Hi, I'm relatively new to physics but very keen to learn and I don't
mind doing a lot of background reading to full underststand anything
discussed. I've been learning about the Standard Model, but a few
things don't quite make sense to me. Can anyone help me out?
I see the expression SU(3)xSU(2)xU(1) all over the place. I understand
that SU(3) is for the strong force and SU(2)xU(1) is for electroweak.
I've read about what special unity groups are. A few questions,
though:
1) what does the 'x' between unity groups represent? multiplication?
is it just to juxtapose the groups?
2) why do the different particles need to be represented in terms of
matrices?
3) where does symmetry tie into this theory? what exactly in the
standard model is symmetric? when "spntaneous symmetry breaking
occurs" for weak force, why is this force no longer symmetric?
4) what, precisely, is a gauge symmetry?
5) where are the 19 different experimentally determined parameters
plugged in in the standard model?
I'm sure these questions are pretty simple, but I'd like to have a
conceptual framework from which to work while I learn.
thanks very much!
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