Course Information
Lectures at MW 14:30-15:45 in room 3M59
Dr. Andrew Frey2L26
a dot frey at uwinnipeg dot ca
204-786-9215
Office Hours by appointment on zoom
Zoom coordinates for office hours
or if you must attend class remotely
This is the course homepage for PHYS-4303, Subatomic Physics.
I welcome feedback and comments on the course. If you're more comfortable commenting anonymously, upload a text file marked as comments to the homework upload link below.
COVID-19 Info
An individual in this class has a medical accommodation requiring that everybody in the class be masked. If you are not prepared to wear a mask in class you should withdraw from this course and select a different course.
If you feel ill or have new or worsening symptoms of COVID-19, please do not come to class (or the university at all)! If you let me know about an absence in advance, I will attempt to set up zoom in the class room for you to attend remotely. Additionally, if I need to stay home due to illness but am well enough to teach, I will teach remotely via zoom and let you know in advance via UWinnipeg email.
Texts
- Required: Introduction to Elementary Particles, 2nd ed, by David Griffiths, 2008.
- Required: Review of Particle Physics by the Particle Data Group, 2023 version.
In addition, some extra reading (from other texts, journal articles, etc) may be assigned.
Important Dates
- First Lecture: Sept 6, 2023
- Fall Reading Week: Oct 8-14, 2023 (no class)
- Miderm Test: Oct 25, 2023
- Voluntary Withdrawal Date: Nov 13, 2023
- Extra 50% lecture: Nov 27 and Dec 4, 2023
- Project Due: Dec 4, 2023
- Last Regular Lecture: Dec 4, 2023
- Review Session: Thurs 7 Dec, 2PM, on Zoom
- Final Exam: 9AM-12PM Dec 8, 2023, room 2L14
Reading Schedule
Reading assignments will be posted on the course web page. You are responsible for keeping up with the reading; material covered in the reading will not necessarily be discussed in the class lectures but may be relevant to assignments. If you click the topic title, you'll get a scanned copy of my lecture notes.
Books are identified by G for Griffiths or RPP for Review of Particle Physics. Italicized reading is optional.
| Dates | Topic | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| 6-11 Sept | Overview of the SM | G§2.1,2,3[until (2.1)],4.1-2,5; any of chapter 1 |
| 11-13 Sept | Symmetries: Conservation Laws and Group Theory | G§4.1 |
| 18-20 Sept | Symmetries: Discrete Symmetries | G§4.4 |
| 20-27 Sept | Symmetries: Continuous Symmetries, extra notes | G§4.2,4.3,5.5,5.6.1; 1.6-9 |
| 2-4 Oct | Special Relativity: 4-vectors and Tensors | G§3.1-2 |
| 4-23 Oct | Special Relativity: Momentum and Energy | G§3.3-5 |
| 23-30 Oct | Special Relativity: Spinors | G§7.3 |
| 25 Oct | Midterm Test Solution | |
| 30 Oct - 8 Nov | Scattering & Feynman Rules: Decay Rates & Cross Sections | G§6.1-2 |
| 8-13 Nov | Scattering & Feynman Rules: Feynman Diagrams | G§6.3 |
| 15-20 Nov | Quantum Electrodynamics: Feynman Rules | G§7.1,2,4,5 |
| 20-27 Nov | Quantum Electrodynamics: Applications & Calculations | G§7.6-8; 8.1-2 |
| 30 Nov | Quantum Chromodynamics | G§8.3-5 |
| 4 Dec | Weak Interactions | G§9 |
| 8 Dec | EXAM Solution |
Assignments
Policies
Please see the course outline for the official statement of homework policies. The following are guidelines:
- Assignments will only be posted on this web page; you must let me know if you need alternate delivery.
- Assignments will typically be posted Wednesday. Assignments are due by 10:59PM on the listed due date (normally the next Wednesday). Make sure to label your assignment with your name.
- Upload homeworks to this link.
- Assignments must be submitted as PDF files. These may be black-and-white scans or photographs of hardcopies (all converted to PDF), PDF prepared by LaTeX, or PDF prepared with a word processor using an equation editor.
- Include your name on your assignment. Name your files with first initial, last name, and assignment number. If you need multiple files, label them in order with lower case letters. Example: AFrey_hw1.pdf or AFrey_hw1a.pdf, AFrey_hw1b.pdf, etc.
- Collaboration is allowed, but you must write up your own solutions independently (in your own words).
- Use of AI text-generating tools is prohibited for all assignments.
- Late assignments will only be accepted with prior permission from the instructor.
- Assignments that are not neatly organized and written will receive zero credit (one warning allowed). Please see the course outline.
- If you find a mistake in grading, please talk to Dr Frey.
Homework Sets
- Assignment 1 due 19 Sept, Solution
- Assignment 2 due 26 Sept, Solution
- Assignment 3 due 3 Oct, Solution
- Assignment 4 due 17 Oct, Solution
- Assignment 5 due 31 Oct, Solution
- Assignment 6 due 7 Nov, Solution
- Assignment 7 due 14 Nov, Solution
- Assignment 8 due 21 Nov, Solution
- Assignment 9 due 28 Nov, Solution
- Assignment 10 due 5 Dec, Solution
- Assignment 11 NOT DUE, Solution
Course Project
Instructions, including the detailed marking scheme and all deadlines are given here: Project Instructions.
- You must choose a project topic by 15 November.
- Project presentations will be in class 4 December.
- Presentation slides are due to the homework upload folder by 10:59PM on 4 December.
- Slides must be PDF files prepared using LaTeX or MS PowerPoint (or similar presentation software) with an equation editor.
Last updated: 17:13 on 19 Dec 2023