FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

Department of Physics

Syllabus for Particle and Nuclear Physics - Spring 2016

PHZ 4390 - Section 1

Class web site:  http://hadron.physics.fsu.edu/~crede

Last update: 5 January 2016


Course Description and Goals

The quest to understand the most basic parts of our world has led to many models over several millennia from the Greek idea of atomos to the standard model of particle physics. This course will introduce our best understanding of particles, nuclei, and their interactions. We will also discuss some of the outstanding questions that we do not yet know their answers.

By the end of this course you should have a more complete understanding of the historical and current models of nuclear and particle physics. You should be able to read any general audience article in the popular press and not only follow it, but realize that you know more than the author has presented.

The course will consist of discussions, lectures, demos, and perhaps a few out of class, optional activities. We will use the text, but not cover all topics. In addition, some topics not included in the book will be covered. The specific topics covered will be at least partially driven by YOUR interests and questions. So, please ask questions!


Course Details

Class Meetings: The Tuesday and Thursday course meetings will be in UPL 107. Times are 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM.

Textbook: We will be using Nuclear and Particle Physics - An Introduction, 2nd Edition, by B.R. Martin and published by Wiley.

Class Participation: Class participation includes asking and answering questions, both in class and via discussion board. If you do not actively participate in class, your performance (and grade) on homework and exams will suffer and you are unlikely to do well. It is expected that everyone will be engaged in the class.

Pre-class Preparation: It is expected that you will have read the appropriate sections of the book prior to class. The schedule is on the course calendar (available from the main course website). Some of the homework questions (see below) will be related to the upcoming material and will test that you have read the chapter.

Homework: Homework will be assigned weekly (or thereabouts). It will be posted on Blackboard and will include problems from the text as well as problems from other sources. Discussion of homework problems is encouraged, however everyone must do and turn in their own work. Each of you is responsible for understanding the solution and submitting your own individual answers. Participating in a closed online group is considered unauthorized group work and is a violation of FSU's Honor Code (see item 3).

Each problem will be assigned a grade between 0 and 3. A 3 means the solution was essentially perfect (it could contain a minor error), while 0 indicates the concept is wrong or not turned in. Some problems involve the same calculations for multiple cases (different nuclei for example). For these, show how to solve one of them and you can provide only the answers for the rest. The solutions for the problems from the text are in the back of the book. For these problems, you must provide a more complete answer than the one in the back. Just copying the steps presented there will result in 0 points earned.

Homework is due by 11:15am on the due date (usually Tuesday). Late homework will not be accepted.

Exams: There will be one mini‐exam, one midterm exam, and one final exam. The problems on the exams will differ slightly from those in the homework. There will be more calculations on the homework and more explanations on the exams. Exams will offer some choice of problems and each problem will be graded on a 10-point scale. The class periods before the midterm and final exams will be used for review. The review will be driven by your questions. I will not attempt to cover everything that could be on the exam, nor will I give a synopsis of the exam.

The use of any electronic device other than a calculator on a quiz or exam is a violation of the Honor Code. Requested formulas will be posted for the entire class before quizzes start. A formula sheet will be provided for the midterm and final exams.

Paper/Project: One semester is too short to fully explore all topics related to particle and nuclear physics. Therefore, you are responsible for selecting a topic that is of interest to you and producing a project that goes beyond what we cover in class. You have a fair bit of freedom in your choice of the project. It can be a paper, but it could also be a video/podcast, an oral presentation, an animated movie, etc. You can use your imagination. It will be 25% of your grade, so it must be a significant project. More information will be given during class. All projects will be due by 5pm on April 15, 2016.

Class Absences: Active participation is critical to the class; however, absences may occur. In general, there are four acceptable excuses for missing class: illness or medical emergency, religious holiday, family emergency, and approved university activity. To receive an excused absence, you must provide a signed paper note explaining why you were absent, what work you missed, and what you will do to make it up. Documentation for absences should be stapled to the note. You are not penalized for excused absences. Advance notice is required for religious holidays and approved university activities. Advance notice for other emergencies would be greatly appreciated. Unexcused absences will result in grade adjustments.

