Physics 125, Spring 2010

Welcome to Physics 125, Particle Physics, for Spring 2010. We'll meet MWF 12:00-12:50pm in Building 387, Room 101. The textbook is `Introduction to Elementary Particles,' Second, Revised Edition by David Griffiths (don't get the First Edition). The Instructor is Harry Nelson, and he'll hold office hours Friday 2pm-4pm in 5103 Broida. The TA is James Sully, and his office hours are Monday 10:00am-11:30am in the PSR, on the first floor of Broida.

Generally, homework will be assigned Mondays and due the subsequent Monday in class; late homework generally must be approved in advance by James Sully. James has written solutions to some homework assignments... linked below.

The midterm took place Monday, May 3... the average was 84, which was very good... that is about a B grade; A- 90 and above, C- 70 and above. The final will be Tuesday, June 8 at noon in Building 387, Room 101. The current plan is for homework to count 35%, the midterm 25%, and the final 40%.

The plan is to briefly cover Chapters 1 and 2, then cover Chapters 3, 4, 6, and 7 carefully. Some material from Chapters 5, 11, and 12 may be covered.

• Week 9 - 5/24-5/28
  1. The Kaon System, Chapter 4
  2. Feynman Calculation, Chapter 6
  3. Prof. Nelson is on a research-related trip this week. The lectures for Monday and Wednesday were recorded in advance and will be shown in the normal class time. The Friday lecture is cancelled.
• Week 10 - 6/1-6/4
  1. Feynman Calculation, Chapter 6
  2. Homework due at final... 6.8, 6.11, 6.14
  3. Prof Nelson will have extra office hours Monday, 6/7 1pm-3pm
• Week 8 - 5/17-5/21
  1. Discrete Symmetries, Chapter 4
  2. Unstable Particles, Chapter 6
  3. Homework: Due Monday, 5/24... Chapter 4 - 38 and 39, Chapter 6 - 1, 2, 3.
• Week 7 - 5/10-5/14
  1. Revised Neutrino Slides
  2. Spin 1/2 and continuous symmetries.
• Week 6 - 5/03-5/07
  1. Neutrino Slides
  2. Homework due on 5/17.
• Week 5 - 4/26-4/30
  1. A little more Special Relativity (Chapter 3), then skip first to pp. 401-405 (Chapter 12), and then back to Chapter 11 on neutrinos, pp. 387-400.
  2. Homework due Monday, May 3 - 3.25, 12.7, 11.3, 11.5.
  3. Homework Solutions by James Sully
  4. Midterm on Monday May 3... through Chapter 3 of Griffiths.
• Week 4 - 4/19-4/23
  1. The pertinent Special Relativity... Griffiths, Chapter 3
  2. Homework due Monday, April 19 - 3.4, 3.16, 3.17, 3.18, 3.19, 3.20 Griffiths
  3. Homework Solutions by James Sully
  4. Plot of R handed out in class.
  5. Notes on thresholds, decay energies.
• Week 3 - 4/12-4/16
  1. More SM Feynman Rules, etc... Griffiths Chapter 2
  2. Homework due Monday, April 19 - 2.5, 2.7, 2.8, 2.11 of Griffiths
  3. Omega Minus Paper
• Week 2 - 4/5-4/9
  1. Standard Model... Griffiths Chapter 2
  2. Homework due Monday, April 12 - 1.14, 1.15, 1.18, 2.1, 2.2 of Griffiths
• Week 1 - 3/29-4/2
  1. Read Griffiths' Intro, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 ASAP. We'll start in on Chapter 3 next week.
  2. Due Monday, April 5 - Griffiths 1.2, and sign up at the `Particle Data Group' website (google it!) for all the products they'll send to you... small book, diary, and large book.
  3. This week the LHC saw first collisions at a 7 TeV center-of-mass energy!