Moderntheoreticalphysicshasmadeenormousprogress,whichmaywellbecomparedtothedramaticdevelopmentsthatoccurredduringthefirstfewdecadesofthiscentury.Thesearchforacommonoriginofallinteractionsisanultimategoalofphysics.AcomparablebrekthroughoccurredtwentyyearsagowhenGlashow,Salam,Weinberg,andothersrecognizedadeeprelationbetweentheelectromagneticandtheweaknucleatinteractionandshowedthattheycouldbederivedfromaunifiedtheory.
Theselecturesmakeanattempttofamiliarizethestudentwiththedevelopmentofmodernparticlephysicsbyprovidingaconceptuallysimple,yetrigorousintroductioncombinedwithhands-onexperiencethroughexercisesandexamples. |
