|
Chiral Model
In nuclear physics, the chiral model, introduced by Feza Gürsey in 1960, is a phenomenological model describing effective interactions of mesons in the chiral limit (where the masses of the quarks go to zero), but without necessarily mentioning quarks at all. It is a nonlinear sigma model with the principal homogeneous space of the Lie group SU(''N'') as its target manifold, where ''N'' is the number of quark flavors. The Riemannian metric of the target manifold is given by a positive constant multiplied by the Killing form acting upon the Maurer–Cartan form of SU(''N''). The internal global symmetry of this model is SU(''N'')''L'' × SU(''N'')''R'', the left and right copies, respectively; where the left copy acts as the left action upon the target space, and the right copy acts as the right action. The left copy represents flavor rotations among the left-handed quarks, while the right copy describes rotations among the right-handed quarks, while these, L and R, are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nuclear Physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies the atom as a whole, including its electrons. Discoveries in nuclear physics have led to nuclear technology, applications in many fields. This includes nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging, industrial and agricultural isotopes, ion implantation in materials engineering, and radiocarbon dating in geology and archaeology. Such applications are studied in the field of nuclear engineering. Particle physics evolved out of nuclear physics and the two fields are typically taught in close association. Nuclear astrophysics, the application of nuclear physics to astrophysics, is crucial in explaining the inner workings of stars and the nucleosynthesis, origin of the chemical elements. History The history o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiral Symmetry Breaking
In particle physics, chiral symmetry breaking is the spontaneous symmetry breaking of a chiral symmetry – usually by a gauge theory such as quantum chromodynamics, the quantum field theory of the strong interaction. Yoichiro Nambu was awarded the 2008 Nobel prize in physics for describing this phenomenon ("for the discovery of the mechanism of spontaneous broken symmetry in subatomic physics"). Overview Quantum chromodynamics Experimentally, it is observed that the masses of the octet of pseudoscalar mesons (such as the pion) are much lighter than the next heavier states such as the octet of vector mesons, such as rho meson. This is a consequence of spontaneous symmetry breaking of chiral symmetry in a fermion sector of QCD with 3 flavors of light quarks, , , and . Such a theory, for idealized massless quarks, has global chiral flavor symmetry. Under SSB, this is spontaneously broken to the diagonal flavor ''SU''(3) subgroup, generating eight Nambu–Goldston ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Field Theory
In theoretical physics, quantum field theory (QFT) is a theoretical framework that combines classical field theory, special relativity, and quantum mechanics. QFT is used in particle physics to construct physical models of subatomic particles and in condensed matter physics to construct models of quasiparticles. QFT treats particles as excited states (also called quanta) of their underlying quantum fields, which are more fundamental than the particles. The equation of motion of the particle is determined by minimization of the Lagrangian, a functional of fields associated with the particle. Interactions between particles are described by interaction terms in the Lagrangian involving their corresponding quantum fields. Each interaction can be visually represented by Feynman diagrams according to perturbation theory in quantum mechanics. History Quantum field theory emerged from the work of generations of theoretical physicists spanning much of the 20th century. Its deve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Non-linear Sigma Model
In quantum field theory, a nonlinear ''σ'' model describes a scalar field which takes on values in a nonlinear manifold called the target manifold ''T''. The non-linear ''σ''-model was introduced by , who named it after a field corresponding to a spinless meson called ''σ'' in their model. This article deals primarily with the quantization of the non-linear sigma model; please refer to the base article on the sigma model for general definitions and classical (non-quantum) formulations and results. Description The target manifold ''T'' is equipped with a Riemannian metric ''g''. is a differentiable map from Minkowski space ''M'' (or some other space) to ''T''. The Lagrangian density in contemporary chiral form is given by :\mathcal=g(\partial^\mu\Sigma,\partial_\mu\Sigma)-V(\Sigma) where we have used a + − − − metric signature and the partial derivative is given by a section of the jet bundle of ''T''×''M'' and is the potential. I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trace (linear Algebra)
In linear algebra, the trace of a square matrix , denoted , is defined to be the sum of elements on the main diagonal (from the upper left to the lower right) of . The trace is only defined for a square matrix (). It can be proved that the trace of a matrix is the sum of its (complex) eigenvalues (counted with multiplicities). It can also be proved that for any two matrices and . This implies that similar matrices have the same trace. As a consequence one can define the trace of a linear operator mapping a finite-dimensional vector space into itself, since all matrices describing such an operator with respect to a basis are similar. The trace is related to the derivative of the determinant (see Jacobi's formula). Definition The trace of an square matrix is defined as \operatorname(\mathbf) = \sum_^n a_ = a_ + a_ + \dots + a_ where denotes the entry on the th row and th column of . The entries of can be real numbers or (more generally) complex numbers. The trace is not ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lorentz Group
In physics and mathematics, the Lorentz group is the group of all Lorentz transformations of Minkowski spacetime, the classical and quantum setting for all (non-gravitational) physical phenomena. The Lorentz group is named for the Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz. For example, the following laws, equations, and theories respect Lorentz symmetry: * The kinematical laws of special relativity * Maxwell's field equations in the theory of electromagnetism * The Dirac equation in the theory of the electron * The Standard Model of particle physics The Lorentz group expresses the fundamental symmetry of space and time of all known fundamental laws of nature. In small enough regions of spacetime where gravitational variances are negligible, physical laws are Lorentz invariant in the same manner as special relativity. Basic properties The Lorentz group is a subgroup of the Poincaré group—the group of all isometries of Minkowski spacetime. Lorentz transformations are, precisely, iso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pion Decay Constant
