Selected topics on tau physics

The B Factories have generated a large amount of new results on the tau lepton. The present status of some selected topics on tau physics is presented: charged-current universality tests, bounds on lepton-flavour violation, the determination of alpha_s from the inclusive tau hadronic width, and the measurement of |V_{us}| through the Cabibbo-suppressed decays of the tau lepton.Comment: Invited talk at the XXXI International Conference of Theoretical Physics, "Matter to the Deepest", Ustron, Poland, 5-11 September 200

The Standard Model of Electroweak Interactions

Gauge invariance is a powerful tool to determine the dynamical forces among the fundamental constituents of matter. The particle content, structure and symmetries of the Standard Model Lagrangian are discussed. Special emphasis is given to the many phenomenological tests which have established this theoretical framework as the Standard Theory of the electroweak interactions: electroweak precision tests, Higgs searches, quark mixing, neutrino oscillations. The present experimental status is summarized.Comment: Based on lectures given at the 6th CERN-Fermilab Hadron Collider Physics Summer School (Geneva, 2011), 2010 European School of HEP (Raseborg, Finland), 2010 Int. School on Astroparticle Physics (Zaragoza, Spain), 2010 IDPASC School (Sesimbra, Portugal) and 2009 Int. Summer School and Conference on HEP (Mugla, Turkey, 2009). 52 pages, 38 figure

The Standard Model of Particle Physics: Status & Low-Energy Tests

Precision measurements of low-energy observables provide stringent tests of the Standard Model structure and accurate determinations of its parameters. An overview of the present experimental status is presented. The main topics discussed are the muon anomalous magnetic moment, the asymptotic freedom of strong interactions, the lepton universality of gauge couplings, the quark flavour structure and CP violation.Comment: 12 pages, 6 Postscript Figure