Postgraduate Course: Detectors in Particle & Nuclear Physics (PGPH11104)
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 | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
Summary | This course provides an introduction to experimental methods and detectors used in current particle and nuclear physics experiments. It is part of a suite of specialist courses for the MSc programme in Particle & Nuclear Physics. |
Course description |
This course will give a comprehensive view of the techniques and technologies used in building detectors for particle and nuclear physics experiments. The interactions of charged particles, photons and neutrons with matter are discussed. There will be a short introduction to accelerators, as well as discussion of examples of gaseous, liquid and solid state tracking detectors, calorimeters, as well as Scintillation and Cherenkov light detectors. We will discuss various methods for identifying the particles and their parameters in detectors and how too much radiation could affect their performance. Modern-day nuclear physics experiments and facilities will also be presented. These building blocks are then combined into a discussion of modern layouts of experiments at the Large Hadron Collider as well as large underground detectors for neutrino and astroparticle physics. Practical laboratory sessions will give students experience with understanding common issues that could occur in modern-day particle physics laboratory culminating in the operation of an LHCb-based custom coincidence trigger board paired with state-of-the art PMTs.
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Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisites | None |
High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 20 |
Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 9,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 2,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
55 )
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Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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Additional Information (Assessment) |
30% continuous assessment of tutorial work.
20% Quizzes on lecture topics.
30% laboratory project report.
20% Oral assignment. |
Feedback |
Not entered |
No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Apply knowledge of core concepts in physics to understand the design of detectors for particle and nuclear physics.
- Demonstrate knowledge of the design of current experiments, and of the frontiers of detector technology.
- Test and understand the properties of detectors in a laboratory environment.
- Locate and make use of detailed information on current detectors in the primary research literature.
- Summarise current thinking on detector design in a variety of written and oral forms, both alone and in collaboration with others.
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Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
Keywords | Detectors Particle Nuclear Physics |
Contacts
Course organiser | Dr Andrzej Szelc
Tel:
Email: a.szelc@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Lucy Davis-Jenkins
Tel:
Email: ldavisj@ed.ac.uk |
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