PHYS 436 : Elementary Particle Physics

1 Course Information

Course Number : PHYS 436 Course Title : Elementary Particle Physics Units : 2 Weekly Contact Hours : Lectures 2 Level/year : level 8 year 4 Prerequisite : PHYS 315 (Quantum Mechanics 1) Lecturer : Dr. Yazid Delenda

2 Course Description

The course introduces the principles of Elementary Particles at intermediate level of the BSc degree program. It is a self-contained text describes breakthroughs in our understanding of the structure and interactions of elementary particles. It provides students of theoretical or experimental physics with the background material to grasp the significance of these developments. A detailed study of properties of elementary particles, symmetries and transformations, and the standard model of elementary particles. A simplified introduction to the Feynman rules, based on a “toy” model, helps students learn the calculation techniques without the complications of spin. It is followed by accessible treatments of quantum electrodynamics, the strong and weak interactions, and gauge theories. Concept of neutrino oscillations and prospects for physics beyond the Standard Model are analyzed.

3 Course Objectives

After completing this course student is expected to be able to : 1. Derive some important results of special relativity theory and how to use them in the study of dynamics of particle collisions. 2. Derive the most important conservation laws and the concept of relativistic covariance. 3. Establish the elementarity concept and the structure of the Standard model. 4. Describe the main properties and classification of different particles and Fundamental interactions. 5. Describe the principles of quantum field theory to describe the electrodynamics of elementary processes and use Feynman diagrams. 6. Describe Weak interactions and Strong interactions. 7. Calculate the kinematics of 2-body interactions and decays. 8. Recognize allowed and forbidden processes for each of the interactions. 9. Describe the different devices commonly used in experimental particle physics like particle accelerators (LEP, SPS, RHIC, LHC,. . .) and particle detectors(Calorimeters, Cerenkov detector, drift chamber, TPC,. . .). 4 Course Outline

Structure of the Universe (1 week) : Matter and Radiation, particle structure of the matter, wave structure of the radiation, unification particle-wave. Special Relativity (2 weeks) : Relativistic Dynamics, 4-Vectors, Mass center frame, Lorentz transfor- mation, Invariant mass, Dynamics of collisions between particles, Conservation laws. Standard Model (1 week) : Elementary particles, Fundamental interactions, Bosons and fermions, Lep- tons and Hadrons, Mesons and baryons. Relativistic Wave equations and Antiparticles (2 weeks) : Klein-Gordon equation, Dirac equation, gamma matrices, Emergence of a new relativistic property : spin, Antiparticle interpretation. Quantum Electrodynamics (3 weeks) : QED of spinless particles, QED of spin-1/2 particles, Feynman Diagrams, Moller scattering e−e− → e−e−, scattering e+e− → e+e− and e+e− → µ+µ−, Compton scattering γe− → γe− and annihilation scattering e+e− → γγ and pair creation in an electromagnetic field. Lepton-hadron scattering and quark model (2 weeks) : Feynman parton model and Gell-Mann Eight- fold model, Deep inelastic scattering, Bjorken scaling, Strong interactions, Confinement and Asymptotic freedom, Color charge and Quantum Chromodynamics. Weak interactions (2 weeks) : Beta decay and Fermi theory, charged leptonic weak interaction, decay of the muon, decay of the neutron, Weinberg-Salam model, Higgs field and Higgs boson. Accelerators and Particle detectors (1 week) : Interaction particle-matter at high energies, Accelera- tors (LEP, SPS, RHIC, LHC, . . .) and particle detectors (Calorimeters, Cerenkov detector, drift chamber, TPC . . .).

5 Schedule of Assessment Tasks for Students during the Semester

Assessment Type of Assessment Task Week due Proportion of final assessment 1 Exercises & Home works (1) 3 5% 2 Exercises & Home works (2) 6 5% 3 Written Test (1) 8 20% 4 Exercises & Home works (3) 10 5% 5 Exercises & Home works (4) 13 5% 6 Written Test (2) 14 20% 7 Final Exam (theoretical) 16 40%

6 Learning Resources

— Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics, Alessandro Bettini, Cambridge University Press ; 1st edition (June 8, 2008) ISBN-10 : 0521880211 ISBN-13 : 978-0521880213 — Quarks and Leptons

2 — Introduction to Elementary Particles, David Griffiths, Wiley-VCH ; 2nd edition (October) ISBN-10 : 9783527406012 ISBN-13 : 978-3527406012 — An Introductory Course in Modern Particle Physics, Francis Halzen and Alan D. Martin, Wiley ; 1st edition (January 6, 1984) ISBN-10 : 0471887412 ISBN-13 : 978-0471887416 — The Particle Odyssey : A Journey to the Heart of Matter, Frank Close, Michael Marten, Christine Sutton, Oxford University Press, USA (November 11, 2004) ISBN-10 : 0198609434 ISBN-13 : 978-0198609438 — Subatomic Physics Ernest M. Henley, Alejandro Garcia, World Scientific Publishing Company ; 3rd edition (July 13, 2007) ISBN-10 : 9789812700575 ISBN-13 : 978-9812700575 — The Discovery of Subatomic Particles Revised Edition, Steven Weinberg, Cambridge University Press ; 2nd edition (September 1, 2003) ISBN-10 : 9780521823517 ISBN-13 : 978-0521823517 — Particles and Nuclei : An Introduction to the Physical Concepts, Bogdan Povh , Klaus Rith , Christoph Scholz , Frank Zetsche , Martin Lavelle, Springer, 6th edition (August 5, 2008) ISBN-10 : 9783540793670 ISBN-13 : 978-3540793670 — http://www.particleadventure.org/ — www.egglescliffe.org.uk/physics/.../parts/parts.html — http://public.web.cern.ch/public/ — http://public.web.cern.ch/public/en/lhc/lhc-en.html — http://www.bnl.gov/rhic/

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