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.