Particle Physics

Dr Victoria Martin, Spring Semester 2012

Lecture 1: The Mysteries of Particle Physics,
or “Why should I take this course?”

Contents:
• Review of the Standard Model
! What we know
! What we don’t know
• Highlights from 2011 particle
physics
! Superluminal neutrinos
! CP violation in charm physics
! Constraining the Higgs boson
mass
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Course Organisation
Teaching weeks: 16 January - 17 February; 27 February - 6 April
ILW: 20 - 24 February (no lectures)

Particle Physics course:

• 18 Lectures: Tuesday, Friday 12:10-13:00 (JCMB 5215)
• No PP lectures: 10 Feb, 6 April
• Two themes: Particles & interactions of the Standard Model, Current topics in
particle physics
• Tutorials: Can we decide now?
• Office Hours: Thursday 15:00-17:00 (JCMB 5419)
• I’d like to recommend reading for the course from Introduction to Elementary
Particle Physics by David Griffiths. (7 copies in Darwin Library)

• Printed notes and problem sheets handed out periodically and available on the web.
• Lecture slides (and eventually solution sheets) will only be available on the web.

• About VJM: http://vimeo.com/33722851

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 References & Websites

Introductory textbooks
• D.Griffiths – Introduction to Elementary Particles (Wiley 2008)
• B.R.Martin & G.Shaw – Particle Physics (Wiley 1997)
• D.H.Perkins – Introduction to High Energy Physics (CUP 2000)

More advanced textbooks

• F.Halzen & A.D.Martin – Quarks & Leptons (Wiley 1984)
• A.Seiden – Particle Physics: A Comprehensive Introduction (Addison-Wesley 2005)
• I.J.R.Aitchison & A.J.G.Hey – Gauge Theories in Particle Physics (Hilger 1989)

Useful websites
! CERN/LHC http://public.web.cern.ch/public
! Particle Data Group (PDG) http://pdg.lbl.gov

Particles & Interactions of the Standard Model

1. Introduction:“The mysteries of the Standard Model.”

2. Forces, feynman diagrams
3. Kinematics & scattering.
4. Dirac equation & spinors.
5. Electromagnetic interactions: Quantum Electrodynamics (QED).
6. Weak Interactions, Weak decays & Neutrino scattering.
7. Deep inelastic scattering, the parton model & parton density
functions.
8. Strong interactions: Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) and Gluons.
9. Quark model of hadrons. Isospin and Strangeness. Heavy quarks.
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 Current Topics in Particle Physics
Content to be finalised, but probably including...

10. Hadron production at Colliders, Fragmentation and jets.

11. Weak decays of hadrons. CKM matrix.
12. Symmetries. Parity. Charge conjugation. Time reversal. CP and CPT.
13. Mixing and CP violation in K and B decays.
14. Neutrino oscillations. MNS matrix. Neutrino masses.
15. Electroweak Theory. W and Z masses. Precision tests at LEP.
16. Spontaneous symmetry breaking. The Higgs boson.
17. Beyond the Standard Model. Supersymmetry. Grand unification.
18. Recent physics results at the LHC.
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Review: Spin
• Spin is the intrinsic angular momentum of a quantum state.
• Two quantum numbers describe the spin
! total spin: !2 Eigenvalues: s (s+1) , s = 0,!,1,3⁄2,2, ...

! third component: !Z Eigenvalues: ms , ms = "s,"s+1,…, s"1, s

• Particles with an integer value of s are bosons

• Particles with a half-integer values of s are fermions

• Two examples:

Electron, e"
Photon, "
• A fermion with spin, s=#
• A boson with spin, s=1 • Two possible spin
• Three possible polarisation orientations ms = +#, "#
states: !=ms="1, 0, 1
• “Spin-up” or “Spin-down”

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 Standard Model Matter Particles
• Matter particles are observed to be s=! fermions.
• Two distinct types: quarks and leptons.
• Grouped into three, successively heavier, generations.
• Four key quantum numbers: charge (Q), isospin (IZ), baryon number (B), lepton number (L)
Q IZ B L
5#$614+ ;&2<14+
!"#$%& /010234 789:&$ 789:&$

'()*+& '-)( '-)* +++.

