NExT PhD School

Courses

The programme of NExT PhD courses

The Current PhD School director:

Dr Ulla Blumenschein (u.blumenschein@qmul.ac.uk) [QMUL]

NExT sites:

University of Southampton, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL), University of Sussex, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL)

Local coordinators:

Dr Andy O'Bannon (a.obannon@soton.ac.uk) [Southampton], Dr Jacob Linacre (jacob.linacre@stfc.ac.uk) [RAL], Dr Stephen West (stephen.west@rhul.ac.uk) [RHUL], Prof Sebastian Jaeger (s.jaeger@sussex.ac.uk) [Sussex]; Dr Ulla Blumenschein (u.blumenschein@qmul.ac.uk) [QMUL]

Logistics of the courses:

1. NExT PhD courses consist of core and non-core courses which are respectively compulsory and non-compulsory.

2. Amongst the latter, to the discretion of the Supervisor(s), some modules may be made compulsory. The governance document of the NExT PhD School is found here.

3. The teaching of all the courses is split amongst the NExT nodes and will be broadcasted throughout using video/audio equipment.

4. Lectures are booked via google calendars, a lecturer has access rights to the google calendar of his/her own course. The additional (mini)courses are booked in the

Scheduling is done through the NXTPHD-Extra-Courses calendar, editing access to which can be requested from the PhD School director or sites coordinators.

Course loads and contents below are indicative only and can change from year to year.

Core courses

Group Theory/Symmetries (20 hours)

Lie algebras. SU(2), SU(3), SU(N),SO(N), Sp(N),Exceptional groups,Roots and Weights. SU(2) Isospin, SU(3) flavour and colour, SU(5) GUTs, SO(10) GUTs (and the SM quark and lepton multiplets), Lorentz and Poincare groups.

Quantum Field Theory (QFT) part I (20 hours)

Canonical approach. Scalar field theory, S-matrix, scattering and phase space. Dirac equation andcanonical fermions."Christmas" problem on tree-level QED (this should not count against the 20 hours as it is node specific).

Quantum Field Theory (QFT) part II (20 hours)

Path Integral formulation from QM to QFT (including scalars, fermions and QED). Introduction to gauge theories.

Quantum Field Theory (QFT) part III (20 hours)

Loop diagrams and IR/UV divergences: Renormalization of QED and QCD. Asymptotic freedom. "Easter" problem on one-loop QCD (this should not count against the 20 hours as it is node specific).

Standard Model (20 hours)

Brief revision on spinors, Dirac eq, gamma matrices, QED Lagrangian, gauge symmetry and Feynman rules, Coulomb scattering, crossing symmetry, e+ e- annihilation, non-abelian gauge symmetry, QCD lagrangian, quick introduction to perturbative QCD amplitudes and 4 particle example. Spontaneous symmetry breaking, Goldstone's theorem, Higgs mechanism for abelian and non-abelian gauge theories, electroweak effective theory, V-A model, leptonic processes, muon and tau decay, semi-leptonic processes, pion decay. Finally assemble everything for the Weinberg Salam model - GIM mechanism, CKM matrix etc.

Supersymmetry (20 hours)

Basics of global supersymmetry: motivation and algebra;the Wess-Zumino model;superfields and superspace;construction of supersymmetric-invariant Lagrangians;

the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM): basic notionson supergravity and gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking; phenomenology of Supersymmetry: the hierarchy problem and gauge coupling

unification; low-energy constraints;dark-matter constraints; prospects for collider searches.

BSM (15 hours)

I. Grand unification (GUT gauge groups, SM embedding, gauge coupling unification, proton decay, fermion masses, seesaw, mostly taking SU(5) as an example, short summary of SO(10), neutron physics (backgrounds, lifetime, and nEDM)).

II. Extra dimensions (KK reduction for various fields, chirality problem and orbifolds, Higgs from gauge, orbifold GUTs, large and warped extra dimensions, collider signals?).

