Relativistic Kinematics

This book introduces essential concepts in relativistic kinematics for high-energy nuclear and particle physics, with a focus on quark-gluon plasma physics, after covering all the needful basics of the special theory of relativity. It explores multiparticle production processes in ultra-relativistic hadronic and nuclear collisions. While a foundation in nuclear and particle physics and the special theory of relativity is recommended, the book also includes key concepts of relativity to support understanding in later chapters. With numerous real-world examples and solved problems, this book equips master’s and graduate students, as well as early-career researchers, with the mathematical tools and practical techniques needed to navigate the kinematics of hadronic and heavy-ion physics efficiently. It also covers the relevant observables used in quark-gluon plasma physics analysis.

Author Biography

Raghunath Sahoo is a professor of experimental high-energy physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore, India. He has around 25 years of research experience in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions. He has worked at several prestigious facilities, including the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory in the USA, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN in Geneva, Switzerland, and FAIR at GSI in Darmstadt, Germany.

Professor Sahoo has guided 15 PhD students, 12 postdoctoral fellows, and more than 50 master’s and BTech students. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK) in 2020, became a CERN Scientific Associate in 2021, was named an Associate Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in 2024, and received an Excellence in Research Award at IIT Indore in 2024. Professor Sahoo has also been recognized as a Distinguished Referee of European Physics Journals in 2024. He was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI), the oldest science academy of India, in 2024. He is on the editorial board of Physica Scripta, Nature Scientific Reports, and MDPI-Physics and has acted as a referee for over 12 international journals. He has co-authored more than 500 research papers and has worked intensely for the popularization of science in India and abroad. Professor Sahoo serves as a member of the Scientific Council of JINR, Dubna, Russia.