This course introduces you to subatomic physics, i.e. the physics of nuclei and particles.
More specifically, the following questions are addressed:
- What are the concepts of particle physics and how are they implemented?
- What are the properties of atomic nuclei and how can one use them?
- How does one accelerate and detect particles and measure their properties?
- What does one learn from particle reactions at high energies and particle decays?
- How do electromagnetic interactions work and how can one use them?
- How do strong interactions work and why are they difficult to understand?
- How do weak interactions work and why are they so special?
- What is the mass of objects at the subatomic level and how does the Higgs boson intervene?
- How does one search for new phenomena beyond the known ones?
- What can one learn from particle physics concerning astrophysics and the Universe as a whole?
The course is structured in eight modules. Following the first one which introduces our subject, the modules 2 (nuclear physics)
and 3 (accelerators and detectors) are rather self contained and can be studied separately. The modules 4 to 6 go into more depth about matter and forces as described by the standard model of particle physics. Module 7 deals with our ways to search for new phenomena. And the last module introduces you to two mysterious components of the Universe, namely Dark Matter and Dark Energy.
Particle Physics: an Introduction
Offered By
University of Geneva
27,050 enrolled
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
12 hours to complete
Matter and forces, measuring and counting
During this first module, we will give an overview of the objects studied in particle physics, namely matter, forces and space-time. We will discuss how one characterizes the strength of an interaction between particles using the concept of cross section, which is central to our subject. At the end of this module, we will visit the laboratory of the nuclear physics course at University of Geneva to see an example of how one measures the strength of a reaction in practice.
13 videos (Total 88 min), 6 quizzes
13 videos
1.1 Matter11m
1.2 Forces10m
1.2a Natural units (optional)2m
1.2b Special relativity and four-vectors (optional)7m
1.2c Virtual particles (optional)2m
1.3 Probability and cross section13m
1.3a Attenuation of a photon beam (optional)1m
1.4 Rutherford experiment7m
1.4a Rutherford cross section (optional)3m
1.4b Counting rate Rutherford (optional)2m
1.5 Quantum scattering10m
1.6 Rutherford experiment in practice (optional)13m
6 practice exercises
1.1 Matter10m
1.2 Forces6m
1.3 Probability and cross section8m
1.4 Rutherford experiment8m
1.5 Quantum scattering6m
Graded quiz for Module 110m
Week
24 hours to complete
Nuclear physics
During this second module, we deal with nuclear physics and its applications. This is a rather self-contained module. If your main interest is nuclear physics, you will be well served. You will notice that this is a rather substantial module, we recommend that you take two weeks to digest it. At the end of this module, we will visit the Tokamak of the Swiss Institute of Technology in Lausanne and the Beznau nuclear power plant, the oldest one still in operation. This will alllow you to better understand the applications of nuclear physics for our energy supply.
15 videos (Total 142 min), 1 reading, 10 quizzes
15 videos
2.2 Nuclear size and spin9m
2.3 Models of nuclear structure10m
2.3a QCD and nuclear force (optional)2m
2.4 Radioactivity: alpha decay9m
2.4a Energy of alpha particles (optional)1m
2.5 Beta and gamma decay8m
2.5a Exponential decay law (optional)1m
2.6 Radioactivity in practice (optional)8m
2.7 Radiocarbon dating and NMR imaging8m
2.8 Nuclear fission11m
2.9 Nuclear power6m
2.10 Nuclear fusion, the Sun and ITER8m
2.11 The tokamak of EPFL (optional)24m
2.12 The Beznau nuclear power plant (optional)20m
1 reading
2.4 Radioactivity: alpha decay10m
10 practice exercises
2.1 Nuclear mass and binding energy8m
2.2 Nuclear size and spin8m
2.3 Models of nuclear structure6m
2.4 Radioactivity: alpha decay6m
2.5 Beta and gamma decay6m
2.7 Radiocarbon dating and NMR imaging6m
2.8 Nuclear fission6m
2.9 Nuclear power6m
2.10 Nuclear fusion, the Sun and ITER8m
Graded quiz for Module 210m
Week
33 hours to complete
Accelerators and detectors
In this module, we treat the basic facts about particle acceleration and detection. This is a rather self-contained module. If your main interest is particle acceleration and detection, you will be well served. You will notice that this is rather substantial module, we recommend that you take two weeks to digest it. We introduce electromagnetic acceleration and focalisation of particle beams and show how they are used in the accelerator complex of CERN. We describe how charged particles and photons interact with matter and how these interactions are used to detect particles and measure their properties. And we show how modern particle detectors use the synergies between different detection methods to get exhaustive information about the final state of particle collisions.
