QUANTUM ELECTRODYNAMICS

Quantum electrodynamics is an essential building block and an integral part of the gauge theory of unified electromagnetic, weak, and strong interactions, the so-called standard model. Its failure or breakdown at some level would have a most profound impact on the theoretical foundations of elementary particle physics as a whole. Thus the validity of QED has been the subject of intense experimental tests over more than 40 years of its history. This volume presents an up-to-date review of high precision experimental tests of QED together with comprehensive discussion of required theoretical work.