PHYS 575 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Course Description
The official course description: Basic calculations in elementary particle theory. Quantum electrodynamics, quantum chromodynamics, and the Glashow-Weinberg-Salam theory of weak and electromagnetic interactions as applied to the phenomenology of particle decays and high energy reactions. Course Information: Prerequisite: Recommended: credit or concurrent registration in PHYS 582.
The actual course description: PHYS 575, "Particle Physics I," is a quantitative introduction to the Standard Model of Particle Physics. No background in quantum field theory will be assumed, but prior exposure to the topics in PHYS 582 and/or PHYS 583 will be extremely helpful in understanding the justification and context for many of the calculations we will do. By the end of the course, students will be familiar with the particles, forces, and interactions of the Standard Model, and will be able to perform basic calculations which can be directly compared with experimental results to justify our understanding of the Standard Model as the correct description of elementary particle processes at energies up to 1 TeV. The focus of this course will be on quantum electrodynamics and electroweak interactions, leaving a detailed study of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) for PHYS 576 which will be offered in the spring.
The language of high-energy physics in general, and the Standard Model in particular, is mathematics. The first 4 weeks of the course will be devoted to group theory and understanding how the observed symmetries of nature impose themselves on the structure of fundamental particle interactions. As a reward for this mathematical introduction, we will be able to write down the complete Lagrangian for the Standard Model by Week 5. After an interlude devoted to the experimental details of elementary particle detection, the remaining weeks of the course will be devoted to pulling apart this Lagrangian, term by term, and comparing its predictions with concrete experimental results. In the final weeks of the course, we will take stock of the Standard Model and see where old and new experimental results might point to physics beyond the Standard Model.
Academic integrity
All activities in this course are subject to the Academic Integrity rules as described in Article 1, Part 4, Academic Integrity, of the Student Code.