14 videos (Total 99 min), 3 readings, 10 quizzes
14 videos
3.1a Cyclotron frequency (optional)2m
3.2 Acceleration and focalisation6m
3.2a The CERN accelerator complex (optional)3m
3.3 Components of the LHC (optional)14m
3.4 Heavy particles in matter6m
3.5 Light particles in matter4m
3.6 Photons in matter8m
3.7 Ionisation detectors7m
3.8 Semiconductor detectors7m
3.9 Scintillation and Cherenkov detectors12m
3.10 Spectrometers and calorimeters8m
3.10a Particle detection with ATLAS (optional)3m
3.11 Particle detectors at DPNC (optional)6m
3 readings
3.9 Scintillation and Cherenkov detectors10m
3.10 Spectrometers and calorimeters10m
3.11 Particle detectors at DPNC (optional)10m
10 practice exercises
3.1 Principles of particle acceleration6m
3.2 Acceleration and focalisation8m
3.4 Heavy particles in matter6m
3.5 Light particles in matter6m
3.6 Photons in matter6m
3.7 Ionisation detectors4m
3.8 Semiconductor detectors4m
3.9 Scintillation and Cherenkov detectors8m
3.10 Spectrometers and calorimeters4m
Graded quiz for Module 310m
Week
42 hours to complete
Electromagnetic interactions
We now start a series of three modules discussing the three fundamental forces described by the Standard Model of particle physics. In this forth module, we go into more details about the properties of electromagnetic interactions. We discuss spin and how it intervenes in measurements. And we give a few examples of basic electromagnetic processes to point out common features.
You will notice that the intellectual challenge and also the level of mathematical description rises somewhat as we go along. This is why we first remind you how to describe the intensity of a reaction using the cross section and the decay rate and how to construct a Feynman diagram.
7 videos (Total 54 min), 6 quizzes
7 videos
4.1a How to construct a Feynman diagram (optional)4m
4.2 Electromagnetic scattering13m
4.3 Spin and magnetic moment6m
4.3a Motion in a Penning Trap2m
4.4 Compton scattering and pair annihilation11m
4.5 Electron-positron annihilation8m
6 practice exercises
4.1 Reminder: Describing particle interactions6m
4.2 Electromagnetic scattering8m
4.3 Spin and magnetic moment6m
4.4 Compton scattering and pair annihilation6m
4.5 Electron-positron annihilation6m
Graded quiz for Module 46m
Week
51 hour to complete
Hadrons and strong interaction
In this module we discuss the structure of hadrons and the properties of strong interactions. We start out by explaining how one uses the scattering of electrons off nucleons to learn about the internal structure of these baryons. Step by step we lead you from elastic scattering, through the excitation of resonances, all the way to deep inelastic processes. You thus learn about the concept of form factors and structure functions and what they tell us about hadron structure. We then discuss the physics behind this and learn about color and the strange features of strong interactions, like asymptotic freedom and confinement.
