TP - IV
Theoretical Particle Physics Laboratory (LPTP)
Riccardo Rattazzi Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Relativity
Quantum Mechanics
instantenous action at a distance is not possible
Discrete nature of microworld
need fields permeating all of space
interaction carried by waves in the fields
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
wave of smallest intensity: particle
Relativity
Quantum Field Theory
Quantum Mechanics
Explanation of existence of matter, forces and their properties Standard Model: specific QFT describing/explaining basica!y all that we see
weak
EM
strong
geometric
gravity
Higgs
bizarre
• Most precisely tested theory in science (g-2 of electron, 1ppb) • Atomic and Nuclear physics “just” complex corollaries of simple principles • Satisfies all particle physics tests so far ...yet big mysteries persist (and deepened with Higgs discovery) Tuesday, March 11, 2014
The mysteries (some of them)
The origin of matter/antimatter symmetry in the universe What is Dark Matter made up of? .... .... The incredible properties of the vacuum
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Quantum mechanically the vacuum is very active
Higgs force and its boson should plausibly be confined to distances of order 10-30 cm (Hierarchy puzzle)
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
The curvature radius of universe should plausibly be less than 10-3 mm (Dark Energy puzzle)
Quantum mechanically the vacuum is very active
The curvature radius of universe should plausibly be less than 10-3 mm (Dark Energy puzzle)
Higgs force and its boson should plausibly be confined to distances of order 10-30 cm (Hierarchy puzzle)
Observation of Higgs boson and extreme smallness of Dark Energy imply two parameters of fundamental physics are somehow tuned to an insane accuracy
WHY? Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Partial answers may come from the explorations of the Fermi scale at the LHC and future machines (Ex. Supersymmetry may be discovered)
Deeper answer may probably only come from a radical reformulation of the basic notions of space-time and quantum mechanics (string theory?)
There is still a lot to learn (and a lot is being learned lately) on the properties of Quantum Field Theory
see for instance the articles on http://inspirehep.net/ Tuesday, March 11, 2014
arXiv:1204.5221
arXiv:0811.2197
hep-ph/0703164
hep-th/0512260
Symmetry in Quantum Mechanics & Particle Physics Winter semester
Lie Groups, selection rules, multipole expansion, hadron spectrum ...
Relativistic kinematics and fundamental processes electric and magnetic moments of particles, effects in hydrogen-like atoms, disintegration of neutron, mesons ...
Quantum Field Theory at work S-matrix and Feynman diagrams
Summer semester
The Standard Model and its Phenomenology Hi#s mechanism, open problems ...
The nature of Quantum Field Theory Grand Unified Theories Supersymmetry Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Prerequisites Mathematical Physics Quantum Fields I & II Relativity and Cosmology I & II Advanced Quantum Mechanics
Highly Recommended Statistical Physics II
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Rules semester 7: up to 3 people are accepted. Goal: to acquire the methodology (and the physical intuition) to formulate and solve problems in theoretical physics. Study on books. Lots of exercises. Communal discussions in weekly meetings. Short seminar and brief written report at the end.
semester 8 Same as semester 7, but with specific individual project towards the end of the semester (preparation to Master thesis). Study also on scientific articles. Short seminar and written report at the end.
semester 9: Master Project Tuesday, March 11, 2014
The group (next fall)
• Riccardo Rattazzi, professor, Scuola Normale Sup., Pisa, 1990 • Roberto Contino, CERN/EPFL professor, PhD SNS Pisa, 2004 • Boaz Keren-Zur, postdoc, PhD Tel-Aviv U. , 2011 • Rakhi Mahbubhani, postdoc, PhD Harvard 2006 • Francesco Riva, postdoc, PhD Oxford, 2008 • Solomon Endlich, postdoc, PhD Columbia U. 2013 • Minho Son, postdoc, PhD Johns Hopkins U. 2009
• Andrea Thamm
(PhD 2014), Lorenzo Vitale (PhD 2016), Davide
Greco (PhD 2017), Liu Da (PhD 2015) • 2008/09 : • 2009/10 :
Diego Becciolini, Gregoire Gallet, Valentin Hirschi Pascal Borel, David Pfefferlé EPFL master students • 2009/10: Damien Favre • 20010/11 Johnny Espin, Sacha Jorg • 2011/12 : Fabrizio Rompineve, Max Carrel, Thibaud Vantalon, Florent Baume • 2012/13 : Luca Delacretaz recent PhD students Tuesday, March 11, 2014
• Jan Mrazek, thesis 2011 (teaching high school) • Alessandro Vichi, thesis 2011 (Berkeley postodc) • Duccio Pappadopulo, thesis 2012 (Berkeley postdoc)
