Particle physics is the study of the properties of subatomic particles and of the interactions that occur among them. This book is concerned with the experimental aspects of the subject, including the characteristics of various detectors and considerations in the design of experiments. This introductory chapter begins with a description of the particles and interactions studied in particle physics. Next we briefly review some important material from relativistic kinematics and scattering theory that will be used later in the book. Then we give a brief preview of the various aspects of particle physics experiments, before discussing each topic in greater detail in subsequent chapters. Finally, we give a short discussion of some of the tasks involved in analyzing the data from an experiment.

Particle physics

Particle physics is the branch of science concerned with the ultimate constituents of matter and the fundamental interactions that occur among them. The subject is also known as high energy physics or elementary particle physics. Experiments over the last 40 years have revealed whole families of short-lived particles that can be created from the energy released in the high energy collisions of ordinary particles, such as electrons or protons. The classification of these particles and the detailed understanding of the manner in which their interactions leads to the observable world has been one of the major scientific achievements of the twentieth century.

The notion that matter is built up from a set of elementary constituents dates back at least 2000 years to the time of the Greek philosophers.