Learning Environment: The goal of the course is for you to learn physics. There are many resources to help you learn, including your book, your classmates, your instructor, and the class web page. You should take advantage of as many of these as you need in order to learn the material. If, at any point during the course, you feel your performance is slipping, immediately seek assistance. Please don't wait until the day before the midterm or final to ask for help. I am available to help during class, office hours, and other hours by appointment. Please send e-mail or call my office to make sure I am available during non-office hours.

This is a college course and we expect an appropriate learning environment. If you use your cell phone for a call, texting, or web browsing you will be asked to leave the classroom, and you will not get credit for being present that day. Using a cell phone for any purpose during a quiz or exam is considered a violation of the academic honor policy (see below).

University Attendance Policy: Excused absences include documented illness, deaths in the family and other documented crises, calls to active military duty or jury duty, religious holy days, and official University activities. These absences will be accommodated in a way that does not arbitrarily penalize students who have a valid excuse. Consideration will also be given to students whose dependent children experience serious illness.

Academic Honor Policy: The Florida State University Academic Honor Policy outlines the University’s expectations for the integrity of students’ academic work, the procedures for resolving alleged violations of those expectations, and the rights and responsibilities of students and faculty members throughout the process. Students are responsible for reading the Academic Honor Policy and for living up to their pledge to “. . . be honest and truthful and . . . [to] strive for personal and institutional integrity at Florida State University.” (Florida State University Academic Honor Policy, found at http://fda.fsu.edu/Academics/Academic-Honor-Policy.)

Americans With Disabilities Act: Students with disabilities needing academic accommodation should: (1) register with and provide documentation to the Student Disability Resource Center; and (2) bring a letter to the instructor indicating the need for accommodation and what type. This should be done during the first week of class.

This syllabus and other class materials are available in alternative format upon request.

For more information about services available to FSU students with disabilities, contact the: Student Disability Resource Center, 874 Traditions Way, 108 Student Services Building, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4167, (850) 644-9566 (voice), (850) 644-8504 (TDD), sdrc@admin.fsu.edu, or online at http://www.disabilitycenter.fsu.edu/

Syllabus Change Policy: Except for changes that substantially affect implementation of the evaluation (grading) statement, this syllabus is a guide for the course and is subject to change with advance notice.


Grading

In order to foster cooperation and collaboration among as many of you as possible, grades will based on an absolute scale. This means that helping others will not jeopardize your grades, it will, most likely, improve your grade as explaining concepts to others helps develop understanding for yourself.

Your final grade will be based on homework (25%), one mini-exam (5%), one midterm exam (20%), a semester paper/project (25%) and the final exam (25%). I do not impose a “curve” on the course to force a certain number of A’s, B’s, etc. Everyone can get an A, if you earn it. The base grading scale will be >90% A/A-, 80-90% B-/B/B+, 70-80% C-/C/C+, 70-60% D, <60% F. Incompletes will be given only when all work before the final exam has been satisfactorily completed and the final exam is missed for a legitimate reason.


Tentative Class Schedule* 

DATE

WEEK

CHAPTER-SECTION

Jan 4 - 8

1

Introduction; The Origins of Nuclear Physics

Jan 11 - 15

2

Properties of Elementary Particles; (Relativistic) Kinematics

Jan 18 - 22

3

Relativistic Kinematics; Reference Frames

Jan 25 - 29

4

Cross Sections; Rutherford Scattering

Feb 1 - 5

5

Mass Spectroscopy; Binding Energies of Nuclei, Semi-empirical Mass Formula

Tuesday, February 9

6

Mini – Exam

Feb 8 - 12

6

Mini-Exam; Tour to FSU Tandem Lab

Feb 15 - 19

7

Lepton Multiplets; Neutrino Mixing and Oscillations

Feb 22 - 26

8

Isospin; Accelerators and Beams

Feb 29 - Mar 4

9

Midterm Exam; Particle Interactions with Matter; Detectors

Thursday, March 3

9

Mid – Term Exam

Mar 7 - 11

10

Spring Break

Mar 14 - 18

11

Weak Interactions

Mar 21 - 25

12

Strong Interactions

Mar 28 - Apr 1

13

Deep Inelastic Scattering

Apr 4 - 8

14

Nuclear Shell Model; Nuclear Fusion

Apr 11 - 15

15

Outstanding Questions; Presentation of Semester Projects

Apr 18 - 22

16

Presentation of Semester Projects

Monday, Apr 25


FINAL EXAM

*subject to change

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