University of California, Berkeley

Physics 226: Particle Physics Phenomenology
Fall 2010  
Instructor: Yury Kolomensky

Final Exam

You have a choice of the format for the final.

Oral Exam

One option is an oral exam. The exams will be held between Monday, Dec. 13, 2010 and Friday, Dec. 17, 2010 (by appointment) in my office, 301F LeConte. Each oral exam will take about an hour (or more, if you really do well ) and may include any topic we covered in class. Here is the list of possible topics (I will roll a computerized dice to determine which question you will be answering). As often happens in the oral exams, these topics will start the conversation; and it may continue to the related or even unrelated areas.
  1. Discuss the main detection techniques for (a) electrons, (b) photons, (c) muons, (d) neutrinos.
  2. Discuss discrete transformations (P,C,T) and quantum numbers of meson states.
  3. Discuss isospin symmetry, provide examples of the isospin relations.
  4. Compute a cross section or lifetime for reaction of your choice
  5. Explain why for neutrinos created by cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere, the ratio of muon neutrinos to electron neutrinos on the ground is expected to be approximately 2:1.
  6. Discuss the quark model of mesons and baryons: what are experimentally observable predictions of the model ?
  7. Explain how the spin of the Higgs boson could be measured at colliders.
  8. Discuss running of the coupling constants.
  9. Discuss the main features of the Standard Model, and how they are verified experimentally.
  10. Discuss how a Higgs boson could be produced and detected at (a) hadronic collider, (b) e+e- collider
  11. Discuss how W and Z bosons could produced and detected at (a) hadronic collider, (b) e+e- collider
  12. Discuss the differences between quark and lepton flavor mixing.

Written Report

The second option is a written report. Below is a list of experimental proposals being considered in the US. You are to review one of the proposals, and write a summary on:

  • Physics motivation of the proposal
  • Feasibility of the proposed measurements
    • Major strengths of the proposed methods
    • Proposed equipment
    • Proposed running time
    • Major difficulties and projected uncertainties
  • Overall merit of the proposal
As appropriate for a Program Advisory Committee at a national lab, you should make a recommendation on funding the proposal. This should make you feel important !

The writeups are due on Friday, Dec. 17 at 5:30pm PST. You can either drop a hard copy in my office or my mailbox in 366 LeConte, or email it to me electronically: PostScript or PDF, please, and as is the case in programming, passing a large document by reference (i.e. a URL) is better than by value (an attachment). Here is the list of proposals. Pick one:

Good luck !