50 YEARS OF YANG-MILLS THEORY

edited by Gerardus 't Hooft (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

On the 50th anniversary of Yang–Mills theory, this invaluable volume looks back at the developments and achievements in elementary particle physics that ensued from that beautiful idea.

During the last five decades, Yang-Mills theory, which is undeniably the most important cornerstone of theoretical physics, has expanded widely. It has been investigated from many perspectives, and many new and unexpected features have been uncovered from this theory. In recent decades, apart from high energy physics, the theory has been actively applied in other branches of physics, such as statistical physics, condensed matter physics, nonlinear systems, etc. This makes the theory an indispensable topic for all who are involved in physics.

An international team of experts, each of whom has left his mark on the developments of this remarkable theory, contribute essays or more detailed technical accounts to this volume. These articles highlight the new discoveries from the respective authors’ perspectives. The distinguished contributors are: S Adler, F A Bais, C Becchi, M Creutz, A De Rújula, B S DeWitt, F Englert, L D Faddeev, P Hasenfratz, R Jackiw, A Polyakov, V N Popov, R Stora, P van Baal, P van Nieuwenhuizen, S Weinberg, F Wilczek, E Witten, C N Yang. Included in each article are introductory and explanatory remarks by the editor, G ’t Hooft, who is himself a major player in the development of Yang-Mills theory.

Contents:

• Quantizing Gauge Field Theories
• Ghosts for Physicists
• Breaking the Symmetry
• Towards the Standard Model
• Renormalization
• Anomalies
• Asymptotic Freedom
• Magnetic Monopoles
• Quark Confinement and Strings
• Fixing in Gauge Condition Non-Perturbatively
• The Lattice
• Fermions on the Lattice
• Confrontation with Experiment
• Supersymmetry and Supergravity
• Physics of the 21st Century

“50 Years of Yang-Mills Theory edited by Gerardus ’t Hooft is both delightful and deep. It begins with pages written in March 1947 by C N Yang, when he was a graduate student at the University of Chicago. The 1967 Popov and Faddeev Kiev Report is reproduced in translation and the Englert paper on broken symmetry and Yang-Mills Theory appears. ’t Hooft's deep insights put the papers into context and I'm sure that I can continually learn more by revisiting this volume.”

“This book provides an excellent historical survey of the development of Yang-Mills theory, written by those most involved in its creation. It also has valuable comments on the present situation, so that it will be useful for current research.”