III. Technicolour.

IV. Little Higgs (Goldstone bosons, collective symmetry breaking).

Phenomenology (20 hours) - core for Soton only

Standard Model tests (collider based): W and Z discovery (SpS), establishment of QCD [QPM, confinement/asymptotic freedom, jets, gluon evidence and spin, a_S running, SU(3) Casimirs] (e+e- low energy, PEP/PETRA, LEP1&2, SLC), factorization, PDFs & PS, Hadronisation models, EW tests (LEP/SLC precision observables & TGCs), top physics (LEP `prediction' & Tevatron discovery), Higgs physics (experimental/theoretical limits and model predictions, quantum numbers, profiling, discovery), future colliders scope (DY, tt, di-jet, etc. at LHC; LCs from GigaZ, to top threshold, to TeV scale: Top & Higgs factories, top Yukawa, Higgs self-couplings and QGCs).

Neutrino Physics & Particle Cosmology (30 hours) - core for Soton only

Neutrino Physics (15 hours)

1) Neutrinos in the Standard Model

2) Neutrino oscillations

3) Neutrino masses and mixing

4) Neutrinoless Double Beta decay

5) Neutrinos from astrophysical and cosmological sources (DM decays and annihilations, Supernovae)

Particle Cosmology (15 hours)

6) Friedmann Cosmology and Early Universe Recombination, CMB (including bounds on neutrino masses and on New Physics), BBN and Neutrino decoupling

7) Kinetic Theory in the early Universe

8) Dark Matter (production, detection, basic models)

9) Baryogenesis (including Leptogenesis)

10) Inflation

Non-Core Courses

Introduction to Computational Tools in Particle Physics (15 hours)

1. Introduction to Matrix element evaluation tools, including CalcHEP

2. Introduction to Feynman Rules derivation tools, including LanHEP

3. Dark matter tools, including micrOMEGAs

4. Beyond the parton level and analysis tools: PYTHIA, DELPHES, CheckMATE

5. High Energy Phyiscs Model Database - HEPMDB and Pheno Data projects

6. Advanced topics, examples of the HEP tools application

Introduction to MC generators and Detectors in Particle Physics (15 hours)

Interactions of particles with matter, Calorimetry (Scinitillation, Cerenkov, sampling), Tracking (Silicon, gases), Interactions revisited by particle species, Particle ID (muon, electron, photon, pion, kaon, proton, neutrino), b tagging, GEANT modelling, Real detectors (ATLAS/CMS, Babar, Superkamiokande)

Statistics and Signal-to-Background analysis (15 hours)

Bayesian/Frequentist principles and definitions; Random variables, statistical tests, parameter estimation;goodness of fit, Limits; Signal separation (likelihood, NN, BDT etc); Systematic errors.

Cosmology & Dark Matter (15 hours)

Big Bang Cosmology (FRW metric, Einstein equation, Friedman-Lemaitre Equations, critical energy density), Components of Universe, CMBR, WMAP,

Thermodynamics of Universe, freeze out, Neutrino decoupling, Thermal History of Universe, Inflation, Baryogenesis, BBN, dark matter (experimental evidence,

candidates, relic density calculation, current search strategies direct and indirect experiments, implications for LHC), cosmic Rays.

RG techniques and applications (15 hours)

Generalities: Motivation and general QFT set-up; Derivation of RG equations, systematic expansions, perturbation theory; Optimisation, stability, convergence. Phase transitions and critical phenomena: RG flows in scalar theories, effective potentials; Fixed point structure and scaling exponents; Thermal fluctuations and thermal pressure. Gauge theories: Gauge symmetry and Ward identities; Background field formalism; Infrared QCD, confinement; QCD phase diagram; Quantum Gravity: Basic ideas and setup; Asymptotic safety scenario; Fixed point structure and phase diagram of gravity; Applications to cosmology.

