources of energy and high temperature fusion of light ions. Other important applications are in life sciences via medicine, where high-energy ion beams are used in radiotherapy for which a number of storage ring accelerators are in full operation, under construction or planned to be built worldwide. Therefore, it is necessary to review this field for its most recent advances with an emphasis on the prospects for multidisciplinary applications.This book is accompanied by Interdisciplinary Research on Particle Collisions and Quantitative Spectroscopy Volume 2 - Fast Collisions of Light Ions with Matter: Charge Exchange and Ionization.