A COURSE IN FIELD THEORY
Prof. Pierre van Baal, Instituut-Lorentz, University of Leiden
This course, only to be offered if a sufficient number of students request
to take it, will bring you to the point of the formulation of the standard
model of electro-weak and strong interactions, for the renormalisation of
which 't Hooft and Veltman earned their
1999 Nobel
prize in Physics.
The course ran during spring 2007 in the
"student seminar" format.
Here is the schedule we followed.
Only two lectures were given in 2011,
but if enough students are available we will attempt to give it again.
Finally it is published as a book,
A Course in Field Theory
(CRC Press, 2013)! (Look inside)
FAQ: The answers to the problems are not available (i.e. do not
exist) in electronic form. It would be against the spirit and function of
those problems. If you master the material you should be sufficiently
confident of the results you find - it is this confidence you will need
to turn into a good researcher later.
Check
these pages if you want a unique opportunity to experience particle physics
at the place where it all happens. CERN each summer opens its doors for
summerstudents. Don't miss out on it!! Please note that the deadline
for application is early in the year.
Review of
Particle Physics
Information on format. The matrial has been
taught in the
following two formats:
(1) During the semester (14 weeks) there are three
course hours (of 45 min each) a week, and an afternoon for working on the
problems under the guidance of a Teaching Assistant. Students are required
to hand in problems weekly, which will be corrected. The final score for
the problems is averaged with the score of a final exam (3 to 4 problems).
(2) During the semster one afternoon a week is reserved for a student seminar
meeting, where for each session students study part of the lecture notes and
make 2 to 3 problems. They present and discuss the theory and these problems
on the blackboard for the other students. Thus this format aims at a
rather interactive method of learning field theory, as well as learning how
to present ones thoughts and discuss about physics at a high level. In
addition there is one afternoon for working on the problems and preparing
for presenting them under the guidance of a Teaching Assistant. Students
taking the course for credit have to hand in the worked out problems after
having been discussed in class. Their is no exam, however, all of the 40
problems will be graded and the final score will also take into account
your presentations in front of the blackboard.
Ervaringen van studenten in
TentamenZweet (Mare, 6 feb 1997),
in dichtvorm (5 dec 2000) en
Bollebozen (Mare, 7 juni 2007)!
Page last updated 8 October 2013. Webpage first created December 1996.