,-)*+& ,-)( '-)* +++.

++.+ '-)( +++. ++'-

,-+& ,-)(+ +++. ++'-

Mysteries of the Fermion Masses

• These are well measured (apart from the very low mass !i) but the
hierarchy not understood:

• Logarithmic scale covers 15 orders of magnitude!

• Charged leptons ("i=e,µ,#), up-type quarks (ui = u,c,t) and down-type quarks
(di=d,s,b) quarks have similar masses but the patterns are not identical

• Absolute scale of neutrino (!i) masses is unknown apart from upper bound
on m(!e) < 2eV
• Only two independent !i mass differences are known:
$m122 = (7.6±0.2) x 10-5 eV2, $m232 = (2.4±0.1) x 10-3 eV2

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 Antimatter
According to relativistic Quantum Mechanics (Lecture 4),
every s=$ fermion ( f ) has an anti-fermion partner ( f% )

• Anti fermions have been discovered experimentally:

Positron e+ (1933), Antineutrino !%e (1956), Antiproton p̅ (1955)
• Masses and lifetimes of fermion and anti-fermions are equal Higher Orders
• Charges are equal and opposite
• Baryon & lepton numbers equal and opposite So far only considered lowest order term
• Massless fermions are left-handed, masslessperturbation series.
anti-fermions are Higher order terms
right-handed (more in lecture 4) contribute
+ +
Lowest Order: e µ
γ
• Fermion/antifermion annihilate into energy (bosons)
- -
… or can be created in pairs at high energy colliders e µ
• From observations the universe contains matter (fermions), but
there is almost no antimatter…
Second Order:
+ + + 9 +
e µ e µ
+....
- - - -
µ µ
Discovery of positron e e

Third Order: “track”

Positron
+....

Second order suppressed by relativ

order. Provided is small, i.e. perturb
small, lowest order dominates.

Dr M.A. Thomson

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 Colour Charge and Hadrons
• All quarks carry an additional degree of freedom, a colour charge either:
red (r), green (g) or blue (b).
• More correct to think of 18 fundamental quarks in the SM:
ur ug ub dr dg db sr sg sb cr cg cb br bg bb tr tg tb
• Anti-quarks carry anti-colour charge, 18 fundamental anti-quarks:
u̅r̅ u̅g̅ u̅b̅ d̅r̅ d̅g̅ d̅b̅ s̅r̅ s̅g̅ s̅b̅ c̅r̅ c̅g̅ c̅b̅ b̅r b̅g̅ b̅b̅ t̅r̅ t̅g̅ t̅b̅

Baryons = qqq
Mesons = qq̅
Three quark bound states
Bound states of quark anti-quark pair
Fermions: spin 1/2 , 3/2 ...
Bosons: spin 0, 1 , 2
e.g. proton (uud), neutron (udd)
e.g. pions q anti-baryons e.g. anti-proton
π +
= (ud̄)
q̅ p = (uud)
π− = (ūd) q
1 q n = (udd)
π 0
= √ (uū − dd̄) q p̄ = (ūūd̄)
2 •
In principle, the quark in a hadron can be any flavour
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Mysteries of the Fermions

• Are the fermions really point-like objects (re < 10"20m)?

• Why are there exactly twelve (or 24) elementary fermions?

• Why are there three “generations” with different “flavours”?

• Why do quarks have strong interactions with three “colour charges”?

• Why do weak interactions change quark flavour, but not lepton flavour?

• Why do neutrinos have flavour oscillations?

• Why more matter than anti-matter (baryon asymmetry)?

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 Standard Model Forces
• Four interactions observed in nature: electromagnetic, strong, weak and gravity.
• The Standard Model describes interactions due to electromagnetic, strong,
weak.
• Interactions between the fermions are transmitted by “force carrying” gauge
bosons with S=1.
• Each force couples to a property of the fermions.
• The properties of each force are described mathematically by a symmetry group
Interaction Coupling Couples Symmetry Gauge Charge Mass
Strength To Group Bosons e GeV
Strong αs ≈ 1 colour charge SU(3) Gluons (g) 0 0

Electromagnetic α = 1/137 electric charge U(1) Photon

� (γ) 0 0
weak W ±
±1 80.4
Weak GF = 1 × 10−5 SU(2)L
hyercharge Z0 0 91.2
Gravity 0.53 × 10−38 mass ? Graviton? 0 0

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Symmetries (& Mysteries)

• Symmetries are key to understanding particle physics
• Noether’s Theorem: Every symmetry of nature has a conservation law associated with
it, and vice-versa.

