UFTFA57 Introduction to Particle Physics I

Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Winter 2021
Extent and Intensity
2/2/0. 6 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
prof. Ing. Peter Lichard, DrSc. (lecturer)
prof. Ing. Peter Lichard, DrSc. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
prof. Ing. Peter Lichard, DrSc.
Centrum interdisciplinárních studií – Faculty of Philosophy and Science in Opava
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The aim of the course is to provide students with basic information about the current state of knowledge about the structure and interactions of subnuclear particles. The presentation is phenomenological and historical and is based on experimental results that led to the current knowledge.
Syllabus
  • Outline of the history and current state of particle physics. Key discoveries, experiments and ideas; the structure and interactions of particles. Leptons, quarks, gauge bosons, hadrons; mesons and baryons; stable and unstable particles, resonances. Antiparticles.
    Kinematics of collisions and decays. Conservation laws, relativistic invariants. Cross section, luminosity. Longitudinal and transverse momentum, rapidity. Lifetime, differential decay width. Branching fraction and branching ratio. Dalitz plot.
    Experimental methods of particle physics. Basic principle and types of accelerators. Linear accelerators electrostatic and radiofrequency; circular accelerators of electrons, protons and heavy ions. Primary and secondary beams. Targets. Accumulators and colliders, accelerator complexes. Physical principles and characteristics of detectors; the most important types of detectors; calorimeters and spectrometers. Detector complexes.
    Properties of hadrons. Mass, charge, spin, baryon number, spatial (P) parity, isospin and its third component, charge (C) parity, G parity. Conservation laws in strong, electromagnetic and weak interactions of hadrons.
    Properties of leptons. Lepton numbers, experimental proof of the non-identity of the electron neutrino and antineutrino, that of electron and muon antineutrino. The number of neutrino families; possible nonconservation of lepton numbers, neutrino oscillation; the neutrinos from the Sun.
Literature
    recommended literature
  • Dosch, H.G. Za hranicemi nanosvěta. Leptony, kvarky, kalibrační bosony. Academia, 2011. ISBN 978-80-200-1871-7. info
  • Close F. Částicová fyzika. Praha, 2008. ISBN 978-80-7363-160-4. info
  • Žáček J. Úvod do fyziky elementárních částic. Nakladatelství Karolinum, 2005. ISBN 9788024611099. info
  • Close F. - Marten M. - Sutton C. The Particle Odyssey. Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0198609438. info
  • Úlehla I. - Suk M. - Trka Z. Atomy, jádra, částice. Academia, 1990. ISBN 8020001352. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, tutorial sessions, regularly assigned and evaluated home tasks.
Assessment methods
Credit
Active participation on tutorial sessions and the timely completion of home tasks is required. Detailed criteria will be announced by the tutorial lecturer. The exam consists of the main written part and a supplemental oral part.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
The course can also be completed outside the examination period.
Teacher's information
The attending of lectures is recommended, that of tutorial sessions is compulsory. If a student was absent for serious reasons, the teacher may prescribe him/her an alternative way of fulfilling the duties.
The course is also listed under the following terms Winter 2018, Winter 2019, Winter 2020.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
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