2022 Elementary Particles

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Academic unit or major
Undergraduate major in Physics
Instructor(s)
Jinnouchi Osamu 
Class Format
Lecture    (Face-to-face)
Media-enhanced courses
Day/Period(Room No.)
Tue7-8(W641)  Fri7-8(W641)  
Group
-
Course number
PHY.F351
Credits
2
Academic year
2022
Offered quarter
4Q
Syllabus updated
2022/4/20
Lecture notes updated
-
Language used
Japanese
Access Index

Course description and aims

The lecture is on particle physics, which aims to clarify the fundamental laws of Nature and ultimate constituents of matter. Modern particle physics is described by Standard Model, the development of which will be explained in the lecture based on historical experiments.

It is divided into general introduction to the theory and explanation about detection principles/techniques. Based on such fundamentals, a review of cutting-edge researches in large laboratories will be also given.

Student learning outcomes

The aim of the lecture is to acquire the methods and knowledge of basic particle physics. Also one aims to learn about the experimental technique and the physics behind by learning about the famous experiments that led to historical discoveries. The lecture will be centered around the Standard Model, including field theory, gauge theory, quark model, electroweak theory, QCD and Higgs mechanism, as well as related experiments.

Keywords

lepton, quark, gauge boson, weak interaction, strong interaction, electroweak unification, Higgs, accelerators, detectors

Competencies that will be developed

Specialist skills Intercultural skills Communication skills Critical thinking skills Practical and/or problem-solving skills

Class flow

Whether lectures are given via Zoom or in person will be determined based on the infection status at the Quota in which the lecture is given.

Course schedule/Required learning

  Course schedule Required learning
Class 1 Particles and fields Explain about wave functions and fields.
Class 2 Relativistic kinematics Calculate the momentum of the muon from the pion decay at rest.
Class 3 Leptons, quarks and interactions Explain about the different kinds of particles and interactions
Class 4 Lifetime and conservation laws Which conservation laws determine the stability of various particles?
Class 5 Interaction cross section and particle accelerators Explain the principle of synchrotrons.
Class 6 Basics of particle detection Describe the principle of charged particle detector using plastic scintillator and PMT.
Class 7 Detectors in action Understand the structure of collider detectors.
Class 8 Quantum electro dynamics and the related topics Explain the concept of the gauge invariance.
Class 9 Quark model and discovery of new particles How are pair-produced top quarks observed in the detector?
Class 10 Strong interaction Describe the difference between the QED and QCD.
Class 11 Weak interaction Derive the Fermi coupling constant from the muon life time.
Class 12 Neutrino mass and neutrino oscillation Derive the neutrino oscillation formula.
Class 13 Electroweak unification theory What is Flavor-Changing Neutral Current?
Class 14 Higgs mechanism and the Higgs particle search Understand the mechanism of how elementary particles obtain mass.

Out-of-Class Study Time (Preparation and Review)

To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.

Textbook(s)

Not specified.

Reference books, course materials, etc.

M. Kuze et al., "Modern Particle Physics", Morikita Publishing (in Japanese)
Y. Watanabe, "Introduction to particle physics", Baifukan (in Japanese)
Y. Nagashima, "Fundamentals of particle physics I, II", Asakura Shoten (in Japanese)
D. H. Perkins, "Introduction to High Energy Physics", Cambridge University Press (also in Kindle Store)

Assessment criteria and methods

By final report and the active participation indicators

Related courses

  • PHY.Q207 : Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
  • PHY.F350 : Nuclear Physics
  • PHY.F352 : Physics of the Universe

Prerequisites (i.e., required knowledge, skills, courses, etc.)

Basic knowledge on quantum mechanics

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