PHYS545 PARTICLE PHYSICS I
| Course Code: | 2300545 |
| METU Credit (Theoretical-Laboratory hours/week): | 3 (3.00 - 0.00) |
| ECTS Credit: | 8.0 |
| Department: | Physics |
| Language of Instruction: | English |
| Level of Study: | Graduate |
| Course Coordinator: | |
| Offered Semester: | Fall or Spring Semesters. |
Course Objectives
•Introduction: Natural units; Elementary particles; Wave-particle duality; Conti-
nuity equation for Schr ?odinger and Klein-Gordon fields; Dirac current and antipar-
ticles
•Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory: : Decay width; Cross section; Tran-
sition amplitude: Free scalar field; Golden Rule for 2-to-2 scattering cross section;
Golden Rule for 2-body decay width
•QED: Maxwell equations; Coulomb gauge; Interaction with electromagnetic field:
Covariant derivative; Example: Coulomb scattering; Example: 2-to-2 scattering
under no external field; Vertex factors from Lagrangian; Spin-1/2; Dirac equation
and Dirac matrices; Free-particle solution to Dirac equation; Dirac equation under
external field; Charge-conjugation operator; Feynman rules for scalars and fermions;
Example: eμ → eμ and Casimir trick; Mandelstam variables; Example: e ?e → e ?e
Example: ee →ee
•Weak Interaction: Beta decay; Parity operator: τ −θ puzzle; Neutrinos; Exam-
ple: μ →e ?νe νμ and invariant integration method; Quarks and Cabibbo rotation;CP
violation and GIM mechanism; CKM matrix
•Gauge transformations: Classical fields; Lagrangian for scalars and fermions;
U(1) transformation and conserved current; Yang-Mills theory: SU(2) transforma-
tion and conserved current; Charge operator; SU(2) doublet; Charged and neutral
currents; Hypercharge and SU(2) ⊗U(1) ; Higgs field and spontaneous symmetry
breaking
Course Content
Electromagnetism as a gauge theory; Klein-Gordon and Dirac wave equations; introduction to quantum field theory of bosons and fermions. Quantum electrodynamics: interactions of spin 0 particles and spin 1/2 particles, deep inelastic electron-nucleon scattering and the quark parton model.
Course Learning Outcomes
Program Outcomes Matrix
| Level of Contribution | |||||
| # | Program Outcomes | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 1 | They are competent in the fundamentals of Physics and in the subfield of their thesis work. | ✔ | |||
| 2 | They have necessary skills (literature search, experiment design, project design, etc.) for doing research with guidance of a more experienced researcher. | ✔ | |||
| 3 | They can communicate research results in a proper format (journal article, conference presentation, project report etc.) | ✔ | |||
| 4 | They can learn necessary skills and techniques (theoretical, experimental, computational etc.) on their own. | ✔ | |||
| 5 | They have necessary skills to work as team member in a research group. | ✔ | |||
0: No Contribution 1: Little Contribution 2: Partial Contribution 3: Full Contribution