• Energy, Momentum and Angular Momentum

! Conserved in all interactions
! Symmetry: translations in time and space; rotations in space
• Charge conservation e.g. electric charge Q, colour charge
! Conserved in all interactions
! Symmetry: gauge transformation - underlying U(1) and SU(3) symmetries in QM
description of electromagnetism / strong force
• Lepton Flavour Le, Lµ, L# and baryon number B
! Conserved in all interactions
! Symmetry: mystery!
• Quark Flavour S, C, T, B, Parity P, Charge Conjugation C, and Time Reversal T
! Conserved in strong and electromagnetic interactions
! Violated in weak interactions
! Symmetry: unknown!

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 Mysteries of the Bosons
• Electromagnetic and weak interactions are unified at the
Electroweak scale (246 GeV)
! Is there a “grand unified” scale where the strong
interaction is also included?

• What is the mechanism that breaks electroweak

symmetry, and how does it explain the large masses of
the W and Z bosons?

• Are there 0, 1 or many Higgs bosons? =.++>

=3%%0

• What are the masses and couplings of Higgs bosons? ?#00@>

• How do we include gravity?

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The Dark Side

• Only 4.6% of the current universe is normal matter
(baryons + electrons = atoms)

• To account for rotation curves of galaxies,

gravitational lensing and large scale structure
need:
23.3% “Dark Matter”
Must be weakly interactive massive particles (not
yet discovered) candidates are provided by a
“supersymmetric” extension to the Standard Model

• To account for acceleration of expansion of the

universe need:
72.1% “Dark Energy”
May be described by a cosmological constant %

Could particle physics describe either dark matter

or dark energy?

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 Beyond the Standard Model
Many models proposed to explain some mysteries in the Standard Model, e.g.

" Supersymmetry (SUSY): every SM particle has a supersymmetry partner:

! S=0 squarks and sleptons
! S=$ neutralinos, charginos, higgsinos
! automatically introduces extra Higgs bosons
We are searching for these new particles directly at the LHC. Neutralinos may be
candidates for dark matter.

" Grand unified theories merge strong & electroweak interaction at 1011 to 1016 GeV
! Proton decay? Lifetime >1029 to 1033 years (depending on model)
Search for evidence of proton decay

" Additional Heavy neutrino(s) at GUT scale can explain neutrino oscillations and
light neutrino masses.

" Extra dimension where only gravity interacts

! Mini black holes, new resonances
Searches at the LHC.
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Particle Physics in 2011

My personal four favourite results:

"Discovery of the #b(3p) meson

"Hunting down the Higgs boson

"Observation of Charge-Parity (CP) violation in charm mesons

"Superluminal Neutrinos

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 Discovery of the #b(3p)
Discovered by the ATLAS experiment
at the LHC looking for the decay:
• &b(3p) 'Υ(1s) ( ; Υ(1s)'µ+µ"
• &b(3p) 'Υ(2s) ( ; Υ(2s)'µ+µ"

• &b(3p), Υ(1s), Υ(2s) are all bound

states of b - b̅ #b(3p)
• s and p refer to the orbital
angular momentum of the state, l
• s: l=0
• p: l=1
• Numbers refer the nth excited
state with a given ang. mom.

http://www.atlas.ch/news/2011/ATLAS-discovers-its-first-new-particle.html
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Summary & Reading List

• Summary: the Standard Model is our current model for particle
physics. But it doesn’t explain all observations.

• Experiments are underway to try to

make precise measurements and
search for new phenomena.

• Key point from today: learn the

Standard Model particles and
forces.

Highly suggested reading:

• Today’s lecture: Griffiths 1.1 -1.5
• Friday’s Lecture: Griffiths chapter 2

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