Reference books on Elementary particles,Statistical mechanics

[1ndranil]

I need some reference books on the following...

My 3rd year 2nd sem Undergraduate physics syllabus has a part like this-
(I have 2 sem q.m., 1 sem special relativity as background.)

The nuclear two-body problem and simple theory of the deuteron.

Elementary particles:

Baryons, Mesons and Leptons, Additively conserved
quantum numbers, antiparticles, isospin, analogy with angular momentum, charge
independence of nuclear forces.
Proliferation of particles: The discovery of resonance particles, uncertainty
principle and the lifetime of resonance particles.
The quark model, the basic building blocks of matter ( quark and leptons ) and
their interactions, uncertainty principle and the meson theory of nuclear forces,
The virtual particles as carriers of fundamental forces in nature.

Simple application of relativistic kinematics:

Two-body and three-body decays, kinematic variables in the lab-frame and CMframe.
Fixed target vs colliding beam experiment, a few important discoveries at
positron-electron and bardon colliders.

A brief history of the universe and its future, Dark matter.

Quantum mechanics of two -level systems, the ammonia maser, Ko-Ko
oscillations, neutrino oscillations, and lepton flavour violation.

History of superconductivity, the Meissner effect, perfect conductivity and perfect
diamagnetism of superconductors, the London equation, the Jesephsonjunction.
Superfluidity, the fountain effect, the superfluidity ofHe4, the two-fluid model,
thermodynamics of superfluids.
Statistical mechanics of a dimensional spin chain, qualitative ideas of modern
theories of phase transitions.

 

[vanhees71]

Wow, that's a lot of stuff for 1 semester.

For nuclear physics and elementary particles, I would start with a good phenomenological textbook using only a minimum of quantum-field theory. I'd not recommend a book which avoids qft all together, because I don't believe that you gain a good understanding of the subject without such a minimum.

A good book for elementary particles of this kind is

Otto Nachtmann, Elementary Particle Physics, Concepts and Phenomena, Springer 1990

I only know the German edition, and I find it marvelous. The only drawback is that it does not cover neutrino mass and oscillations. But it's the best exposition on the physics of the standard model on a very comprehensible level. It seems to fit perfectly to your preknowledge in quantum theory and special relativity.

Another good book on both particle and nuclear physics is

Bogdan Povh, Klaus Rith et al, Particles and Nuclei, Springer 2008 (6th edition)

This is more on the experimental point of view but also contains some theory.

In thermodynamics/statistical physics, I'm not so sure what to recommend, given your syllabus. Perhaps somebody else has some suggestions for this topic.

 

[1ndranil]

Thanks Vanhees for your suggestion..:-)