Physics 225: Elementary Particle Physics

Fall (225a) and Winter (225b) 1993

Professor Jeffrey D. Richman
http://hep.ucsb.edu/people/richman/richman.html
richman@charm.physics.ucsb.edu
Goals of Physics 225
n !hysics 225" hope to present particle physics in a #ay that inte$rates a care%ul
theoretical analysis #ith an intuiti&e" bac'(o%(the(en&elope approach. #ill use t#o te)ts"
Quarks and Leptons" by Francis *al+en and ,lan -artin" and The Experimental
Foundations of Particle Physics" by .erson .oldhaber and /obert 0ahn. 1he %irst boo'
is mostly about ho# to calculate particle processes in detail2 the second discusses ho# to
obser&e and measure them. thin' that this combined &ie#point #ill help sho# that the
remar'able thin$s you can predict on paper actually do happen in the real #orld. 3o#
and then there are disa$reements bet#een theory and e)periment" some o% #hich
represent ma4or disco&eries. 5thers are spectacular blunders made in pursuit o% the 3obel
!ri+e. 5ne o% my $oals is to sho# ho# to 6uestion and critici+e e)periments.
plan to co&er many o% the elements o% the 7tandard -odel" #hich is the current theory
o% particle interactions" encompassin$ stron$" #ea'" and electroma$netic processes. 1he
phenomena o% interest can be understood in terms o% 6uar's" leptons" $au$e bosons" and
*i$$s bosons. n terms o% chapters" e)pect to co&er *al+en and -artin chapters 1((8
and parts o% 9 and : in !h 225a and chapters 12(15 and parts o% chapter 9 in !h 225b.
*o#e&er" #ill co&er certain sub4ects in much more detail than in the boo'" and #ill
$i&e you se&eral handouts durin$ the 6uarter.
We #ill al#ays 'eep an eye on the #ea'nesses and limitations o% the 7tandard -odel"
#hich are the sub4ects o% current and %uture research in particle physics. 1here #ill also
be short e)cursions into aspects o% detectors" accelerators" data analysis" and the lessons
that can be learned %rom the $reat successes and %ailures o% our %ield.
1
On Learning Particle Physics
!article physics is an enormous sub4ect" and in spite o% its remar'able coherence" it is
6uite di%%icult to learn. ;i'e 6uantum mechanics" it re6uires at least <t#o coats o% paint<
%or many people. 5ne aspect that some students aren=t used to is that it is e)tremely use%ul
to remember the results (6ualitati&ely) o% the calculations that #e do. 1his is di%%erent
%rom many classes" #here you do problems to ma'e sure you understand certain
concepts" but the actual results mi$ht not be all that si$ni%icant. .ettin$ in the habit o%
rememberin$ results helps you thin' on your %eet" #hich is important not only %or you
oral candidacy e)am" but also %or real li%e> #ant to stron$ly encoura$e 6uestions in
class((they ma'e thin$s much li&elier %or all o% us.
Finally" let me repeat a sentiment o% a physicist 'no#. 7he said that doin$ particle
physics is li'e climbin$ a mountain: the 4ourney up can be a stru$$le" but the &ie# %rom
the top is #orth it
Grades, homework, tests, and all that stuff
*ome#or' #ill be assi$ned on Wednesdays and is due in class on the %ollo#in$
Wednesday. ;ate *W #ill be accepted on the %ollo#in$ -onday #ith a 3?@
reduction in score.
.radin$ policy:
1. *ome#or': 5?@
2. Final e)am: 5?@
.raduate 1eachin$ ,ssistant: Aean Welch (in !;0 -on" ::3?(1?:3?).
1e)tboo's: Quarks and Leptons: n !ntroductory "ourse in #odern Particle
Physics$ by F. *al+en and ,. -artin (Wiley)2 The Experimental Foundations of
Particle Physics$ by /obert 3. 0ahn and .erson .oldhaber (0ambrid$e B. !ress).
0lass time: -on and Weds" 1:3? to 2:C5 !-
0lass location: Droida 5?1C
5%%ice hours: -onday 3:15(C:15 !- and Weds 11:?? ,-(noon.
2
Ph 225a Lectures
0lass 1opics
1 What is particle physicsE !articles and %orces. 5rders o% ma$nitude and
hand#a&in$ ar$uments.
2 5rders o% ma$nitude in atomic and nuclear physics.
3 Aecays and symmetries ()
C Aecays and symmetries ()
5 Aecay an$ular distributions. .roups and representations. 7tart ;ie $roups.
8 7B(n)
9 .roup representations and hadrons ()
: .roup representations and hadrons ()
9 .roup representations and hadrons ()
1? .roup representations and hadrons (F)
11 .roup representations and hadrons (F)
12 0onclusions on hadrons" summary so %ar" start GHA
13 /elati&istic #a&e e6uations ()
1C /elati&istic #a&e e6uations ()
15 nteractions in perturbation theory ()
18 !erturbation theory ()
19 GHA processes ()
1: GHA processes ()
19 GHA processes ()
2? GHA processes (F)" ,ppendices: t#o body phase space2 'inematics
21 Final e)am solutions
Ph 225b Lectures
0lass 1opics
1 GHA re&ie#
2 H)perimental setups" cross section" luminosity" Dhabha scatterin$"
electroma$netic sho#ers" H- and hadronic calorimeters
3 -ore on sho#ers" radiation len$th and interaction len$th" other detector
components" Dremsstrahlun$
C !ositronium decay
5 Hlectron(hadron scatterin$: introduction
8 Hlectron(proton scatterin$
9 Hlectron(proton deep inelastic scatterin$
: 1he parton model
9 Wea' interactions: introduction
1? -uon decay
1?a ,ppendi): 0o&ariant spin pro4ection operators" 1 in&ariance" 0!1
3
1?b H)ample problems and 2( and 3(body phase space
1?c Weyl representation
1?d H)ample problems in #ea' decays
11 !olari+ed muon decay
12 0" !" 0! in muon decay" char$e pion decay" neutrino interactions
13 Ai%%iculties #ith #ea' interaction phenomenolo$y
13a ,ppendi) on neutrino scatterin$
1C 3eutrino oscillations
15 1he 0I- matri)
18 0onstructin$ the 7tandard -odel ()
19 0onstructin$ the 7tandard -odel ()
1: 0onstructin$ the 7tandard -odel ()
19 0onstructin$ the 7tandard -odel (F)
2? Final e)am solutions
C