MITPhysics8.701
Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics
Undergraduate-into-graduate intro to particle physics. The Standard Model, electroweak theory, the Higgs, neutrinos. Griffiths is the standard textbook. Klute is an experimental ATLAS physicist; the course pairs theory with detector and accelerator context.
Syllabus
- Week 1
Particles and forces — the Standard Model overview
- Week 2
Symmetries; conservation laws
- Week 3
Relativistic kinematics
- Week 4
Cross sections and decay rates
- Week 5
Quarks and the parton model
- Week 6
Quantum electrodynamics — Feynman diagrams
- Week 7
Quantum chromodynamics; running coupling
- Week 8
Weak interactions; parity violation
- Week 9
Electroweak unification
- Week 10
The Higgs mechanism
- Week 11
Neutrino oscillations and mass
- Week 12
Beyond the Standard Model — open questions