In particle physics, the pion decay constant is the square root of the coefficient in front of the kinetic term for the pion in the low-energy effective action. It is dimensionally an energy scale and it determines the strength of the chiral symmetry breaking. The values are: :f_ = 130.41 \pm 0.03 \pm 0.20~\mbox :f_ = 130 \pm 5~\mbox Beware: There are several conventions which differ by factors of \scriptstyle \sqrt. The textbook by Weinberg uses the value 184 MeV. The textbook by Peskin and Schroeder uses the value 93 MeV. According to Brown–Rho scaling, the masses of nucleons and most light meson In particle physics, a meson ( or ) is a type of hadronic subatomic particle composed of an equal number of quarks and antiquarks, usually one of each, bound together by the strong interaction. Because mesons are composed of quark subparticles, ...s decrease at finite density as the ratio of the in-medium pion decay rate to the free-space pion decay constant. The pion mass is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nonlinear Realization
In mathematical physics, nonlinear realization of a Lie group ''G'' possessing a Cartan subgroup ''H'' is a particular induced representation of ''G''. In fact, it is a representation of a Lie algebra \mathfrak g of ''G'' in a neighborhood of its origin. A nonlinear realization, when restricted to the subgroup ''H'' reduces to a linear representation. A nonlinear realization technique is part and parcel of many field theories with spontaneous symmetry breaking, e.g., chiral models, chiral symmetry breaking, Goldstone boson theory, classical Higgs field theory, gauge gravitation theory and supergravity. Let ''G'' be a Lie group and ''H'' its Cartan subgroup which admits a linear representation in a vector space ''V''. A Lie algebra \mathfrak g of ''G'' splits into the sum \mathfrak g=\mathfrak h \oplus \mathfrak f of the Cartan subalgebra \mathfrak h of ''H'' and its supplement \mathfrak f, such that : mathfrak f,\mathfrak fsubset \mathfrak h, \qquad mathfrak f,\mathfrak h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
QCD Vacuum
In theoretical physics, quantum chromodynamics (QCD) is the theory of the strong interaction between quarks mediated by gluons. Quarks are fundamental particles that make up composite hadrons such as the proton, neutron and pion. QCD is a type of quantum field theory called a non-abelian gauge theory, with symmetry group SU(3). The QCD analog of electric charge is a property called ''color''. Gluons are the force carriers of the theory, just as photons are for the electromagnetic force in quantum electrodynamics. The theory is an important part of the Standard Model of particle physics. A large body of experimental evidence for QCD has been gathered over the years. QCD exhibits three salient properties: * Color confinement. Due to the force between two color charges remaining constant as they are separated, the energy grows until a quark–antiquark pair is spontaneously produced, turning the initial hadron into a pair of hadrons instead of isolating a color charge. Although an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking
Spontaneous symmetry breaking is a spontaneous process of symmetry breaking, by which a physical system in a symmetric state spontaneously ends up in an asymmetric state. In particular, it can describe systems where the equations of motion or the Lagrangian obey symmetries, but the lowest-energy vacuum solutions do not exhibit that same symmetry. When the system goes to one of those vacuum solutions, the symmetry is broken for perturbations around that vacuum even though the entire Lagrangian retains that symmetry. Overview By definition, spontaneous symmetry breaking requires the existence of physical laws (e.g. quantum mechanics) which are invariant under a symmetry transformation (such as translation or rotation), so that any pair of outcomes differing only by that transformation have the same probability distribution. For example if measurements of an observable at any two different positions have the same probability distribution, the observable has translational symme ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Current Algebra
Certain commutation relations among the current density operators in quantum field theories define an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra called a current algebra. Mathematically these are Lie algebras consisting of smooth maps from a manifold into a finite dimensional Lie algebra. History The original current algebra, proposed in 1964 by Murray Gell-Mann, described weak and electromagnetic currents of the strongly interacting particles, hadrons, leading to the Adler–Weisberger formula and other important physical results. The basic concept, in the era just preceding quantum chromodynamics, was that even without knowing the Lagrangian governing hadron dynamics in detail, exact kinematical information – the local symmetry – could still be encoded in an algebra of currents. The commutators involved in current algebra amount to an infinite-dimensional extension of the Jordan map, where the quantum fields represent infinite arrays of oscillators. Current algebraic techniques are st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chiral Perturbation Theory
Chiral perturbation theory (ChPT) is an effective field theory constructed with a Lagrangian consistent with the (approximate) chiral symmetry of quantum chromodynamics (QCD), as well as the other symmetries of parity and charge conjugation.Heinrich Leutwyler (2012), Chiral perturbation theory Scholarpedia, 7(10):8708. ChPT is a theory which allows one to study the low-energy dynamics of QCD on the basis of this underlying chiral symmetry. Goals In the theory of the strong interaction of the standard model, we describe the interactions between quarks and gluons. Due to the running of the strong coupling constant, we can apply perturbation theory in the coupling constant only at high energies. But in the low-energy regime of QCD, the degrees of freedom are no lo ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
.png "Click for more on -> Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking")