Seminar series for graduate students working in HEPE / HEPT. Suggested meeting time is Fridays 11:00am – 12:00pm, in room 214 (Fishbowl). Each talk should be around 40 minutes, to leave ample time for discussion and questions.
“Cheng & Li” refers to the book Ta‑Pei Cheng, Ling‑Fong Li, Gauge Theory of Elementary Particle Physics.
“DGH” refers to the book J. Donoghue, E. Golowich, B. Holstein, Dynamics of the Standard Model, second edition.
| Topic | Contents | Literature | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Lie groups U(1), SU(2), SU(3) | Defining / adjoint representations | Robert Cahn, Lie Algebras |
| 2 | Hadrons and quark model | Flavor SU(3), Young tableaux, mesons and baryons | Cheng & Li, Ch. 4; Quark Model (PDG) |
| 3 | Gauge theory and QCD | E/M U(1), color SU(3), running coupling | DGH p.17-22, p.28-57 |
| 4 | Chiral symmetry of QCD | Pions as Goldstone bosons | DGH p.11-17; Peskin, chiral symmetry |
| 5 | The electroweak interaction | Weak isospin, SSB, Higgs mechanism | DGH p.57-65 |
| 6 | Yukawa interaction and quark mixing | Yukawa couplings, CKM matrix, CP‑violating phase | 0201071 p. 3–12; 9806471 p. 10–22; 1711.03624 p. 11–15 |
| 7 | The discrete symmetries C, P, T | Transformation of particle states and currents, CPT theorem | Weinberg QTF I, ch. 2 & 5 |
| 8 | Effective Hamiltonians | ΔF = 1 operators, Wilson coefficients | G. Buchalla, Heavy Quark Theory, p.1-13 |
| 9 | Heavy quark symmetry / HQET | G. Buchalla, Heavy Quark Theory, p.16-31 | |
| 10 | Meson–antimeson mixing | FCNCs, ΔF = 2 operators, neutral meson mixing, CPV | |
| 11 | CP violation in B decays | CP asymmetries, determination of CKM angles | |
| 12 | CP violation in D decays | ||
| 13 | CP violation in K decays | ε, ε′, rare K decays | Belusevic, Neutral kaons |
| 14 | The strong CP problem | The θ angle, axions | |
| 15 | Flavor symmetries and flavor dynamics | ||
| 16 | Supersymmetry | Coleman–Mandula, SUSY algebra, MSSM | |
| 17 | Grand unified theories | SU(5), SO(10) | |
| 18 | Neutrino masses | Dirac and Majorana masses, see‑saw mechanism | |
| 19 | Neutrino oscillations | PMNS matrix, CP phases | |
| 20 | Higgs physics | Production, decay, CP‑ and flavor‑violating Higgs decays | |
| 21 | The 2HDM | ||
| 22 | Top physics | ||
| 23 | Electric dipole moments | Leptonic, hadronic, atomic systems; SM prediction | |
| 24 | Cosmology overview | ||
| 25 | Nucleosynthesis | ||
| 26 | The cosmic microwave background | ||
| 27 | Electroweak baryogenesis | ||
| 28 | Leptogenesis | ||
| 29 | Dark matter | ||
| 30 | Dark matter direct detection | ||
| 31 | Dark matter indirect detection | ||
| 32 | Dark energy | ||
| 33 | Accelerator physics | ||
| 34 | Detector physics | ||
| 35 | Passage of particles through matter | ||
| 36 | Resonances | ||
| 37 | Large N | E. Witten, Baryons in large N | |
| 38 | Renormalization | ||
| 39 | Renormalons | Divergent series, Borel transform | M. Beneke, Renormalons |
| 40 | QCD sum rules | ||
| 41 | Dispersion relations | ||
| 42 | Infrared divergences | ||
| 43 | Jet physics | ||
| 44 | Monte‑Carlo methods |