nLab James Bjorken

James Bjorken (1934-2024)

• Wikipedia entry

Selected writings

On the quantum mechanics of relativistic particles (Klein-Gordon equation, Dirac equation)

• James D. Bjorken, Sidney D. Drell: Relativistic Quantum Mechanics, McGrawHill (1964) [ark:/13960/t5fc2v05h, pdf, pdf]

and their perturbative quantum field theory:

• James D. Bjorken, Sidney D. Drell: Relativistic Quantum Fields, McGraw-Hill (1965) [ark:/13960/t9t22sx2r, pdf]

On the history of the standard model of particle physics:

• James Bjorken, The November Revolution: A Theorist Reminisces (1985) [spire:214067]

The big international conference of [1974] in London was a turning point […] Ellis’ catalog well reflected the state of theoretical confusion and general disarray in trying to interpret the $e^+ e^-$ data. But in the midst of all of this was a talk by John Iliopoulos (I think I was there too). With passionate zealotry, he laid out with great accuracy what we call the standard model. Everything was there: proton decay, charm, the GIM mechanism of course, QCD, the $SU(2)\times U(1)$ electroweak theory, $SU(5)$ grand unification, Higgs, etc. It was all presented with absolute conviction and sounded at the time just a little mad, at least to me (I am a conservative).

category: people