This book provides an introduction to noncommutative geometry and
presents a number of its recent applications to particle physics. It is
intended for graduate students in mathematics/theoretical physics who
are new to the field of noncommutative geometry, as well as for
researchers in mathematics/theoretical physics with an interest in the
physical applications of noncommutative geometry. In the first part, we
introduce the main concepts and techniques by studying finite
noncommutative spaces, providing a "light" approach to noncommutative
geometry. We then proceed with the general framework by defining and
analyzing noncommutative spin manifolds and deriving some main results
on them, such as the local index formula. In the second part, we show
how noncommutative spin manifolds naturally give rise to gauge theories,
applying this principle to specific examples. We subsequently
geometrically derive abelian and non-abelian Yang-Mills gauge theories,
and eventually the full Standard Model of particle physics, and conclude
by explaining how noncommutative geometry might indicate how to proceed
beyond the Standard Model.