Thomson (Modern Particle Physics) & Schwartz (Quantum Field Theory)

[FourEyedRaven]

Hi.

Are these two books complementary, or do they have too much in common?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1107034264/?tag=pfamazon01-20
www.amazon.com/Quantum-Field-Theory-Standard-Model/dp/1107034736/

My problem is that I still don't quite understand the difference between university courses in elementary particles and courses in QFT, when both of them focus on the Standard Model. It seems that the relation between these two is analogous to the relation between regular thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics. And if this is the case, it looks like reading Thomson's book would be almost superfluous. But this doesn't seem right. What am I missing?

 

[Demystifier]

First, Thomson is more elementary, while Schwartz is more advanced. Second, Thomson contains a lot of information about experimental aspects, which Schwartz doesn't. Third, Thomson does not really develop the formalism of QFT. In short, Thomson is better suited for experimentalists, while Schwartz is better suited for theorists.

 

[vanhees71]

Hi.

Are these two books complementary, or do they have too much in common?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1107034264/?tag=pfamazon01-20
www.amazon.com/Quantum-Field-Theory-Standard-Model/dp/1107034736/

My problem is that I still don't quite understand the difference between university courses in elementary particles and courses in QFT, when both of them focus on the Standard Model. It seems that the relation between these two is analogous to the relation between regular thermodynamics and statistical thermodynamics. And if this is the case, it looks like reading Thomson's book would be almost superfluous. But this doesn't seem right. What am I missing?

Well, I think the analogy between "regular thermodynamics" (I guess what you mean is in fact "phenomenological thermodynamics") and "statstical physics" and a "elementary-particle physics" to "relativistic QFT" is not too bad.

An "elementary-physics book" should, in my opinion, cover mostly the phenomenological and observational part, but it's of course impossible to even understand the experimental setups and the investigations on specific observables (e.g., why is there such a high effort in contemporary physics to explore CP violations) without a basic understanding of the underlying theory, which is the Standard Model of elementary particle physics, and this is a relativistic QFT. So to a certain extent you need to understand QFT and the Standard Model to understand even a very much experimentally inclined exihibition of elementary-particle physics.

A good compromise is

O. Nachtmann, Elementary Particle Physics

Unfortunately it's a bit outdated these days (particularly in omitting neutrino masses andoscillations), but it covers the basics and most important phenomena in a very didactical way ("as simple as possible but not simpler").

The same holds true for thermodynamics. For me that was an enigma (particularly temperature and entropy, which are simply introduced as an integrating factor of Pfaffian forms) until I heard a lecture on statistical physics based on the information-theoretical approach. From this point of view thermodynamics emerges almost logically from the underlying microscopic fundamental laws rather than an abstract mathematical formalism (though there's a lot of math in there too, but there's no physics without math anyway).

I don't know the book by Thomson. The QFT book by Schwartz is my favorite if it comes to an introductory textbook. As advanced textbooks on QFT there's very likely nothing better than Weinberg's Quantum Theory of Fields (maybe vol. 3 is only necessary if you are really interested in SUSY, but the other two volumes are a kind of bible). What's left out in Weinberg is provided by the equally excellent book by Duncan, The conceptual framework of QFT.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

I think (I could be wrong) that combining both theory and experiments of particle physics and QFT is a formidable task, and the book would surely become a dictionary.

I haven't read Schwartz yet, but I agree with @vanhees71 that it is a highly recommended book. Another good book is Introductory Particle Physics by Palash B. Pal. I am currently reading his book on QFT (which it is very well written and suitable for beginners). It has not been long that the book has been made available on the web, but it is already well celebrated in the universities in my city. I cannot guarantee that it mentions all the particle physics experiments done till date, but it is quite a recent book (published July 2014). The contents page is available at the author's homepage.

 

[FourEyedRaven]

@vanhees71 - Yes, I think I mean phenomenological thermodynamics. When I said regular thermodynamics I meant the one engineers usually learn. (Calorimetry; laws of thermodynamics; state equation of ideal gases; isocoric, adiabatic, and isobaric processes; heat engines and refrigerators; etc.).

Thank you for the explanation.

 

[FourEyedRaven]

I think (I could be wrong) that combining both theory and experiments of particle physics and QFT is a formidable task, and the book would surely become a dictionary.

It would be great to have the equivalent for particle physics of what Padmanabhan wrote for all areas of Astrophysics.