Particle Physics II (Theoretical Particle Physics) - spring 2011

[Lectures of the M2 Concepts Fondamentaux de la Physique]

This course teaches to apply Quantum Field Theory, the main tool of theoretical particle physics, to describe concrete, experimentally observable, properties of elementary particles. This year, we will be considering many examples involving the muon particle. On the one hand, muon physics is sufficiently rich and will allow us to illustrate many key ideas. On the other hand, recent measurements with muons have shown anomalies which may be signs of physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. The theory behind these measurements will be discussed in the second half of the course.

Non-exhaustive list of course topics: Muon production and decay. Passage of electrically charged particles through matter (bremsstrahlung; showers). Anomalous magnetic moment of muon vs electron. Bound states (positronium, muonium). Fine structure of atomic levels. Proton radius measurements in muonic atoms.

A third of course time will be reserved for problem-solving sessions.

Literature:

- Berestetskii, Lifshitz, Pitaevskii "Quantum electrodynamics" (Landau-Lifshitz vol.4 - see file below)

- Itzykson & Zuber

- Peskin & Schroeder

- Migdal "Qualitative Methods in Quantum Mechanics"

- Gottfried-Weisskopf "Concepts in particle physics"

- Gribov "Lectures on Quantum Electrodynamics"

- Akhiezer, Berestetskii "Quantum Electrodynamics"

Lecture plan: