Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009ejph...30..920b&link_type=abstract
European Journal of Physics, Volume 30, Issue 4, pp. 920 (2009).
Physics
Scientific paper
Particle astrophysics, the interface of elementary particle physics with astrophysics and cosmology, is a rapidly evolving field. Perkins' book provides a nice introduction to this field, at a level appropriate for senior undergraduate students. Perkins develops the foundations underlying both the particle and astrophysics areas, and also covers some of the most recent developments in this field. The latter is an appealing feature, as students rarely encounter topics of current research in their undergraduate textbooks.
Part 1 of the text introduces the elementary particle content, and interactions, of the standard model of particle physics. Relativity is addressed at the level of special relativistic kinematics, the equivalence principle and the Robertson-Walker metric. Part 2 covers cosmology, starting with the expansion of the Universe and basic thermodynamics. It then moves on to primordial nucleosynthesis, baryogenesis, dark matter, dark energy, structure formation and the cosmic microwave background. Part 3 covers cosmic rays, stellar evolution, and related topics.
Cutting edge topics include the use of the cosmological large scale structure power spectrum to constrain neutrino mass, the creation of the baryon asymmetry via leptogenesis, and the equation of state for dark energy. While the treatment of many topics is quite brief, the level of depth is about right for undergraduates who are being exposed to these topics for the first time. The breadth of topics spanned is excellent.
Perkins does a good job connecting theory with the experimental underpinnings, and of simplifying the theoretical presentation of complex subjects to a level that senior undergraduate students should find accessible. Each chapter includes a number of exercises. Brief solutions are provided for all the exercises, while fully worked solutions are provided for a smaller subset.
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