PHYSICS 362L - Rory Coker
Prof. Rory Coker
Office: PMA 8.312
Phone: (512) 471-5194 (not recommended)
Fax: (512) 471-9637
Email: rory coker's civilian mail, coker's physics department mail

Office Hours:  TBA

[C2] [S] [A] [OK] [F] [T] [KC] [T] [T2]

The Fall 2023 unique number is 57725; the class meets from 10 to 11 AM, MWF in PMA 7.104. The TA is tba.

Text: SUBATOMIC PHYSICS, 3rd Edition, by Henley and Garcia (World Scientific, 2007, 2010). Errata for Ch. 6, and errata for Ch. 11.  [I have located a free pdf version of the text, here.]  And here is a very compact introduction to the theory of scattering. A short course in nuclear physics. Highly recommended as a supplementary text: PARTICLES AND NUCLEI, 7th edition, by Povh, Rith, Scholz, Zetsche and Rodejohann (Springer, 2015). The only reason I don't use this as the primary text is that it has no homework problems. A nice introduction to relativistic quantum field theory is Quantum Field Theory as Simply as Possible, by A. Zee (Princeton University Press, 2023).

Syllabus and first day handout. Basis of course letter grade: Homework 85%, daily pop quizzes 15%.
Other books on course topics:
  •  Particle Physics in the LHC Era, by G. Barr, R. Devenish, R. Walczak and T. Weidberg, Oxford, 2016.
  • Modern Particle Physics, by M. Thomson, Cambridge, 2013.
  •  Particle Physics, by D. Carlsmith, Pearson, 2013.
  •  Nuclear Physics in a Nutshell, by C. A. Bertulani, Princeton, 2007.
  • Basic Ideas and Concepts in Nuclear Physics, by K. Heyde, 3rd Ed., IOP London, 2004.
  •  An Introduction to Nuclear Physics, by W. N. Cottingham and D. A. Greenwood, 2nd Ed., Cambridge, 2001.
  •  Introductory Nuclear Physics, by P. E. Hodgson, E. Gadioli and E. Gadioli Erba, Oxford, 1997.
  • A Prelude to Quantum Field Theory, by J. Donoghue and L. Sorbo, Princeton, 2022).
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    People doing Subatomic research here at UT Austin!
    RUNNING TABLE OF HOMEWORK DUE DATES AND TIMES:
    [The in-class quizzes are attendance checks, but if you miss the question take that as a self-diagnosis of not keeping up in the course!]
    Answers to in-class quizzes: 

    Course notes: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10.  Notes for the last few weeks of the course are entirely on the web pages projected during the class lectures.

    CLASS SLIDES FOR 362L: Accelerators &relativity, Diagrams, cross sections, Running coupling constants, Particles, Observing, More on muon g - 2, Symmetry, Isospin, PCT, EM radiation, Weak 1, Gauge Symmetry, Electroweak1, Strong1, Supersymmetry? Quarkonium, Valence Quarks, FermiGas, IMP, Optical Model, Heavy ions, Direct Reactions, Mass Formula, Nuclear Vibrations, Nuclear Rotations, The Little Bang, Unstable Nuclei, Radiation, Power, Fusion, Stars, Evolution, Late Stages, Neutron Stars, Nucleosynthesis, Pioneers, Cosmology, The Big Flash! Dark Matter, More, Matter Origins, Dark Energy, Inflation, When Chiral Symmetry Breaks, Strings, Black Hole History, Black Hole Primer, Quantum Gravity? Loop Quantum Gravity, CDT-CS, Frontiers? [The remaining two links were not used in this class.] Unused 1, Unused 2

    This class is using the Lectures Online recording system. This system records the audio and video material presented in class for you to review after class. Links for the recordings will appear in the Lectures Online tab on the Canvas page for this class. You will find this tab along the left side navigation in Canvas. To review a recording, simply click on the Lectures Online navigation tab and follow the instructions presented to you on the page. The recorded lectures are not videos of the lecture. They have only the audio track, and  views of the specific document camera and computer images projected on screen during class. You can learn more about how to use the Lectures Online system at this link. You can find additional information about Lectures Online at this link.


    Here is a way to get extra credit!