Inside the Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector

Simulated black hole production
in the Atlas detector at LHC

Instructor:

Stephen D. Ellis

Office:

PAB B401

Office hours:

Thursday 1:30—2:30 PM

TA:

Kun Li Bag 114

kli6 @uw.edu

Lectures:

9:30-10:20 AM, MWF, room PAA 118

Course website:

http://courses.washington.edu/partsym

Course Email list

Phys226a _sp12 @u.washington .edu

Particle Physics in the News:

The OPERA/ICARUS neutrino results were discussed in the NYT Science Times on Tuesday, 3/27/12

Also there was an article about Emmy Noether, whom we have already mentioned and will again.

Class Overview

This course is an introduction to the fundamental constituents of matter and the symmetries which characterize their interactions. Topics include the fundamental symmetries of nature (such as Lorentz invariance, CPT, and baryon and lepton number conservation), the "building blocks" of the current Standard Model of nuclear and particle physics, the importance of symmetries in characterizing the interactions of particles, and the key experimental evidence on which the Standard Model is based.

Course objectives

Acquire practical facility with special relativity and its application to relativistic particle dynamics. Be able to identify various classes of elementary particles and predict the type of interactions responsible for their decays and scatterings. Be able to perform order-of magnitude estimates relevant for interpreting and/or judging the feasibility of a variety of modern physics experiments. In particular, we will attempt to pay close attention to the results now coming from the LHC at CERN. For the latest LHC news go to the LPCC.

2012 Tentative syllabus

Week 1:

Special relativity

Week 2:

Spacetime physics

Week 3:

Relativistic dynamics

Week 4:

Known particles and interactions

Week 5:

Quarks and mesons

Week 6:

Baryons

Week 7:

Symmetries

Week 8:

Isospin

Week 9:

Discrete symmetries

Week 10:

Force carriers and the standard model

2012 Class notes (click here for the complete set with table of contents and index)

Chapter 0: Introduction

Chapter 1: Special relativity

Chapter 2: Minkowski spacetime

Chapter 3: Relativistic dynamics

Chapter 4: Known particles

Chapter 5: Quarks and hadrons
Chapter 6: Symmetries
Chapter 7: Weak Interactions

Supplementary

Chapter 10: Intro to Group Theory

Chapter 11: Young Diagrams and SU(N) Representations

2011 Class notes (using East Coast metric!)

Chapter 0: Introduction

Chapter 1: Special relativity

Chapter 2: Minkowski spacetime

Chapter 3: Relativistic dynamics

Chapter 4: Known particles

Chapter 5: Quarks and hadrons

Chapter 6: Symmetries

Chapter 7: Weak Interactions

Supplementary

Chapter 10: Intro to Group Theory

Chapter 11: Young Diagrams and SU(N) Representations

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Grading

There will be weekly homework assignments, one midterm, and a final exam. There may be occasional pop quizzes during lecture. Grades will be based approximately 40% on homework, 20% on the midterm, and 40% on the final. HW must be turned-in by the end of class on the due date, typically a Friday (either in class or in my mailbox—note the first HW is due the second Monday). Late HW with a 50% discount in points is allowed if turned-in (in class or in my mailbox) by the end of class on the class-day following the original due date (so typically a Monday—note this does not apply to the last HW as there is no following class-day). Scores on HW assignments and the MidTerm Exam can be seen on the Catalyst web page at https://catalyst.uw.edu/gradebook/sdellis/61212. The column labeled Projected Score is calculated assuming that the average (percentage) scores on the remaining HW assignments are identical to those on the previous assignments and that the (percentage) grade on the Final Exam is identical to that on the MidTerm Exam. The Projected Grade is a “flat” (i.e., not highly curved) mapping of the scores onto the range 0.0 to 4.0 such that the highest score yields a 4.0 grade and that passing (a grade of 2.0) comes from a score of about 40%. The total score and the grading algorithm will “mature” as more information becomes available. It is to everyone’s advantage to learn from the HW sets and do well on the Exams.

Prerequisites

Phys 225 (Quantum I) and Phys 227 (Elementary Mathematical Physics I). Phys 228 (Elementary Mathematical Physics II) is recommended.

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Textbooks

The course notes are the primary reference for this class, but these books may also be useful:

Introduction to Relativity by John B. Kogut
Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics by A. Das and T. Ferbel

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Reading Assignments

Please read prior to the indicated week: (Note Monday May 28 is a holiday)

Week

Course notes

Textbooks

Mar 26-30

chapter 0 & 1

Kogut: chapter 1 & 2

Apr 2 - 6

chapter 2

Kogut: chapter 3 & 4

Apr 9 - 13

chapter 3

Kogut: chapter 4

Apr 16 - 20

chapter 4

Kogut: chapter 6, Das & Ferbel: sections 4.1-4.4 (don't worry about last 1.5 pages)

Apr 23 - 27

chapter 5

Das & Ferbel: sections 9.1 - 9.4.3

Apr 30 - May 4

continue

May 7 - 11

chapter 6, sections 1-5

Das & Ferbel: sections 9.4.4 - 9.8, 10.4

May 14 - 18

chapter 6

Das & Ferbel: section 10.5, chapter 11

May 21 - 25

finish 6 and start 7

Das & Ferbel chapter 13

May 28 - Jun 1

chapter 7

Das & Ferbel: sections 13.1 - 13.9

Homework Assignments (assignments and solutions posted here)

Problem Set #1     (4/2/12)

Problem Set #2     (4/6/12)

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Problem Set #3     (4/13/12)

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Problem Set #4     (4/20/12)

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Problem Set #5      (4/27/12)

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Problem Set #6      (5/7/12—MidTerm on 5/4/12)

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Problem Set #7      (5/14/12—Monday)

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Problem Set #8      (5/18/12)

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Problem Set #9      (5/25/12)

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Problem Set #10    (6/1/12)

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