PHYSICS 871
Nuclear Physics

Instructor: Simonetta Liuti

Textbook: QCD and Collider Physics, K. Ellis, W. J. Stirling and B. R. Webber, Cambridge University Press.

Brief Description and Aim: This course addresses current ideas and experiments in Nuclear/High Energy Physics, with the aim of providing the student with the basic tools for exploring the realm of strong interactions.

Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD) is the universally acclaimed theory of strong interactions. It successfully accounts for the description of the physics of the short distance structure of hadrons which has been unraveled from a wealth of experimental data taken through the years at high energy colliders.

During the past decade the idea has emerged that by probing nuclei with high energy electron and hadron beams one can shed light on properties of strong interactions which are inaccessible in an isolated nucleon. In particular by colliding heavy ions at energies of $100 \, GeV$ per beam one expects to create a hot, dense plasma of quarks and gluons. This Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) is believed to have existed in the early universe immediately after the Big Bang.

Another hot topic is the study of the physics of polarized electron-proton and proton-proton collisions. The main goal here is to uncover the secrets of the spin structure of the proton. Currently it is known that the three quarks do not carry all of the spin of the proton. The rest of the spin might be carried by the gluons, sea quarks, some combination of these or by some as yet undiscovered mechanism

The course will give a comprehensive overview of these current areas of research. It will provide a thorough introduction to QCD, namely asymptotic freedom and color confinement. Applications such as inclusive inelastic lepton ($e^-, \mu^-, \nu$) scattering as fundamentals tools to study the structure of hadronic systems will be thoroughly discussed.

Many theoretical results are derived from first principles and each student should be able to work her/his way through the various problems with a solid mathematical background at the undergraduate level.

General Organization: Homework assignements include the development of a project (e.g. the calculation of various sum rules within the quark-parton model) to be carried out throughout the semester by Working Groups of two or three students.

The final exam is a 45 min. presentation on one of the subjects related to the course.