Learning objectives
At the end of this course, the student is expected to:
- know the fundamental properties of matter at the nuclear and subnuclear scale;
- know the main experimental methods employed in nuclear and particle physics;
- know the main experiments of the past and understand their conceptual impact on the advance of knowledge;
- being able to compute cross sections and decay rates for simple processes;
- being able to apply symmetry principles and conservation laws to problems of nuclear and particle physics.
- being able to communicate complex physical concepts in an efficient way, emphasising the key issues both on the theoretical and on the experimental side.
- Being able to self-evaluate one's knowledge of a wide field such as nuclear and subnuclear physics, differentiating between conceptual and technical aspects.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of classical physics, quantum mechanics and special relativity.
Course unit content
Nuclei and Elementary Particles Physics
Full programme
Introduction: fundamental constituents of matter, fundamental interactions, symmetries and conservation laws, units;
First part: nuclear physics
- General properties of nuclei;
- Nuclear stability;
- Nuclear scattering;
- Geometrical properties of nuclei;
- Nuclear force:nucleon-nucleon scattering, the Deuteron;
- Nuclear structure: Fermi gas model, shell model, beta decay;
- Nuclear thermodynamics: primordial nucleosynthesis and stellar nucleosynthesis;
Second part: elementary particle physics;
- Nucleons, leptons and mesons;
- Dirac equation and antimatter;
- Symmetries: generalities, C, P, and T, lepton and baryon number, isospin;
- relativistic kinematics;
- Lie groups;
- Hadrons and resonances;
- Quark model;
- Quantum electrodynamics;
- Deep-inelastic scattering;
- Nucleon structure: from parton model to QCD;
- Weak interactions;
- Neutrinos: mixings, oscillations and masses.
Bibliography
Notes by the lecturer;
B.R. Martin, "Nuclear and Particle Physics - an introduction". Wiley, 2009;
A. Bettini, "Introduction to Elementary Particle Physics", Cambridge U.P. 2014;
B. Povh et al, "Particles and Nuclei", Springer, 1995
Teaching methods
Lectures.
Classroom discussions, lead by students, of the exercises assigned as homework.
Assessment methods and criteria
The evaluation of the student's learning will be articulated in two parts:
1) a written test, of two hours, divided in two sections: a multiple choice quiz and some exercises.
2) an interview on the subjects of the course.
During the course there will be two intermediate written tests. If both of them are passed, the student may opt for skipping the written test "1)" above.
The final evaluation will be obtained by summing the results of the written tests to +/- 3 points obtained from the oral exam.
Problems in preparation of the written test will be proposed and solved during the classes. Moreover, examples of written tests, along with their solutions, will be provided in advance.
The results of the tests will be communicated to students via the Elly platform, an the lecturer will be available for individual meeting with those students willing to have clarifications on the evaluation of their test.
Other information
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