EPP Particle Physics Basics

In this section we will cover the following topics:

• Units in Particle Physics

• Elementary Particles – Quarks and Leptons

• Antiparticles

• Particle Families

• Hadrons

• Forces

• Fermions and Bosons

• Particle Physics and Cosmology

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 1

 EPP What is Particle Physics?
Particle Physicists try to discover the fundamental "Elementary Particles"
that everything is made of – and what forces bind these together

Particle
Physics

Recreating the
conditions just Astronomy
after the Big
Bang

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 2

 EPP Particle Hierarchy
Everyday Objects are made of
Molecules
Molecules are made of Atoms
Atoms are made of Nuclei and
Electrons
Nuclei are made of Protons and
Neutrons

Protons and Neutrons are made

of Quarks
Quarks and Electrons are made
of ???

Quarks and Electrons are

"Elementary Particles"
PHY-306 EPP
Particle Physics Basics Slide 3
 EPP Units in Particle Physics
Energy is measured in MeV, GeV or TeV

1 eV is the energy gained by one electron

subjected to a potential difference of 1 Volt

Where E energy, p momentum, m rest mass. Hence pc and mc2 have

dimensions of energy and it is convenient to measure momentum in
units of GeV/c and mass in units of GeV/c2

c = 3 × 108 ms-1
Because c cancels out we often omit the c i.e. put c c = 300,000 Km s-1
= 1 (and ℏ = 1) so momenta and masses are also c = 186,000 mph
measured in GeV c = 1 light year/ year
PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 4
 EPP Other Units

ΔE·Δt = ħ = Energy × time

∴ ħc = Energy × time × velocity
= Energy × distance

Charges measured in term of the electronic charge e e = 1.6 × 10-19 C

Cross sections measured in terms of barns 1 barn = 10-28 m2

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 5

 EPP Elementary Particles
Elementary Particles are 'point like' fundamental spin ½ fermions (obey
Fermi-Dirac Statistics). They have no discernible size or structure.
There are two types Quarks and Leptons:

Quarks – have electric charge -⅓ e or +⅔ e

Quarks come in 6 'flavours' :
up (u), down (d), strange (s), charm (c), bottom (b), top (t)
Each quark comes in 3 'colours' - Red, Green, Blue

Leptons - have electric charge 0 or ±e

Leptons also come in 6 ‘flavours’ :
electron e–, muon –, tau –,
electron neutrino e, muon neutrino , tau neutrino 
Leptons don't have colour

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 6

 EPP Antiparticles

Put a bar over the symbol

Antiquarks: d, u, s, c, b, t
Charge + rather than -
Antileptons: e+, +, +, ѵe, ѵ, ѵ

The anti-electron is known as the positron

Antiquarks have anticolours

Note: Electric Charge has values +, - , 0

Colour Charge has values r, g, b, r, g, b

When particle and antiparticle meet they xx

annihilate to give energy with all quantum xx
numbers zero (usually as photons)

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics 7

 EPP Particle Families

Quarks and Leptons can be arranged in 3 'families' or 'generations':

Generation
First Second Third
u c t
+⅔e (up) (charm) (top)
Quarks
d s b
-⅓e (down) (strange) (bottom)

e– – –
-e (electron) (muon) (tau)
Leptons
e  
0
(electron neutrino) (muon neutrino) (tau neutrino)

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 8

 EPP Hadrons
Although leptons (e.g. electrons) exist as free particles, free quarks have
never been observed. They always form bound (colourless) states called
Hadrons. There are two types of hadrons:

Baryons consist of 3 quarks (Antibaryons 3 antiquarks) proton

e.g. proton uud (antiproton u u d) ⅔e + ⅔e +(-⅓e) = e

neutron udd (antineutron u d d) ⅔e +(-⅓e) +(-⅓e) = 0

pion
Mesons (antimesons) consist of a quark and an antiquark
e.g. pion  ud (antipion – ud) ⅔e + ⅓e = e

neutral pion 0 uu or dd ⅔e + (-⅔e) = 0

NO other combinations e.g. qq or qqqq observed

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 9

 EPP Common Hadrons
– 0 +
Pions
d = -⅓ d = +⅓
d = -⅓ u = -⅔ u = +⅔ d = +⅓
u = +⅔ u = -⅔

K– K0 K0 K+
Kaons

s = -⅓ u = -⅔ s = -⅓ d = +⅓ d = -⅓ s = +⅓ u = +⅔ s = +⅓
p n p
Nucleons
u = +⅔ u = +⅔ d = -⅓ u = +⅔ d = -⅓ d = -⅓ u = -⅔ u = -⅔ d = +⅓
0
Hyperons

u = +⅔ d = -⅓ s = -⅓
PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 10
 EPP Forces
The particles (Quarks and Leptons) interact through different 'forces'
which we understand as due to the exchange of 'field quanta' known
as 'gauge bosons'

Electromagnetism (QED) photon () exchange

Strong Interaction (QCD) gluon (g) exchange
Weak Interaction W and Z exchange
Gravity Graviton exchange (?)

