Feynman diagrams are introduced in many physics textbooks, such as those by Alonso and Finn 1 and Serway,2 and their use in physics education has been discussed by various authors.3–5 They have an appealing simplicity and can give insight into events in the microworld. Yet students often do not understand their significance and often cannot combine the basic units of interaction—points where the world lines of two fermions and one boson meet—to construct diagrams for observed processes.
REFERENCES
1.
M.
Alonso
and E.
Finn
, Fundamental University Physics
, Vol. II (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company
, 1967
).2.
3.
M.
Daniel
, “Particles, Feynman diagrams and all that
,” Phys. Educ.
41
(2
), 119
–129
(2006
).4.
P.
Dune
, “Looking for consistency in the construction and use of Feynman diagrams
,” Phys. Educ.
36
(5
), 366
–374
(2001
).5.
K.
Kumericki
, “Feynman Diagrams for Beginners
, ” in Notes at the Adriatic School on Particle Physics
(Croatia
, 2001
).6.
7.
© 2013 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2013
American Association of Physics Teachers
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