This is the first quarter of a two-quarter survey course in particle phyiscs for graduate students. In this quarter we will focus our attention on phenomenology, especially that related to the search for CP violation in B meson decays. Students are expected to have had a standard course in non-relativistic quantum mechanics, a working knowledge of special relativity, and some familiarity with relativistic quantum mechanics and Feyman diagrams. In the second quarter of the sequence we will study topics in gauge theories that relate to the phenomenology discussed this quarter and which define physics questions being addressed in forthcoming experiments.
We will meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9:30 AM - 10:50 AM (Eastern Standard Time), initially in room 302 Zimmer. This is a video conference room, and I will be calling in from SLAC (the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) for the first six weeks of the quarter. The textbook this quarter will be Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics by David Griffiths. I also recommend that you obtain The Review of Particle Properties from the Particle Data Group. 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. I will be posting lecture notes on the web. Although attendance is not mandatory, you are responsible for all material presented in class, and for all changes to the schedule or plans which are announced in class. The final exam is scheduled for Tuesday, March 13 from 1:30 - 3:30 PM. The take-home final will be due at the beginning of this period, except that those students who attend the special HEP seminar on Monday afternoon, March 12, may submit their papers as late as 5:00 PM on Wednesday, March 14.
My office at UC is room 411 in the Geology/Physics Building. My office phone number is 556-0533. However I will be working in California for the first six weeks of the class, and the easiest way to reach me then will be via e-mail. My address is sokoloff@physics.uc.edu . I read e-mail frequently; we can arrange to talk by phone or video conference when I am not available in person.
The final letter grade for this course will be my best
estimation of your mastery of the material. I
expect to base it on
weekly homework assignments and a take-home final
examination.
At the moment (March 1, 2001), my plan is
to use the following:
| weekly homework | 240 |
| final examination | 160 |
| TOTAL | 400 |
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.
Homework
Homework will be due Wednesdays at 5:00 PM in
Yixiong Chen's
mailbox. In general, late homework will not be accepted. Approximately
half of the problems will be selected randomly for grading, and each problem
will be graded on a scale from 0 to 20. At the end of the quarter, there
will be approximately 15 graded problems. I plan to use the best 12 in
computing your homework score. If there are fewer graded homework problems
for any reason, I will discard at least the lowest three scores. I encourage
you strongly to work with other students doing the assigned problems, and
to talk to me about how to do the problems.
However, all work you submit
must be work that you have done yourself.
Final Exam
The
final exam
is now available on the web in
postscript format
and in PDF format.
Please check the posted version for any mistakes or
confusing language which might require corrections, clarifications,
etc.
If you have any questions, please talk to me or send me e-mail
as soon as possible so that I can clarify any issues for you and
for your fellow students.
last modified March 3, 2001
Homework assignments will be posted
no later than Thursday night the week before they are due.