Topics and slides

• Experimental particle physics: introduction. The three frontiers of particle physics. Accelerators as particle factories, microscopes and light sources, Types, usage, impact of particle accelerators. Reminder: particles an electric and magnetic fields, momentum measurement in magnetic field, relativistic kinematics, invariant mass measurement, units.     pdf     homework
• Historical accelerators: Van de Graaf, Cockcroft-Walton. Radio frequency particle acceleration. Accelerator magnets. Limitations of accelerators. Synchrotron radiation. LHC and its magnets.         pdf     homework
• Historical circular colliders: cyclotron, synchrocyclotron, isochronous cyclotron. Weak and strong focusing. Beam parameters. Focusing. Luminosity. Linear accelerators (SLC, ILC, CLIC). Circular accelerators (HERA, LHC, FCC). Producing particle beams. Stochastic cooling. Lepton vs hadron colliders. Plasma acceleration. pdf     homework
• Particle interactions with matter. Ionisation. Bremsstrahlung. Cherenkov radiation and detectors. pdf     homework
• Transition radiation, ATLAS TRT. Photon interactions. Scintillators. Time-of-flight measurements. Photon conversions. pdf     homework
• Large detector systems. Calorimeters. Photomultipliers. pdf     homework
• Hadron calorimeters. Particle flow. Multiple scattering. Historical discoveries. Cloud chamber. Pozitron. Muon. Nuclear emulsion. Charged pion. Bubble chambers. Omega. Antiproton. pdf     homework
• Modern tracking detectors. ATLAS. Ionisation chambers. Proportional chambers. GM counter. Spark chamber. Muon-neutrino. MWPC. Drift chambers. Cathode readout. Lorentz-angle. J/psi. pdf     homework
• W. Z. Gluon. Straw-tube chambers. PID with transition radiation. TPC. ALICE. Semi-conductor detectors. pdf     homework
• Silicium strip and pixel detectors. ATLAS, CMS, LHCb examples. Event reconstruction. Beyond the SM. Dark matter search. AMS. pdf     homework
• Neutrino experiments. 0vbb. GERDA. Neutrino oscillation. Homestake. SKK. SNO. Proton decay. pdf     homework

Previous years

Further reading

D.H. Perkins: Introduction to High Energy Physics (Addison-Wesley 1987)

R.N. Cahn, G. Goldhaber: Experimental Foundations of Particle Physics (Cambridge University Press 1989)

Grades

1. Homework gives 30% of the total score. The problems are given after each lecture and the solutions can be handed in until the beginning of the next lecture (Tuesday 12:05) hand written. Only the 8 highest scored homeworks of the year are considered for each student. In the case of identical ("copied") homeworks, all parties get 0 score.

2. The written exam gives 70% of the total score. It will take place on 31 May 2019. On the written exam simple calculations (no need for a calculator!), short and longer essay questions are asked.

3. Based on the homeworks and the written exam, a grade is offered. This grade need to be "defended" on an oral exam based on questions related to the written exam. Those who want to improve their grade have also to present a topic from a list provided at the end of the semester before the exam season starts. It is possible to improve your grade by more than one unit (one unit per one topic presented). The grade can also be lowered during the oral exam. The graded written exams can be consulted on the oral exam (or before it by taking an appointment in advance). The final grade will be entered into neptun after the oral exam. This can be revised - as customary - on a new oral exam.