Survey of Elementary Particle Physics 1

15-030-841

Fall Quarter, 2007

Brian T. Meadows

Overview

This is the first quarter of a two-quarter survey course in particle physics for graduate students. In this quarter we will focus our attention on the phenomenological aspects, and the "nuts and bolts", of the subject. Students are expected to have had a standard course in non-relativistic quantum mechanics, a working knowledge of special relativity.  Some familiarity with relativistic quantum mechanics and Feyman diagrams will be helpful, though not a pre-requisite.

We meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 AM - 10:50 AM in room 309 Braunstein.   The textbook this quarter will be Introduction to Elementary Particles by David Griffiths.  I also recommend that you consult The Review of Particle Properties from the Particle Data Group where most known particles are listed, and much other useful information is available. The full biennial review and a pocket-sized booklet are availabe from their web site at no cost to you. The ordering information link will take you to a page with detailed instructions for ordering these items.

Some lecture notes will be made available on the web, especially when I deviate most from Griffiths, but I do not promise they will be there for every lecture. Attendance is not mandatory, but you are responsible for all material presented in class, and for all changes to the schedule or plans which are announced in class.

Homework

There will be homework assignments most weeks that are due by 5 pm the following Friday in the grader's mailbox.  They will be graded on a 0-2 scale for each part of a question.  Most problems will be taken from Griffiths.  

Exams

There will be one take home midterm exam and a take home final exam.  For these, you may consult your own notes and any text books.  You may also use publicly available material from the web or otherwise, but you should aknowledge this in most cases.  If you are not sure about any source, please ask me.  The work handed in must, in all cases, be your own.  The exams will be graded on a finer scale than homework.

Grading

Your final grade will be my best guess at your competence, and will be based on your total score from homework, midterm and final exam.  At present, my plan is to count homework as 30%, the midterm as 30% and the final as 40% of your total score.

Other

My office is room 448 in the Geology/Physics Building.  My office phone number is 556-0531.  My e-mail address is Brian.Meadows@uc.edu . 

Best-Guess Schedule

The exact schedule for lectures, homework, etc., will depend on how long it takes to cover the material, whether there are any school closings due to inclement weather, etc. I will try to keep the best-guess schedule up to date. However, you are responsible for all changes announced in class.

 last modified September 17, 2007