What are the Essential Concepts for Understanding the Standard Model?

AI Thread Summary
A user with a background in chemistry is seeking to deepen their understanding of cosmology and general relativity (GR), having recently begun self-study in these areas. They express difficulty with foundational concepts such as gauge symmetries, symmetry breaking, and Dirac gamma matrices, which are essential for grasping the Standard Model (SM) of particle physics. The user is looking for introductory resources that explain these topics in detail, as existing materials often assume prior knowledge they do not possess. A helpful reference was provided in the discussion, pointing to a PDF that may assist in their learning journey.
Kevin McHugh
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Hi all,

I am new to the forum. I have a BS in Chemistry (1984). So I remember a little quantum mechanics. I am trying to wrap my head around cosmology. I started studying GR on my own about a year ago. It took me almost that long to understand tensors. This invariably lead me to start reading Cosmological Physics by Peacock. Admittedly he is way over my head, but I am learning what I don't know. I am struggling with certain concepts that are required to understand the SM. I have a weak understanding of gauge symmetries, symmetry breaking ,the Dirac gamma matrices, and a some other issues with notation and such. I have looked for some introductory material on the web, but everything starts out with the very concepts I am struggling with. Can anybody recommend a truly introductory pdf that explains these things in a little more detail? TIA for any help..
 
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Found this reference using what you were looking for:

http://www.math.polytechnique.fr/~renard/Susy_Quevedo.pdf
 
Thanks Jedi, I'll give that a good going over. I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions.
 

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