Graduate Nuclear Physics II (PHYS 723/823) - Spring Semester 2019 - ODU

Instructor: Sebastian Kuhn (Phone: 683-5804 email: skuhn@odu.edu )

Important Announcements

Physics Colloquium and Nuclear Seminars

Please attend the Physics Colloquia and the Nuclear Physics Seminars! Schedules will be posted as they become available.

Syllabus

Preliminary Schedule - see updates!

See previous semester

Lecture Notes

Week - Overview and Intro to Hadron Structure
Week - Intro to Structure Functions; Whiteboard
Week - Structure Functions at large x, spin structure functions 1, spin structure functions 2, Whiteboard; Presentation by Dr. Chris Keith from Jefferson Lab on polarized targets.
Week - Wigner and TMDs/GPDs; Future measurements; Spectroscopy
Week - Nuclear binding and Nucleon modifications in Nuclei
Week - JLab Program
Week - Phases of QCD matter; also see the web pages of RHIC, NICA, FAIR, and HIAF.
Week - EIC. I will be using this talk by EIC expert (and text-book co-author - see syllabus) Bernd Surrow. Other links: JLab EIC center, JLEIC Design Parameters, Spectator Tagging with JLEIC
Week - Spring Break
Week - Monday 3/18: 3 Student presentations -> M. Kerver: EIC, A. Maps: nuclear methods in archeology, C. Fogler: Heavy Photon Search. Wednesday: Nuclear Structure
Week - Nuclear Structure and Nuclear Astrophysics. HERE is my (gigantic - sorry) Powerpoint presentation on weeks 10-12. Here is a link about exotic nuclei, and Here is a link about beta decay and correlations.
Week: Here are some links to web pages about nuclear pasta: [1], [2], [3], [4]
-14. Week: Lecture notes on Fundamental Symmetries and Beyond the Standard Model
Last Week: Lecture notes on neutrinos

Homework

Paper #1 - due February 6:

Read the linked paper by the "CJ" collaboration and look at this sample plot of the collinear PDFs for Q²=1.7 GeV². (You can also check out the CJ Website). Summarize in your own words in 2-3 pages the main points of the CJ analysis and the paper. In particular, address the following questions:

What types of experiments are used to extract the necessary information for the global fit? How can the various PDFs for u,d,s quarks and antiquarks and for gluons be separated from each other using these experiments?
Why are the s-quark and the s-bar quark PDFs on top of each other?
At what value of x can we say that the valence u and d quarks (i.e. the difference between quark and antiquark distribution) begin to dominate over all other PDFs?
What would you expect to happen if I had created the same sample plot at much higher Q²? Just some qualitative differences you would expect to see.
What are some of the specific features of this global fit in comparison to others on the market?

Paper #2 - due March 6 [Bring to my office, hand me in person or email to me ANYTIME before 5 p.m. on Friday, March 8!]:

Read the two papers on planned spectator tagging experiments: One ("BONuS12") at Jefferson Lab's CLAS12 using 12 GeV beam, and the other using the Electron Ion Collider (if built at Jefferson Lab). Discuss the similarities and differences between the two proposed measurements. In particular, address the following questions:

What are the reasons to use spectator tagging instead of simple DIS?
How do the two experiments differ in terms of the quantities they aim to measure?
How do the two experiments differ in terms of kinematic coverage?
How do the methods employed differ? What are the technical advantages of the EIC experiment (assuming that lower spectator momenta "are better")?
Can you guess why the BONuS12 experiment cannot go all the way down to ZERO spectator momentum (in the deuteron rest frame)?

Note: the two papers use slightly different nomenclatures - to compare them more directly, calculate the "initial mass squared" M*² of the neutron before it is struck (according to BONuS12) with the variable "t" introduced in the EIC paper. Express both in terms of the spectator momentum p_s. Don't hesitate to ask me if you questions! See also Spectator Tagging with JLEIC

Paper #3 - due April 8

Using material on this web page and in text books or on the web, give two or three examples how nuclear/particle physics can explain observations of phenomena in the universe or answer fundamental questions about the origin of "everything". Describe concrete experiments or theoretical calculations that can support this quest. 3 pages minimum.

Final Paper #4 - due May 6 (Final)

Pick ONE of the experiments discussed in the last quarter of the semester, on fundamental symmetries, extensions of the Standard Model, and neutrinos. Find out as much information about that experiment as you can (go to web sites, search for publications in the literature, check arXive and/or INSPIRE). Then write up a more detailed description of the experiment, including the underlying theory (what does it measure? How? What can we learn about Nature from it? Technique, time plan, preconditions? Theory?)
4 pages minimum (you are allowed and even encouraged to add figures, graphs, photos etc.).