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Lecture

Discrete Symmetries Introduction

In course

PHYS-432: Quantum field theory II

The goal of the course is to introduce relativistic quantum field theory as the conceptual and mathematical framework describing fundamental interactions such as Quantum Electrodynamics. ...

Description

This lecture covers the introduction to discrete symmetries, including parity, intrinsic parity, and pseudo-scalars. The instructor explains the action of operators and the violation of symmetry by weak interactions.

Instructors (2)

Brando Bellazzini

Riccardo Rattazzi

Riccardo Rattazzi was born in Novara (Italy) in 1964. He studied physics at the University of Pisa, where he received the Laurea cum laude in 1987, and at the Scuola Normale Superiore where he received the Diploma in Scienze and carried out graduate research in theoretical physics. After having been a post-doctoral research associate at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, at Rutgers University and at CERN, in 1998 Riccardo obtained a permanent research position at the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Pisa. From 2001 to 2006 he was a staff member at the Theory Division of CERN. In 2006 he was appointed professor of physics at EPFL.

Official source

Ontological neighbourhood

Physics

Particle physics: Standard Model

Related concepts (32)

Symmetry group

In group theory, the symmetry group of a geometric object is the group of all transformations under which the object is invariant, endowed with the group operation of composition. Such a transformation is an invertible mapping of the ambient space which takes the object to itself, and which preserves all the relevant structure of the object. A frequent notation for the symmetry group of an object X is G = Sym(X). For an object in a metric space, its symmetries form a subgroup of the isometry group of the ambient space.

Parity (physics)

In physics, a parity transformation (also called parity inversion) is the flip in the sign of one spatial coordinate. In three dimensions, it can also refer to the simultaneous flip in the sign of all three spatial coordinates (a point reflection): It can also be thought of as a test for chirality of a physical phenomenon, in that a parity inversion transforms a phenomenon into its mirror image. All fundamental interactions of elementary particles, with the exception of the weak interaction, are symmetric under parity.

C parity

In physics, the C parity or charge parity is a multiplicative quantum number of some particles that describes their behavior under the symmetry operation of charge conjugation. Charge conjugation changes the sign of all quantum charges (that is, additive quantum numbers), including the electrical charge, baryon number and lepton number, and the flavor charges strangeness, charm, bottomness, topness and Isospin (I3). In contrast, it doesn't affect the mass, linear momentum or spin of a particle.

Weak interaction

In nuclear physics and particle physics, the weak interaction, which is also often called the weak force or weak nuclear force, is one of the four known fundamental interactions, with the others being electromagnetism, the strong interaction, and gravitation. It is the mechanism of interaction between subatomic particles that is responsible for the radioactive decay of atoms: The weak interaction participates in nuclear fission and nuclear fusion.

Electromagnetic field

An electromagnetic field (also EM field or EMF) is a classical (i.e. non-quantum) field produced by moving electric charges. It is the field described by classical electrodynamics (a classical field theory) and is the classical counterpart to the quantized electromagnetic field tensor in quantum electrodynamics (a quantum field theory). The electromagnetic field propagates at the speed of light (in fact, this field can be identified as light) and interacts with charges and currents.

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Explores asymptotic states, S-matrix, and operators in quantum field theory, emphasizing the role of discrete symmetries and complete sets of states.

EM Field: Discrete Symmetries

Covers EM Field and Discrete Symmetries, emphasizing the importance of symmetries in quantum field theory.

Symmetries and Quark Model

Explores symmetries in particle physics, focusing on the quark model and conservation laws, leading to isospin and flavor symmetry.

Related concepts (32)

Electromagnetic field