Advanced Particle Physics
Lecturer : Pascal Paganini ; Tutorials : Roberto Salerno.
This course focuses on developing the knowledge acquired with the course of Physique des particules élémentaires (PHY554). It is compulsory for M1 students of the joint master EP/ETH of High Energy Physics (HEP) and recommended to polytechnicians wishing to pursue with the M2-HEP at ETH.
The aim of the course is to allow students to have a good knowledge of the standard model of particle physics, describing the elementary particles and their interactions, without neglecting the experimental aspects supporting this model.
The following topics are therefore addressed :
- Reminders of relativistic kinematics: particle decay rate, cross section, phase space.
- From wave functions to Quantum field: Schrödinger, Klein-Gordon, Dirac, Maxwell equations and their solutions. Some elements on the quantification of the corresponding fields.
- Overview of quantum electrodynamics (QED): introduction to a gauge theory, graphs and Feynman rules, calculation of simple processes, measurement of the abnormal magnetic moment of the electron.
- From hadrons to partons: electron-proton scattering experiments, the parton model.
- Quantum chromodynamics (QCD): strong isospin, SU (3) color symmetry, quark model, asymptotic freedom.
- weak interaction and electroweak model: neutral and charged currents, mixing angles, CKM matrix, discovery of the CP symmetry violation, SU (2) xU (1) gauge symmetry, simple processes computation at tree order.
- The standard model: spontaneous symmetry breaking, Higgs mechanism, final Lagrangian.
- The saga of the discovery of the famous Higgs boson.
Course taught in English (unless the audience is French speaking)
Credits ECTS : 5
- Teaching coordinator: Paganini Pascal
- Teaching coordinator: Salerno Roberto