Introduction to Lattice QCD (15 hours)

- Some recent lattice results - what can be done

- Monte Carlo in statistical physics - the Ising model

- Discretising the QCD action: gauge part, fermionic part

- First real world example: the particle spectrum

Gravitation/General Relativity (15 hours)

Brief review of special relativity. Scalars, vectors and tensors. Principles of equivalence and covariance. Space-time curvature. The concept of space-time and its metric. Tensors and curved space-time; covariant differentiation. The energy-momentum tensor. Einstein\u2019s equations. The Schwarzschild solution and black holes. Tests of general relativity. Relativity in cosmology and astrophysics.

Hadron Collider Physics (15 hours)

Recap: predictions for hadron colliders, cross section and decay rate formulas. Kinematics: hadron collider variables, observables and differential distributions. Phase space integration & parameterisations. Spin/Helicities, polarisations and overview of methods to compute matrix elements. Introduction to NLO corrections (virtual and real radiation, scale dependence, the NLO K-factor). Lepton and heavy quark decays. Weak boson, top quark and Higgs decays. Drell-Yan. Jet production. Heavy quark production. Weak boson and top quark production.

Flavour Physics (15 hours)

C,P,T classical physics. C,P,T in quantum physics. J^(PC) quantum numbers of elementary particles pion, photon etc. C,P,T,CP, CPT symmetry in the SM model (weak interactions/ transformation of fermion bilinears). Basics of CP asymmetry - CP even/odd/spurious phases. Kaon mixing with CP conservation (a first look). Neutral meson mixing DeltaF = 2 -- the general case - classification of CP-violation. Application to Bd -> J/Psi Ks (golden channel) -- sin(2 beta) at B-factories.

String & Branes (15 hours)

- The classical bosonic string (Nambu goto, Polyakov actions. Symmetries. Generalizations to curvedbackgrounds. Boundary conditions.)

- Quantizing the string in flat space (conformal gauge, general classical solution, mode expansions, old covariant quantization, ghosts, virasoro algebra, resulting

physical spectra and constraints on dimensions).

- String loops in curved backgrounds and recovering GR in the weak coupling low curvature limit.

- T-duality.

Mini Courses

There will be further mini-courses on offer, < 10 hours, typically given by post-docs or visitors on their research specialties, normally in the last term. Lecturers, topics and syllabuses would be specified from year to year. (As an example we report here those scheduled in the academic year 2013/2014.)

"Higgs bosons in Supersymmetry" (4 hours) by Prof. Ulrich Ellwanger (Laboratoire de Physique Theorique d'Orsay)

Starting with the Standard Model Higgs boson, masses and couplings of additional Higgs bosons in Supersymmetric extensions (MSSM and NMSSM) are discussed. From these one can derive production and decay modes, some of which can be unconventional. Possible signatures are discussed. Whenever possible, signal rates are compared to available data. (Knowledge of formal aspects of Supersymmetry is not required.)

"MSSM Phenomenology" (4 hours) by Prof. Shaaban Khalil (Zewail City of Science & Technology)

I. The MSSM in the light of recent LHC results (part 1). II. The MSSM in the light of recent LHC results (part 2). III. SUSY indirect searches: Lepton Flavour Violation. IV. Other SUSY indirect searches.

"Effective field theory: basics and applications" (9 hours) by Dr. Sebastian Jaeger (University of Sussex)

1) Express review of QFT. Power counting and decoupling of heavy particles

2) Systematics of effective field theory: Operator bases, matching, renormalisation

3) Applications: Flavour physics, Higgs physics, …

4) Further directions: Chiral logs/OPE/soft-collinear effective theory [subject to interest and time]

Course suggestion/discussion/voting

Please follow this link to the forum devoted to course discussion/selection/voting. If you think that some new course would be useful for you, please let us know by

adding your name, e-mail and the provisional subject of the course. All students/lecturers are very welcome to discuss/select/vote for the suggested course or add their

own suggestion.

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