Postgraduate Course: Gauge Theories in Particle Physics (PGPH11099)
Course Outline
| School | School of Physics and Astronomy |
College | College of Science and Engineering |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course covers the field theoretical treatment of the standard model of particle physics. It consists of two threads taught in parallel. The primary focus of the Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) and Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) thread is perturbative QCD in collider physics, but it starts with QED renormalisation, building on the material taught in Quantum Field Theory (QFT)). The other thread covers electroweak theory and flavour physics, followed by an introduction to non-perturbative techniques via lattice field theory. |
| Course description |
This course provides a comprehensive treatment of the field theoretical approach to the Standard Model of particle physics; it is taught in two parallel threads.
The QED and QCD thread begins with path integral quantisation and renormalisation of Quantum Electrodynamics (QED). It then moves on to a detailed study of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), beginning with quantisation, Feynman rules and renormalisation, and then applying a wide range of topics in modern perturbative QCD to collider physics, including deep inelastic scattering and Higgs production.
The electroweak physics and lattice field theory thread focuses on the field theoretical construction and application of the standard model of particle physics, including the Goldstone theorem and the Higgs mechanism, weak decays and flavour physics. Further focus is on detailed calculations in perturbation theory and comparison with experiment. The final part of the course provides an introduction to non-perturbative methods via lattice field theory.
Each thread will have two hours of lectures and two hours of tutorial workshops every week, giving a total of 40 lecture hours and 40 tutorial hours. Students are expected to engage with the material presented in lectures by working through and discussing weekly formative problem sheets in the tutorial sessions. There will be a total of 4 summative hand-ins, which will be marked and individual written will be feedback provided on each. Individual feedback will also be administered verbally during tutorial sessions.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | For whole-year visiting students, the prerequisites are the same as for UoE students.
For Semester 2 visiting the students: knowledge of perturbative relativistic quantum field theory using both operator and path-integral formalisms at the level of Quantum Field Theory, and knowledge of group theory and Lie algebras with applications in field theory at the level of Symmetries of Particles and Fields.
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 40,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 40,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Formative Assessment Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 3,
Revision Session Hours 4,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
105 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
100 %,
Coursework
0 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
100% examination |
| Feedback |
There will be a total of 4 summative hand-ins, which will be marked and individual written will be feedback provided on each. Individual feedback will also be administered verbally during tutorial sessions. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 3:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Understand the field theoretical formulation of the Standard Model of particle physics, namely QED, QCD and electroweak theory, including renormalization of these theories.
- Be familiar with the Standard Model (SM) Lagrangian and able to compute tree-level processes using Feynman diagram techniques.
- Be able to apply these methods to analyse scattering processes within QCD, including understanding of infrared-safety and collinear factorisation.
- Be familiar with the Goldstone theorem, spontaneously broken gauge theories and the Higgs mechanism, the quark model, the flavour sector of the SM, the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa Matrix, and apply their role in phenomenology at present and future colliders like the LHC.
- Understand the need for a non-perturbative formulation of QCD and way this is accomplished by the lattice regularisation of the theory, and be to compute in the strong and weak coupling expansions and appreciate the need for numerical methods.
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Reading List
- Burgess and Moore: The Standard Model: A Primer
- Peskin and Schroeder: An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory
- Mark Srednicki, Quantum Field Theory, 2006.
- John Collins, Foundations of Perturbative QCD, 2012.
- Yuri V. Kovchegov, Eugene Levin, Quantum Chromodynamics at High Energy, 2012.
- R. Keith Ellis, W. James Stirling, Bryan R. Webber, QCD and Collider Physics, 1996.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
On completing this course students will have developed an enhanced ability to evaluate field theoretical concepts and structures as applied to the standard model, and to perform critical analysis of theoretical and experimental outcomes. These skills are directly transferable to generic fields of activity both inside and outside academia.
The advanced concepts and coursework in QED, QCD and electroweak theory engender a unique synergy between self study and groupwork, which is applicable to most areas of productive human activity. Students will develop a fine balance between autonomous learning activity and working co-operatively with their peers in the finer details of difficult concepts, both numerical and conceptual.
During self study hours, students will develop advanced IT skills in the use of publicly available software to identify complementary learning materials. |
| Keywords | GTiPP,Quantum Field theory,QED,QCD,electroweak,Higgs,lattice |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Richard Ball
Tel: (0131 6)50 5248
Email: R.D.Ball@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr MacBen Idam
Tel: (0131 6)51 7067
Email: macben.idam@ed.ac.uk |
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