Announcements for Physics 752 (Prof. Agashe) - Spring 2022

 

(0). For all homeworks, please read carefully the statements of problems, especially since notes/hints have been given in many places

and there are multiple parts to each problem.                           

 

(1). Incoming survey form (about your particle physics background, research interests etc.) is posted here.

 

(2). HW 1 has been assigned here (and is due by February).

 

(3).  Solutions to some HW problems will be posted here.

 

(4). HW (similarly survey, term paper) submission: please scan/take pictures of your hand-written HW (it does not have to be very high resolution) or (if you prefer)

just latex it, then upload a PDF file of it on to ELMS here, navigate to Phys752 course, then "Assignments" etc.

 

(5). Plan for the first several weeks of lectures (notes are here) of semester was 1st QFT topic: bottomline (in general) is that predictions possible for renormalizable theories, i.e., coupling constants of non-negative mass dimensions. Specifically, for QED, we will go through the entire renormalization program, figuring out the consequences of

gauge invariance (photon massless even at loop-level, ratio of charges not renormalized) and

ҲemnantӍ effect of renormalization: running of QED coupling (in particular, IR-free theory).

 

During the several weeks before Spring Break, we moved on to the 2^nd QFT topic of spontaneous symmetry 

breaking (SSB)/Higgs mechanism, beginning with a review of the motivation to study it, i.e., a

renormalizable description of the weak (nuclear) force based on a gauge theory, a la QED, but with a ҶariationӠin the form

of a massive gauge boson.

 

Just after the Spring Break, we are studied the 3^rd QFT topic of non-abelian symmetries (motivation being

strong nuclear force, i.e., asymptotic freedom, and weak nuclear force, i.e., off-diagonal gauge boson coupling), with

global case first (including group theory, SSB), then gauge theories (classical-level and quantization, Higgs mechanism).

 

Now, we are building the SM using all these QFT ingredients: we started with an overview of this process, then are studying the EW sector in detail: bosonic first (including EW symmetry breaking by Higgs field), followed by fermionic (with just 1 generation).

 

(6). Office hours are just after class or by appointment.