LOW-ENERGY TESTS FOR THE STANDARD MODEL AND BEYOND

The general subject of tests of the standard model and searches for physics beyond the standard model in low energy processes are reviewed. By standard model, the author means the product of gauge groups SU(3)/sub c/ x SU(2) x U(1) corresponding to Quantum Chromodynamics for strong interactions and the Glashow-Salam-Weinberg model for electroweak interactions. Going beyond the standard model includes such ideas as grand unified theories with one gauge group for all interactions, composite Higgs particles and composite quarks and leptons, left-right symmetric models, and all other proposals which enlarge the minimal requirements of the standard model. Most of these ideas will be tested at high-energy accelerators. Searches for proton decay, a major prediction of grand unified theories, do not require the use of accelerators at all; and the existence of Majorana neutrinos with non-vanishing masses, is best studied in a mixture of non-accelerator experiments and low-energy accelerator ones. Likewise, the search for right-handed currents is best carried out in low-energy processes. It is these aspects of present theories that are discussed. The subjects discussed include neutrino physics, precise measurements and searches for rare decay modes of the muon, CP violation and rare decay modes in kaon physics, and protonmore » decay. 102 references. (WHK)« less