The photon, gluon, W and Z are spin 1, the graviton spin 2

The so called Standard Model of Particle Physics is based on the six

quarks and six leptons interacting via these gauge bosons

There is also a scalar ( = spin zero) particle called the Higgs boson
(H0) which is needed to explain why the W and Z have mass (i.e.
aren't massless)
PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 11
 EPP The Four Forces
Gravity Strong Force
Strength: 6x10-39 Strength: 1
Range: Infinite Range: 10-15m
Exchange: Graviton? Exchange: Gluon

Electromagnetic
Force Weak Force
Strength: 1/137 Strength: 10-6
Range: Infinite Range: 10-18m
Exchange: Photon Taken from http://universe-review.ca/F15-particle.htm Exchange: W± Z0
PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 12
 EPP Unification of Forces

Planetary Magnetism Electricity Light Molecular

Falling Motion Forces
Electromagnetism

Gravity Weak Force

Electroweak Force

Strong Force

Grand Unification? Nuclear Forces

Theories of Everything?
PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 13
 EPP Exchange Forces

By exchanging
the ball, the
skaters are
forced apart

If you didn't see

the ball you
would think
there was a
repulsive force
between them

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 14

 EPP Range of Forces
The range of the interaction is related to the mass of the exchange particle M

An amount of energy ΔE = Mc2 is 'borrowed' for a time Δt governed by

the Uncertainty Principle

The maximum distance the exchange particle can travel in this time is:

(c is the maximum
velocity it can have)

ħc in funny units

The photon has zero mass → infinite range Converts GeV to MeV

The W has a mass of ~80 GeV/c2 → 197 MeV fm / 80×103 MeV → 2 ×10-3 fm
PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide
15
 EPP Forces

The weak force acts between all quarks and leptons

The electromagnetic force acts between all charged particles

The strong force acts between all quarks

Weak EM Strong

Quarks ✓ ✓ ✓

Charged
✓ ✓ 
Leptons

Neutral Leptons ✓  

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 16

 EPP Particle Masses
Up Quark Charm Quark Top Quark
~ 0.002 GeV 1.27 GeV 171 GeV

Down Quark Strange Quark Bottom Quark

~ 0.005 GeV ~ 0.104 GeV 4.2 GeV

These are relative masses not size – they have no measurable size

Electron Muon Tau For reference:

0.0005 GeV 0.105 GeV 1.78 GeV

Proton
0.938 GeV

Electron Neutrino Muon Neutrino Tau Neutrino Originally thought to be

~0 ~0 ~0 massless but now not

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 17

 EPP Particle Masses

Taken from:
www.ipod.org.uk/reality/reality_
small_world.asp

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 18

 EPP Identical Particles
Consider 2 particles 1 and 2 in two states  and . There
are 2 linear combinations to form and overall wavefunction

If we interchange particles 1  2, 2  1
Symmetric

Antisymmetric

If the two particles are in the same state i.e.  = 

Two particles with antisymmetric wavefuntions cannot be in the same

state  Pauli Exclusion Principle ( Shell structure of electrons)
PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 19
 EPP Fermions and Bosons

Particles with antisymmetric wavefunctions are called

Fermions and obey Fermi-Dirac statistics

e.g. leptons, quarks and baryons (electrons, proton, neutron . . .)

All fermions have half integer spins ½, ∕ . . .

Particles with symmetric wavefunctions are called

Bosons and obey Bose-Einstein statistics

e.g. exchange particles and mesons (, W, Z, gluon, , K . .. )

All bosons have integer spins 0, 1, 2 . . .

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 20

 EPP Particle Physics and Cosmology
Increasing connection between Particle Physics and Cosmology – the
more fundamental the particle, the earlier they were created during the
early Universe (Big Bang)

Today's particle accelerators probe further and further back in time to

moment of Big Bang:

Energy  Temperature

where k is Boltzmann's constant (8.6 10-5 eV K-1)

At LHC Accelerator energy ~ 14 TeV

14×1012 eV / 8.6 10-5 eV K-1  1.6 1017 K
Equivalent to < 10-14 s after the Big Bang

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 21

 EPP Probing the Early Universe

Particle Physics
today probes
this region

http://nedwww.ipac.caltech.edu

PHY-306 EPP Particle Physics Basics Slide 22