The phase structure of particle physics shows up in matter at extremely high densities and/or temperatures as they were reached in the early universe, shortly after the big bang, or in heavy-ion collisions, as they are performed nowadays in laboratory experiments. In contrast to phase transitions of condensed matter physics, the underlying fundamental theories are better known than their macroscopic manifestations in phase transitions. These theories are quantum chromodynamics for the strong interaction part and the electroweak part of the Standard Model for the electroweak interaction. It is their non-Abelian gauge structure that makes it a big challenge to predict the type of phase conversion between phases of different symmetries and different particle contents. The book is about a variety of analytical and numerical tools that are needed to study the phase structure of particle physics. To these belong convergent and asymptotic expansions in strong and weak couplings, dimensional reduction, renormalization group studies, gap equations, Monte Carlo simulations with and without fermions, finite-size and finite-mass scaling analyses, and the approach of effective actions as supplement to first-principle calculations.

Intended for readers with some prior knowledge of condensed-matter physics, this text emphasises the basic physics behind spontaneous structural changes in crystals. Starting with the relevant thermodynamic principles, the author discusses the nature of order variables and their collective motion in a crystal lattice. He also goes on to describe experimental methods for modulated crystal structures and gives examples of structural changes in representative systems. Both a graduate text and reference work.

Now in paperback, this book provides an overview of the physics of condensed matter systems. Assuming a familiarity with the basics of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics, the book establishes a general framework for describing condensed phases of matter, based on symmetries and conservation laws. It explores the role of spatial dimensionality and microscopic interactions in determining the nature of phase transitions, as well as discussing the structure and properties of materials with different symmetries. Particular attention is given to critical phenomena and renormalization group methods. The properties of liquids, liquid crystals, quasicrystals, crystalline solids, magnetically ordered systems and amorphous solids are investigated in terms of their symmetry, generalised rigidity, hydrodynamics and topological defect structure. In addition to serving as a course text, this book is an essential reference for students and researchers in physics, applied physics, chemistry, materials science and engineering, who are interested in modern condensed matter physics.

This monograph represents an extension of the author''s original PhD thesis and includes a more thorough discussion on the concepts and mathematics behind his research works on the foam model, as applied to studying issues of phase stability and elasticity for various non-closed packed structures found in fuzzy and colloidal crystals, as well as on a renormalization-group analysis regarding the critical behavior of loop polymers upon which topological constraints are imposed. The common thread behind these two research works is their demonstration of the importance and effectiveness of utilizing geometrical and topological concepts for modeling and understanding soft systems undergoing phase transitions.

An understanding of the properties and interactions of the elementary particles is an essential prerequisite of research work in high energy physics. Much progress in the subject has been achieved with the aid of symmetry principles. In this 1980 book the concept of symmetry or invariance is employed as a unifying theme. Using a careful explanation of the mathematical formalism and with many applications to particular cases, the authors introduce the reader to the symmetry schemes which dominate the world of the particle physicist. The presentation will also appeal to mathematicians and physicists in other fields who are interested in the applications of the general principles of symmetry. After a brief survey of the particles and a review of the relevant quantum mechanics, the principal symmetries are studied in turn. Some technical points are relegated to appendices and the book contains extensive references.

This thesis studies the properties of the Higgs particle, discovered at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in 2012, in order to elucidate its role in electroweak symmetry breaking and cosmological phase transition in the early universe. It shows that a generic spin-2 Higgs impostor is excluded by the precision measurements of electroweak observables and perturbative unitarity considerations. It obtains LHC constraints on anomalous CP-violating Higgs-Top Yukawa couplings and examines the prospects of their measurement in future experiments. Lastly, it discusses in detail the electroweak phase transition and generation of cosmological matter–antimatter asymmetry in the universe with anomalous Higgs couplings.

This volume develops the techniques of perturbative QCD in great pedagogical detail starting with field theory. Aside from extensive treatments of the renormalization group technique, The operator product expansion formalism and their applications to short-distance reactions, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to gauge theories. Examples and exercises are provided to amplify the discussions on important topics. This is an ideal textbook on the subject of quantum chromodynamics and is essential for researchers and graduate students in high energy physics, nuclear physics and mathematical physics.