GUTs, TOEs and stringy
things: biology or
highenergy physics?
Subtitle: Ways to teach the
fundamental question, “What are
we made of and what holds us
together?”
Why should we teach it and if
so, when?
Gordon P. Ramsey
Loyola University Chicago
Why study particle
physics?
• Addresses the fundamental
philosophical questions: What
are we made of and what holds
us together?
• Particle physics is fundamental
to understanding the basic
structure of matter.
• It encompasses the studies all
of the known forces in nature
using conservation laws.
Why study particle
physics?
• With the ongoing research at
accelerators around the world,
the LHC going online and planned
future accelerators (NLC & VLHC),
it is stateoftheart research.
• The unrelated benefits reaped
from past study of nuclear and
particle physics (nuclear
medicine and accelerated particle
treatments of cancer) are of
interest to everyone.
• Particle physics has strong
connections to cosmology and
Why study particle
physics?
• On the more advanced level, it
is a culmination of mechanics
(Lagrangians & Hamiltonians),
E&M (accelerator physics; QED),
statistical physics (QCD field
theory) and modern physics (20th
century). Good capstone course
for undergraduates
• It illustrates the interplay
between theory, phenomenology
and experimentation.
Elements of particle physics in
the curriculum
• Particle physics in the
curriculum should include
instruction on the basic
foundation of matter,
introduction to the known
fundamental forces, problems
addressed by each subarea of
particle physics and the
current experimental research
to test the models proposed by
theorists.
Fundamental questions to
address
• What is the ultimate structure
of matter? QCD, QED, EW,
Standard Model, beyond SM
• What is the origin of mass?
Higgs mechanism
• Why is gravity so weak?
– If X=fractional contribution of
gravitational binding energy to
the proton’s rest mass:
– X ≡ (Gmp2/Rp)/(mpc2) ≈ 1039
(dimensionless)
Fundamental questions to
address
• How does particle physics play
a role in astrophysics and
cosmology?
• Can the known forces be
explained in terms of a
unifying theory?
– Long time unification – air,
water, earth and fire ⇔ gas,
liquid, solid, plasma
– Unification of gravitational &
inertial mass, electricity &
Particle physics
curriculum at various
levels of instruction:
• high school
AP topics in modern physics as a
prelude:
– Key experiments, nuclear physics, γ
(photons)
• Particle adventure – fundamental
particles & interactions
• Quarknet activities
• Possible topics:
– nuclear structure: make the
connection between molecules, atoms
and nuclei with fundamental particles
– talk about relative scales of each in
macroscopic terms (p+–e distance in
Hatom is like basketball or soccer
Particle physics
curriculum at various
levels of instruction:
high school
– Application of basic physical
laws (forces & conservation
laws) to particle physics
– Overview of the scientific
process (modeling,
experimentation and their
interplay)
– Elementary quark model and
role of gluons
– Overview of experimental
Particle physics
curriculum at various
levels of instruction:
• high school
Tools for instruction in high
school courses:
– Quarknet
– I2U2 (Interactions in
Understanding the Universe
– Simulated data from accelerators
– FNAL programs
– PAN (Physics of Atomic Nuclei)
– Cosmic ray eLab
– EPPOG – European PP outreach group
The Standard Model
Bosons
Quarks
u c t
up charm top E M
γ
d
down
s
strange
b
bottom
photon
Weak
Lepton
W boson
e
electro
µ
muon
τ
tau
ν ν ν
n Z boson
s
e
e
neutrino
µ
neutrino
τ
neutrino
Strong
g
I II III gluon
Generations
Simple Quark Model
• Highly successful model - neat and compact
• Developed in 1963, Gell-Mann & Zweig
• Properties and interactions described by
3 quarks: up, down, and strange
Proton u Neutron d
u u
d d
• Properties of nucleons described by
properties of quarks
Simple Quark Model (cont’d)
Neutron:
Proton
u
d u d
Gluons
u
d u
u
s d
s
Sea u
Quarks d Valence
Quarks
Fermilab → 40 miles west of us: Batavia, IL
Currently one of the highest energy
accelerators operating in the
world.
Main Ring + Injector
Ring
• Main Ring
Radius: 1 Km
(6.28 Km
circum.)
• Protons on anti
protons
• Max energy: 1
TeV
• 1 TeV = 1012 eV
• COM = 2 TeV
• 5 crossing
CDF (Colliding Detector
“Facility”)
Brookhaven National
Laboratory
Inside RHIC
RHIC superconducting magnet
Inside the RHIC tunnel
Two tubes, 2.4-mile ring
Computer image magnetic field
Unfortunately, cannot observe
colored particles directly…
Look for hadron jets as signal of scattered partons:
STAR p+p, √s = 200 GeV STAR Au+Au, √s = 200
NN
GeV
STAR
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