Lie Groups for Pedestrians

Rating:
Summary: I-spin, U-spin, V all spin for I-spin
Review: This book is still a very useful resource, nearly four decades after it was first published.

And that's the case even if you aren't exactly a pedestrian. This is the Truth about Lie groups!

While this book is very readable as it takes you through isospin, SU(3), commutation rules, symmetry breaking, the three-dimensional harmonic oscillator, and creation and annihilation operators, the most valuable part is the use of Young diagrams to construct multiplets for SU(3), SU(4), SU(6), and SU(12).

That is, suppose you are taking a course on elementary particles. And you are using some standard text such as Halzen and Martin (also a book that has aged very well). Anyway, you get to page 62 or so and that book tells you that the best way to construct the SU(3) multiplets is to use Young tableaux. But that book doesn't tell you how to use them. This one does.

If you are learning about elementary particles, you can go through this book in a day or two. And you'll be glad you did.