Modern Physics
Spring 2019: Phys 490
Lecture:
Tuesday, Thursday 1:30-2:45pm in Watanabe 417
Office hours:
Please arrange by email or before/after the lecture.
Website:
go.hawaii.edu/n3G
Syllabus:
Student Learning Objectives for this course are detailed here (please check for updates regularly)
Text:
I will provide most of the materials or point to online resources.
Prerequisite:
Phys 480 (or concurrent).
Midterm 1:
February 14, Watanabe 417 (during regular lecture times)
They will consist of conceptual questions and problems similar to those occurring on the problem sets. Please bring your calculator and paper. You are allowed to also bring a formula sheet (letter size).
Midterm 2:
April 18, Watanabe 417 (during regular lecture times)
They will consist of conceptual questions and problems similar to those occurring on the problem sets. Please bring your calculator and paper. You are allowed to also bring a formula sheet (letter size).
Final presentations:
May 9, Watanabe 417, 12-2pm
Each student will present on a topic of modern (astro)particle physics. Topics will be agreed on at a later time.
Homework:
New problem sets will be given out nearly every week. The problem sets will indicate the due date.
Grading:
final presentation 35%, midterm 1 25%, midterm 2 25%, homework 15%.
Lecture schedule
| Slides |
Topic |
Materials |
Homework |
| Jan 8 |
Introduction, history |
- |
- |
| Jan 10 |
Rutherford scattering, rigid rotor |
Angular momentum (Pe’er) |
- |
| Jan 15 |
Scattering theory |
Introduction to Nuclear and Subnuclear Physics |
Week 2a, due on 1/22 |
| Jan 17 |
Scattering theory, nuclear properties |
- |
Week 2b, due on 1/29 |
| Jan 22 |
Liquid drop model, spin |
- |
Week 3, due on 1/31 |
| Jan 24 |
Spin coupling, nuclear spin |
- |
- |
| Jan 29 |
Deuteron, nuclear force |
- |
presentations for Feb 7 |
| Jan 31 |
Deuteron potential, nuclear transformations |
- |
Week 4, due on 2/12 |
| Feb 5 |
Neutrino |
- |
- |
| Feb 7 |
Parity violation of the weak interaction, Presentations on nuclear fission and fusion |
- |
- |
| Feb 12 |
Review, problems |
- |
- |
| Feb 14 |
Midterm 1 |
- |
- |
| Feb 19 |
Special relativity |
Special Relativity in Tensor Notation (Corbo); Vectors and Covectors in Special Relativity (Napolitano) |
Week 7a, due on 3/5 |
| Feb 21 |
Cross section and interactions with matter |
Conversion Table for natural and MKSA Units; Passage of particles through matter (PDG) |
Week 7b, due on 3/5, presentations for Mar 5 |
| Feb 26 |
Detection principles, detectors |
Particle detectors at accelerators (PDG) |
- |
| Feb 28 |
Accelerators, dirac equation |
- |
- |
| Mar 5 |
3 Presentations on modern detectors, dirac equation, antiparticles |
- |
Week 9, due on 3/14 |
| Mar 12 |
1 Presentation on modern detectors, Feynman rules |
Feynman Diagrams for Beginners (Kumericki) |
- |
| Mar 14 |
Feynman rules |
- |
Week 10, due on 4/4 |
| Mar 15 (8-9:15, WAT417A) |
e+e-→μ+μ-, gauge principle |
- |
- |
| Apr 2 |
Symmetries, quark model |
Quark Model (PDG) |
Paper for presentations on Apr 11:
|
| Apr 4 |
Quark model, heavy quarks |
- |
- |
| Apr 9 |
Hadron masses, weak interaction |
Lectures on the Theory of the Weak Interaction (Peskin) |
Week 13, due on 4/16 |
| Apr 11 |
Presentations on quark discoveries |
- |
- |
| Apr 16 |
Electroweak unification, review, problems |
- |
- |
| Apr 18 |
Midterm 2 |
- |
- |
| Apr 23 |
Higgs |
- |
- |
| Apr 25 |
Quark mixing, neutrino mixing |
Neutrinos: Fast & Curious (Barenboim) |
Week 15, due on 5/2 |
| Apr 30 |
Cosmic rays |
- |
- |
| May 2 |
Cosmic rays, dark matter |
- |
- |
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