Physics 625 Fall 2006
Advanced Elementary Particle Physics


Instructor: Prof. James Wells (jwells@umich.edu)
Office: 3440 Randall Lab, 763-4478
Lectures: 2:30-3:50 MW in 4404 Randall Lab
 


Lectures

1. Wed Sep 6 §1. Particle physics theory
§2. Tree-level precision analysis of electroweak theory
2. Mon Sep 11 §3. One-loop self-energy corrections
3. Wed Sep 13 §4. Determining alpha(mz)
4. Mon Sep 18 §5. Observables in terms of observables at one loop
5. Wed Sep 20 §6. Oblique parameters
§7. Passarino-Veltman functions
6. Mon Sep 25 §8. Vector boson self-energy from fermion loop
§9. Global fits to constrain the Higgs boson mass
§10. Constraints on the Standard Model (LEPEWWG)
7. Wed Sep 27 §11. New physics and precision electroweak analysis
§12. Kinetic mixing of new abelian symmetry
8. Mon Oct 2 §13. Precision electroweak observables and kinetic mixing
9. Wed Oct 4 §14. Z' bosons and collider physics
10. Mon Oct 9 §15. Electroweak symmetry breaking and Higgs boson couplings
11. Wed Oct 11 §16. Decays of the Higgs boson
Study Books due
X. Mon Oct 16 No Class -- Fall Study Break
12. Wed Oct 18 §17a. Higgs boson theory constraints: perturbative unitarity, triviality
13. Mon Oct 23 §17b. Higgs boson theory constraints: vacuum stability
14. Wed Oct 25 §18. Detection of Higgs boson at colliders
15. Mon Oct 30 §19. Elastic charged lepton-nucleon scattering
16. Wed Nov 1 §20. Inelastic electron-proton scattering
17. Mon Nov 6 §21. Bjorken scaling and the parton model explanation
§22. Callan-Gross relation
18. Wed Nov 8 §23. The quark parton model
§24. Parton distribution functions
19. Mon Nov 13 §25. Drell-Yan scattering
20. Wed Nov 15 §26. Altarelli-Parisi equations and DGLAP evolution
Study Books due
21. Mon Nov 20 §27. Bottom quark parton density functions
22. Wed Nov 22 §28. Parton luminosities and gg->h cross-section
§29. Effective vector boson approximation
23. Mon Nov 27 §30. Finite temperature effective potential
24. Wed Nov 29 §31. Phase transition in Abelian Higgs model
25. Mon Dec 4 §32. Electroweak phase transition
26. Wed Dec 6 §33. Domain walls
27. Mon Dec 11 §34. Global string solutions
28. Wed Dec 13 §35. Local string solutions
Study Books due


Course Plan

We will cover several topics of modern elementary particle
physics in depth. Topics include collider physics, heavy
flavor physics, precision electroweak corrections, radiative decays,
neutrinos, QCD processes, Higgs physics, etc. Additional special
topics will be covered based on the interests of the students.



Grade Evaluation

The course grade will be determined by attendance/participation
and by your "Study Book" that I ask you to turn in three times
during the semester (Oct 11, Nov 15, Dec 13).

Your Study Book should include a careful log of everything you read in
connection with this course, but otherwise you have a lot of freedom
of what you precisely put in your Study Book. Some of your notes
can be calculations to prove or augment what was discussed in class.
Some of your writings can be notes you take by reading papers or
textbooks related to the course material. You can also ask and answer
interesting questions that arise in your mind during the lectures.
During the course of the lectures I will often suggest
problems of calculation or understanding for you to pursue in your
study books. You can write research ideas that might occur
to you, or difficult questions that you might not even be able to answer.
Be creative. The main purpose of the Study Book is to record what you
are studying and learning, and for it to be a resource for you in the
future, beyond the lecture notes.



References

Here is a partial list of general references. More specific
references will be given during lectures.

BOOKS:

I. Aitchison, A. Hey, Gauge theories in particle physics, 2 vols., 2004.
V. Barger, R. Phillips, Collider Physics, 1987.
T.-P. Cheng, L.-F. Li, Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics, 1983.
P. Dennery, A. Krzywicki, Mathematics for Physicists, Dover, 1996.
J. Gunion, H. Haber, G. Kane, S. Dawson, The Higgs Hunter's Guide, 1990.
M. Peskin, D. Schroeder, An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory, 1995.
P. Renton, Electroweak Interactions, 1990.
S. Weinberg, Quantum Theory of Fields, 3 vols, 1997.

ARTICLES:

• H. Burkhardt, B. Pietrzyk, "Update of the hadronic contribution to the QED vacuum polarization," Phys. Lett. B513, 46 (2001) and hep-ph/0506323.
• W. Hollik, "Radiative corrections in the standard model and their role for precision tests of the electroweak theory," Fortschr. Phys. 38, 165 (1990).
• J. Wells, "Introduction to precision electroweak analysis," TASI Lecture Notes, hep-ph/0512342.