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Particle Physics Phenomenology PhD course
Provider: Faculty of Science

Activity no.: 5855-16-11-31 
Enrollment deadline: 05/02/2018
PlaceNiels Bohr Institute
Date and time05.02.2018, at: 00:00 - 24.04.2018, at: 00:00
Regular seats20
ECTS credits7.50
Contact personJulie Meier    E-mail address: juliemh@nbi.ku.dk
Enrolment Handling/Course OrganiserMogens Dam    E-mail address: dam@nbi.ku.dk
Written languageEnglish
Teaching languageEnglish
Semester/BlockBlock 3
Exam formContinuous assessment
Exam formOral examination
Exam detailsThe final grade wull be based on two components: i) 6 homework assignments (30%) and ii) 30 min oral exam (70%).
Exam aidsAll aids allowed
Grading scalePassed / Not passed
Censorship formInternal examiners.
Exam re-examination30 min. oral exam, counting 70%. Points from the written assignments during the course are carried over and contribute to the final 30%. The assignments cannot be re-submitted.
Course workload
Course workload categoryHours
Lectures49.00
Theory exercises28.00
Exam1.00
Preparation128.00

Sum206.00


Content
The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a broad and reasonably complete understanding of modern particle physics. The course will concentrate on the Standard Model of Particle Physics with the aim of
providing an overview of current experimental results and the theoretical understanding to place these results in context.

Subjects covered include:

  • Calculation of decay rates and scattering cross sections: Dirac equation, Feynman diagrams, QED, spin, chirality, Rutherford and Mott scattering, proton form factors, deep inelastic scattering, quark-parton model, parton distribution functions;
  • Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD): gluons, colour confinement;
  • Weak interactions: parity and chiral structure, W-boson propagator, universality; neutrinos and neutrino oscillations, CP violation and weak hadronic interactions;
  • Electroweak unification;
  • Tests of the Standard Model: Z resonance in electron-positron collisions, quantum loop corrections, the top quark;
  • The Higgs boson: Electroweak spontaneous symmetry breaking, particle masses, discovery.

Learning outcome

Skills:

At the end of the course the student is expected to be able to

  • calculate cross sections and differential distributions in simple particle physics reactions;
  • relate experimental results from a broad range of particle physics experiments to the theoretical framework of the Standard Model of Particle Physics.

Knowledge:

The course prepares the student with a broad understanding of modern particle physics and the Standard Model. Emphasis is on the current status of experimental results and the theoretical understanding to place these in context.

Competences:

The course prepares the student with a comprehsnsive understanding of modern particle physics. The connection between experimental results and the theoretical framework of the Standard Model is highlighted. The course prepares the student with a broad background for research in the field of particle physics, for instance in terms of a MSc project.


Literature
Mark Thomson: "Modern Particle Physics" (Cambridge University Press).

Teaching and learning methods
Lectures and exercises.

Workload
Continuous assessment

Oral examination, 30 min

The final grade will be based on two components:
i) 6 homework assignments (30%) and
ii) 30 min oral exam (70%).

Each part of the exam is assessed individually and the final grade is given on this basis.
AidAll aids allowed Marking scale7-point grading scale Censorship formNo external censorship
More internal examiners
Re-exam
30 min oral exam, counting 70%. Points from the written assignments during the course are carried over and contribute to the final 30%. The assignments cannot be re-submitted.

Remarks
Restricted elective for the specialisation "Physics".

Academic qualifications:
Entry level is the curriculum corresponding to a bachelor degree in physics. The text book used is self-contained, and assumes only a basic knowledge of quantum mechanics and special relativity. To minimise repetitions, however, lectures start at a level corresponding to what has been covered in the bachelor level course "Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics". Students who have not taken this course are expected to read the corresponding parts of the book as self study.

Lecturers:
Mogens Dam,
Jørgen Beck Hansen

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