ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS
Module ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS II
Academic Year 2022/2023 - Teacher: Alessia Rita TRICOMIExpected Learning Outcomes
The course is aimed to provide an advanced knowledge of the particle physics phenomenology. In particular, the course is aimed to critically discuss the latest achievements in particle physics analysing the results obtained at LEP, TeVatron and LHC. The student will acquire a critical knowledge about the Standard Model, the discovery and calssification of elementary particles, the Higgs mechanism and the possible extension of the Standard Model, the research methodology and the obtained results.
Course Structure
The course is based on lectures with student active participation.
Should the circumstances require online or blended teaching, appropriate modifications to what is hereby stated may be introduced, in order to achieve the main objectives of the course.
Required Prerequisites
It is not mandatory but surely the student will benefit of the following courses“Advanced Quantum Mechanics”, “Nuclear and Particle Physics”, “Strong Interactions”
Attendance of Lessons
Attendance to the course is usually compulsory (consult the Academic Regulations of the Course of Studies)Detailed Course Content
- Remind of leptons and quarks properties and gauge theories (QED and QCD).
- Mesons, Baryons and exotic states.
- Heavy Flavour Physics.
- Quantum Cromo-Dynamics (QCD). Properties of quarks and gluons. Asymptotic freedom and Confinement. The running of coupling constants. Jet properties and identification criteria. Sphericity, thrust and topological variables. Measurement of αstrong in tau and hadronic multi-jet events.
- The Standard Model of electroweak interactions. The EW lagrangian. Massless gauge bosons. The Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking mechanism.
- Z and W boson properties: neutral and charged currents. Properties and decays of the intermediate vector bosons.
- Electroweak Physics: precision test of the SM (sin2θW, Z lineshape parameters, W mass and cross-section, neutrino families, top quark). Leptonic and hadronic event selection. B tagging techniques. Tau tagging techniques. EW global fit.
- Higgs Mechanism. The search for the SM Higgs boson. Results from LEP, TeVatron and LHC. The discovery of the Higgs boson at LHC
- Heavy Flavour Physics: charm, bottom, top. Properties of heavy quarks. Latest results in heavy flavour Physics at e+e- and hadron colliders
- CP violation: CP violation in K and B mesons. Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix. Measurement of sin 2β. Direct and indirect decays. Mixing. Neutral B meson oscillations. B factories. The unitarity triangle and UTFit.
- Beyond the Standard Model Physics: limits of the SM. BSM. GUT. BSM Higgs boson Physics. MSSM: search for SUSY particles at LEP and TeVatron. Search for SUSY particles at LHC.
- New accelerators: the energy vs. intensity frontier.
Textbook Information
The use of minutes of the lectures as well as of summary papers provided during the course is strongly suggested
Reference books:
Dynamics of the Standard Model - J. Donoughue -Cambridge Mongraphs
Quarks and Leptons: An Introductory Course in Modern Particle Physics - F. Halzen, A.D. Martin
Introduction to Particle Physics - A. Bettini - Cambridge University Press
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
| 1 | Overview of the lepton and quark properties and of gauge theories 6-8 hours | lecture notes and slides |
| 2 | Mesons, Baryons and exotic states2-4 | lecture notes/slide/papers |
| 3 | QCDQuarks and gluonsAsymptotic freedom and confinement | |
| 4 | Running of the coupling constants | |
| 5 | Jet properties and identification | |
| 6 | Measurement of alpha strong | |
| 7 | The Electroweak Standard Model | lecture notes |
| 8 | Electroweak lagrangian | |
| 9 | Massless gauge bosons | |
| 10 | Electroweak unification | |
| 11 | Spontenous Symmetry Breaking | 1-2 |
| 12 | W and Z bosons: charged and neutral currents.Properties and decay of the weak bosons | |
| 13 | Electroweak Physics: precision measurements (sin2thetaW, Z lineshape parameters,W mass and cross-section, number of neutrino families, top quark). | |
| 14 | Identification of leptonic and hadronic events. b and tau tagging | |
| 15 | Precision test of the Standard Model | |
| 16 | Heavy flavour Physics: charm, bottom, top. Property of heavy flavors. Recent results if the HF sector at colliders | |
| 17 | sin 2beta measurement. K and B mesons.Mixing.Unitarity triangle. Result at B-factories | |
| 18 | CP violation and Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix.. | |
| 19 | Search for the Higgs boson at LEP and Tevatron | |
| 20 | The discovery of the Higgs boson at LHC | |
| 21 | Beyond the Standard Model Physics: GUT. | |
| 22 | MSSM: search for supersymmetry at LEP and Tevatron.Search of supersymmetry at LHC |
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
The questions below are not an exhaustive list but are just a few examples
Neutrino families
Mechanisms of production and decay of the Higgs boson
b-tagging
Lineshape of the Z boson