5 videos (Total 46 min), 6 quizzes
5 videos
5.2 Inelastic scattering and quarks9m
5.3 Quark-antiquark resonances and mesons6m
5.4 Color and strong interactions14m
5.5 Hadronisation and jets6m
6 practice exercises
5.1 Elastic electron-nucleon scattering6m
5.2 Inelastic scattering and quarks6m
5.3 Quark-antiquark resonances and mesons4m
5.4 Color and strong interactions8m
5.5 Hadronisation and jets6m
Graded quiz for Module 510m
Week
63 hours to complete
Electro-weak interactions
In this 6th module, we discuss weak interactions and the Higgs mechanism. You will notice that this module is again larger that average. This is due to the rich phenomenology of electro-weak interactions. We recommend that you take 2 weeks to digest the contents. Before entering into our subject, in this first video we go into more depth on the subject of antiparticles. We will then discuss the discrete transformations of charge, space and time reversal. Weak interactions are introduced, explaining the weak charge (called weak isospin) and examples of decays and interactions. Properties of the W and Z bosons are detailed. The extremely tiny cross sections of neutrino interactions with matter are discussed. In the last part of the module, we explain how the Higgs mechanism keeps particles from moving at the speed of light, and the properties of the associated Higgs boson.
13 videos (Total 112 min), 13 quizzes
13 videos
6.2 The discrete transformations C, P and T11m
6.3 Weak charges and interactions8m
6.4 Muon and tau lepton decay8m
6.5 The W boson4m
6.6 The Z boson9m
6.7 Weak decays of quarks6m
6.8 Particle-antiparticle oscillations and CP violation9m
6.9 Neutrino scattering6m
6.10 Neutrino oscillations9m
6.11 The Higgs mechanism12m
6.12 The Higgs boson4m
6.13 The discovery of the Higgs boson (optional)15m
13 practice exercises
6.1 Particles and antiparticles4m
6.2 The discrete transformations C, P and T6m
6.3 Weak charges and interactions4m
6.4 Muon and tau lepton decay6m
6.5 The W boson4m
6.6 The Z boson6m
6.7 Weak decays of quarks4m
6.8 Particle-antiparticle oscillations and CP violation6m
6.9 Neutrino scattering4m
6.10 Neutrino oscillations4m
6.11 The Higgs mechanism4m
6.12 The Higgs boson4m
Graded quiz for Module 610m
Week
71 hour to complete
Discovering new phenomena
In this 7th module Anna discusses searches for new phenomena, beyond the known ones described by the standard model and covered in previous modules. We will remind you why we believe that the standard model is incomplete and new physics must be added. We will explain how hadron collider data are rendered usable for searches. And we will discuss examples, split into the two categories, based on how new phenomena might manifest themselves.
5 videos (Total 45 min), 5 quizzes
5 videos
7.2 Sifting chaff from the wheat10m
7.3 Hunting peaks7m
7.4 Hunting tails8m
7.5 Hunting new physics with LHCb (optional)11m
5 practice exercises
7.1 The world beyond the Standard Model4m
7.2 Sifting chaff from the wheat4m
7.3 Hunting peaks4m
7.4 Hunting tails4m
Graded quiz for Module 74m
Week
81 hour to complete
Dark matter and dark energy
5 videos (Total 47 min), 4 quizzes
5 videos
8.2 Dark matter9m
8.3 Dark energy10m
8.3a Motivating the Friedmann equation (optional)2m
8.4 What hides behind dark matter and dark energy? (optional)14m
4 practice exercises
8.1 The Big Bang and its consequences4m
8.2 Dark matter4m
8.3 Dark energy4m
Graded quiz for Module 88m
4.4
89 Reviews60%
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40%
got a pay increase or promotion
Top Reviews
Challenging at first for someone with a non-traditional academic background, but thoroughly enjoyable and worth completing, if nothing but for the personal satisfaction of getting through it!
Very interesting course. Quite difficult to pass week 6 due to a question on w boson quark transformation. Couldnt find answers in sylabus. Maybe just me. Overall excellant course.
Instructors
Martin Pohl
Professeur ordinaireDépartement de physique nucléaire et corpusculaire
Mercedes Paniccia
Collaboratrice scientifiqueDépartement de Physique Nucléaire et Corpusculaire
Anna Sfyrla
Assistant ProfessorNuclear and Particle Physics
About University of Geneva
Founded in 1559, the University of Geneva (UNIGE) is one of Europe's leading universities. Devoted to research, education and dialogue, the UNIGE shares the international calling of its host city, Geneva, a centre of international and multicultural activities with a venerable cosmopolitan tradition.
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