Bachelor level courses

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Introduction to special relativity

  • The lectures were given at Utrecht University

  • During this series of lectures, students are introduced to the following:

    • Concepts of special relativity

    • Time dilation

    • Space contraction

    • Causality

    • Velocity transformations

    • Four-vector notation

    • Covariant and contravariant notations

    • Invariant quantities

    • Proper time

    • Energy-momentum four-vectors

    • Relativistic collisions

  • Lectures on special relativity

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Introduction to elementary particle physics
  • Basic information
    • The course is part of the curriculum of TU Delft
    • It is given in the second block to bachelor students at TU Delft as elective
    • The lectures are given at the Aula of TU Delft every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 13:00 to 15:00 (tutorials between 15:00 and 17:00).

  • Grading scheme
    • The course has homework that allows you to get max 2 bonus points
    • The final grade is estimated as the maximum between the grade from the exams and the weighted average of the grade from the exams and the homework with 80%-20% weight, respectively.
    • The grading scheme together with some basic examples on how this works practically can be found here.

  • Contents
    • The course gives a first flavour to the student about the basic concepts of the Standard Model of particle physics.
    • The students will be introduced to:
      • Special relativity
      • Elements of quantum mechanics
      • The interactions of the Standard model
      • The particle zoo
      • The need for physics beyond the Standard Model
      • Interaction of particles with matter, particle detectors and instrumentation

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Subatomic Physics
  • Basic information
    • The course is part of the curriculum of the physics department of UU
    • It is given in the second semester to 3rd year bachelor students at UU
    • The lectures are given in Utrecht every Wednesday from 13:00 to 15:00 (tutorials between 15:00 and 17:00) and Friday from 09:00 to 11:00 (tutorials between 13:00 and 17:00).
    • Prerequisites: Course on quantum mechanics

  • Textbook: “Introduction to Elementary Particles”, D. GriffithsGriffiths.png

  • Grading scheme
    • There is a mid-term exam usually scheduled on the 5th week.
    • In addition, the course has significant homework that allows you to get max 2 bonus points
    • The grade from the exams is calculated as the weighted average of the mid-term and the final exam with 40%-60% weight, respectively.
    • The final grade is estimated as the maximum between the grade from the exams and the weighted average of the grade from the exams and the homework with 80%-20% weight, respectively.
    • The grading scheme together with some basic examples on how this works practically can be found here.

  • Contents
    • The course builds up gradually and attempts to introduce the subatomic world as described by the Standard Model, its fundamental particles and their interactions.
    • In the course of the semester the students will be introduced to:
      • Symmetries, invariances and conservation laws
      • Particles (e.g. gauge bosons, leptons, quarks, hadrons) and their properties (e.g. charge, spin magnetic moment)
      • Interaction of particles with matter and particle detectors
      • Gauge theories
      • Quantum Electrodynamics (QED)
      • Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD)
      • Glashow-Weinberg-Salam theory (weak interactions)
      • Spontaneous symmetry breaking and the Higgs mechanism
      • Connection between astroparticle and particle physics