Lecturers: Bernard de Wit,
Eric Laenen,
Wouter Waalewijn
Tutors: Eric Marcus, Giulio Falcioni, Leonardo Vernazza
This is a joint course of the University of Amsterdam and Utrecht University on gauge theories and their applications in particle physics. After an introduction to abelian and non-abelian gauge theories the quantum theory is introduced, primarily within the context of quantum-electrodynamics. Renormalization is discussed as well as dimensional regularization. For quantum-electrodynamics we consider the divergent one-loop diagrams and we explain how to obtain physically relevant results. Subsequently we discuss the quantization of general gauge theories including gauge-fixing, ghosts and BRST invariance. The next topic is the renormaliziation group and the phenomenon of asymptotic freedom. This is a good preparation for a thorough discussion of quantum-chromodynamics. The course is concluded with a discussion of spontaneous symmetry breaking, the Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism and electro-weak mixing in the Standard Model.
The first half of the lectures (up to and including March 21) will be from 10.00 - 12.00 in Amsterdam from in room C1.112 at Science Park. The second half of the lectures (starting April 4) will be from 10.00 - 13.00 in Utrecht in room 611 ab of the Hans Freudenthalbuilding (Mathematical Institute, UU). The tutorials exercises and exams will held locally. The tutorials in Utrecht will be on Tuesdays from 15.15 - 19.00 in Ruppert 119. Exam information is listed below. The lecture notes will be made available in two parts. The first part will cover all material until the midterm.
For UU students the rules apply that are given in Master's Programme Theoretical Physics.
Please, pay attention to the the class attendance requirements: It is expected that all participants of a course participate by default and sign the attendance list. For the lectures this will be before the end of the first lecture of the day. For the tutorial sessions this list will circulate during the first 15 minutes of the class. In both cases, signing implies full attendance. Exceptions are discussed with the lecturer in advance.
A good introduction in quantum field theory. Prior knowledge of Lie groups is an advantage.
Students can pass the course in either
of two ways:
A) The final grade is composed of 20% homework, 30% midterm, and 50%
final exam. The final exam score must be at least 5.0.
B) The
final grade is 100% composed of the final exam.
There will be a
retake for the final exam (i.e. not for the midterm). For the retake
the student can again choose option A or B.
Midterm exam: Wednesday 11 April, 10.00-12.00, Koningsbergergebouw,
Atlas.
Final exam: Wednesday June 13, 10.00-13.00, Educatorium Beta.
Retake: Wednesday July 4, 09.00-12.00, BBG 007.
No books, lecture notes etc, will be allowed during the exams.
Every two weeks, two homework problems will be
assigned at the end of the tutorial session, which have to be handed
in one week later at the beginning of the next tutorial. One of the
two problems will be graded (we dont tell you which one) during the
consecutive week and the corrections can be discussed in the next
tutorial session. The exercise that has not been graded will be
briefly discussed at the tutorial session as well. For students who
are late with handing in homework, we subtract 2 out of 10
points. Students that are much too late in handing in receive 0 points
(we judge what "much too late" means).
Hand-in exercises are
an important part of the feed-back mechanism from lecturer/TA to
student. The quality, readability, and exposure of this work must
therefore be of such a standard that feed-back is possible and
efficient. Although it is not required to be type-set your solutions,
it is necessary that the steps and structure are clear. In particular,
please rewrite and restyle erratic calculations in a way that allows
for efficient grading. Also: no solutions by email, no scanned
pictures with your phone, etc. will be accepted. Simply hand in the
problems at the tutorial session. Copying solutions from previous
years is of course not allowed, and will be checked for.
Lecture notes will be made available and can be bought in Amsterdam and in Utrecht. In Utrecht they can be bought from A-Eskwadraat, BBL 238, which is open from 11.30-13.30 during the week. Part 1 of the notes should be available before week 5. The notes from previous years have become obsolete. The lecture notes are parts of the text of a forthcoming book "Field Theory in Particle Physics" (de Wit, Laenen, Smith).