Physics 786 -- Gauge Theories (and Supersymmetry) -- SPRING 2004
(This class was originally designated PHY 686 when last taught in 2004, but since then NIU has shifted all graduate course number upwards by 100. It is now listed in the catalog as PHY 786.)
Class meeting time/place: Tuesdays 3:00-4:50 and Wednesdays 12:30-1:25, Faraday West 227
Instructor:
Associate Professor
S. Martin
Textbook: Lecture notes distributed instead of an official text.
These will consist of my
"A supersymmetry primer", which I will be
updating as we go. Each week, I will hand out the appropriate, freshly
revised and updated section for that lecture, sometimes together with
other handouts. (So, you probably DON'T want to print out the
current version of "A supersymmetry primer", as it will be obsolete
by the end of the course!)
I will also hand out a hard copy of the revised lecture notes from PHYS
586. Two good textbooks on gauge theories, not required, are:
"An Introduction to Quantum Field Theory"
by Michael E. Peskin, Daniel V. Schroeder and
"Gauge Theory of elementary particle physics"
by Ta-Pei Cheng, Ling-Fong Li, but they do not cover supersymmetry.
Grading:
Based 100% on homework sets, assigned approximately weekly.
Course description:
The Graduate catalog description is: Gauge principles, spontaneous
symmetry breaking, Higgs mechanism, standard
model of particle physics, application to electroweak interactions and
quantum chromodynamics.
We will also cover supersymmetry, as it relates to the topics just
mentioned.
Syllabus: in
pdf form.
Homework Set 1 (due February 3, 2004) in
pdf form.
Homework Set 2 (due February 11, 2004) in
pdf form.
Homework Set 3 (due February 18, 2004) in
pdf form.
Homework Set 4 (due March 3, 2004) in
pdf form.
Homework Set 5 (due March 24, 2004) in
pdf form.
Homework Set 6 (due March 31, 2004) in
pdf form.
Homework Set 7 (due April 7, 2004) in
pdf form.
Homework Set 8 (due May 4, 2004) in
pdf form.
Office: Faraday West 214
Phone: (815) 753-6467
email: spmartin@niu.edu