Why this course: with the coming of the LHC (and continuing runs at the RHIC and Tevatron), one needs to know how colliders are used to discover and constrain new physics. Almost by definition, one doesn't have a complete theory of new physics. However, the methods of modern quantum field theory, essentially the renormalization group, tell us how best to use new data to build theories.

Prerequisites: Advanced quantum mechanics, introductory particle physics, relativity; a first course in quantum field theory would be an advantage.

What this course is not: an introduction to the standard model, an introductory course in quantum field theory.

Modern renormalization and collider physics

Index

Modern renormalization and collider physics

Winter, 2008, TIFR

Part A: Renormalization and effective theories

What is renormalization?

Renormalization and renormalization group flows; effective long distance theories. A solvable example to illustrate the notions of ultraviolet cutoff, fixed points, stability of low-energy scattering matrix elements, bound state energies, non-trivial scaling etc.

Effective theories and new physics

Effective theory of QED: the Euler-Heisenberg action. Axions: how to include unknown physics into effective theories. Applications to astrophysics. Effective theories of modified gravity.

Effective theories of electroweak symmetry breaking

Effective theories at finite temperature

Part B: Application to colliders

Perturbative QCD: a single scale

Two scales: Sudakov resummations

Hydrodynamics: evolution of slow modes

Colour glass condensate: parton saturation

Sourendu Gupta: Created on Sep 7, 2007.