Course syllabus
Teoretisk partikelfysik
Theoretical Particle Physics
EXTP25, 7,5 credits, A (Second Cycle)
Valid for: 2013/14
Decided by: Education Board B
Date of Decision: 2013-04-10
General Information
Elective for: F4
Language of instruction: The course will be given in English on demand
Aim
The course objective is to give the students the theoretical
basis of the Standard Model of
Particle Physics and its possible extensions.
Learning outcomes
Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must
- be able to give an account of all quarks, leptons and gauge
bosons that are part of the Standard Model.
- be able to describe the most common hadrons, as well as the
ordering in mass of the particles.
- understand the basis of group theory and how groups can be used
to describe symmetries.
- understand how local gauge symmetry via covariant derivatives
leads to interaction terms in the Lagrangian density, and be able
to show how one with simple symmetry arguments can derive
Maxwell's equations.
- understand how the Dirac equation is treated in a Lagrangian
density.
- be able to explain the different terms in the Lagrangian
density and which type of processes these lead to.
- understand and be able to explain the Higgs mechanism and how
particle masses are introduced via it.
- understand how interaction terms in the Lagrangian density
translate to Feynman diagrams and be able to use those to
estimate cross-sections for various production, decay and
scattering processes.
- understand the concept of asymptotic freedom and how it leads
to the mechanism of confinement for quarks and gluons.
- be able to explain how quarks turn into hadrons in scattering
experiments.
- understand how parton densities are measured and are used to
calculate cross-sections in hadron collisions.
- be able to calculate lifetimes and decay widths for the
electroweak vector bosons and for the Higgs particle, as well as
estimate productions cross-sections for them.
- be able to explain how and why the coupling constants can be
seen as varying with the energy involved in a process, as well why
the strong coupling constant decreases with energy while the
electromagnetic coupling increases.
- be able to derive how the mixing between quark families is
described in the Standard Model Lagrangian density, as well as how
the mixing between three quark families leads to the breaking of CP
symmetry.
- be able to explain the most important experiments in particle
physics since about 1980, understand which type of particles can be
detected in those experiments and be able to describe the most
common detector types.
- understand how the existence of neutrino masses can lead to
neutrino oscillations and be able to estimate how large the
oscillations become depending on the neutrino mass
differences.
- be able to describe how, by adding terms to the Standard Model
Lagrangian density, one can study possible extensions of the
Standard Model, and also be able to describe the basic assumptions
underlying Grand Unification and supersymmetry.
- be able to give examples of how astrophysical observations can
limit possible extensions of the Standard Model and be able to
estimate the proportion of dark matter which consists of
neutrinos.
Contents
- Building blocks of the Standard Model
- Group theory
- Lagrangians
- Standard Model
- Cross-sections
- Strong interactions
- Electroweak interactions
- Scale breaking
- CP-violation
- Experiments
- Neutrino masses and oscillations
- Grand unification and supersymmetry
- Connection to astrophysics and cosmology
Examination details
Grading scale: TH
Assessment: Oral examination and hand-in exercises.
Admission
Required prior knowledge: Compulsory courses in mathematics and physics.
The number of participants is limited to: No
Reading list
- According to the official literature list which must be available at least five weeks before
the course start.
Contact and other information
Course coordinator: Johan Bijnens, bijnens@thep.lu.se
Course homepage: http://www.thep.lu.se/english/education/courses/theoretical_particle_physics/
Further information: The course is given by the Faculty of Science (FYTN04) and does not follow the study period structure.