Tentative as of Jan. 2, 2007

Physics 245B, High Energy Physics and Electroweak Interactions     Winter 2007
    TR 9:00-10:20 am, 158 Roessler.

Text: the Physics of the Standard Model and Beyond, Morii, Lim, and Mukherjee

Other books of interest (by no means exclusive):
  Seiden, Particle Physics, ...
  Quang Ho-Kim and Pham Xuan Yem, Elementary Particles and Their Interactions
  Bailin and Love, Intro. to Gauge Field Theory
  Perkins, Intro. to High Energy Physics
  Leader and Predazzi, An Introduction to Gauge Theories ...
  Griffiths, Intro. to Elementary Particles
  Roe, Particle Physics ...   
  Commins and Bucksbaum, Weak interactions ...
  
If you intend to do particle physics, and you are not yet on the
  Particle Data Group mailing list, you should request a Particle Properties 
  Data Booklet from pdg@lbl.gov or
             Particle Data Group
             MS 50R6008
             Lawrence Berkeley Lab.
             Berkeley,CA 94720
             http://pdg.lbl.gov
  This is very handy.
  The full version (at about a thousand pages) is on line at the URL above.

You should get familiar with the preprint archive at Cornell. 
This is where all new papers go and where everyone goes to see 
what's new and to read papers: http://www.arxiv.org

Other courses: You should have had 230AB and 245A, and you 
      should take as soon as they appear 245C (Gunion 250 this quarter),
      252B, 223B, 246(after you have completed 230 and 245), 250. 
      Other courses to consider: 260 and 262. 
      It's not too soon to start attending 292, the particle physics seminar.

Office hours: Whenever I am in -- usually most of TuTh afternoons and after 
about 3pm on MWF.  For something more definite, you can send me email to 
make an appointment.

Email: jekiskis@ucdavis.edu

We will use electronic communication in the course. 
There is a conventional home page at
http://www.physics.ucdavis.edu/kiskis/courses/phy245b-w07/phy245b_hp.html
In addition, there is a workspace in SmartSite. To learn more about that, 
read the SmartSite description, which you can find at the URL above. In general, you will want to access the web material and tools by going to SmartSite.

There is a class maiing list: phy245b-w07@ucdavis.edu. If you are registered for
the class, you are automatically on the list, otherwise, you need to talk to me
to get on the list. The list uses UCD email addresses of the form
user@ucdavis.edu. Messages to the list are archived at
https://listproc.ucdavis.edu/class-secure/200701/phy245b-w07. 
there is also an Anouncements area in SmatSite. You should check
your email and the Announcements every day for possible messages relevant to the
class.

By 5pm, Wednesday, Jan. 3, please send me email with the following info.: 
1) Name 
2) Year in grad. school 
3) In what subfield of physics do you intend to do your thesis research?
4) Are you currently involved in research? If so, in what group?
5) Why are you taking this course?
6) What do you hope to get out of it?
7) If you could have the answer to one specific question in particle
   physics, what would you ask?

Purpose of the course:

This course is primarily for students who intend to do research in
particle physics. It is also useful for students of nuclear physics
and cosmology. This quarter, concentrates on the electroweak part of
the standard model. Most of the theory will be at tree level.

Philosophy, structure, and grading:
(Although teaching is not possible, learning is.)

Formal lectures are futile for at least two reasons.

1) Research has shown that people learn very, very little when they are passive
and someone else is talking at them. 

2) There is too much stuff. It is a physical impossibility to give
start-to-finish lectures on all the subjects that would be nice to cover. There
is more in the reading than we can discuss in any detail in the 27 hours
that we have.

From this, two remarks follow:
a) since it's futile, we won't have formal lectures
b) since there is so much stuff, a big part of your work will be to figure out
what is central and important. I hope to be of real help to you in this.
You must think about what you read and try to develop perspective.

My role:

First of all, I cannot TEACH you anything. At best, I can transmit some
information--raw data. (But the reading can usually do this better.) I cannot
transmit knowledge or understanding. I will try to provide a framework in which
it will be possible for you to construct your own understanding. I can be a
guide and a resource.

Your role:

You need to collect some information. Your main source is the readings. That is
the raw material from which you will work to CONSTRUCT your own understanding.
Each person must go through the process. It cannot be transmitted. While you
read, think and ask yourself questions. Talk with other students and with me.
The most important thing is to take an ACTIVE role. This isn't like watching
television. If there is not enough voluntary discussion, I will call on people.

To encourage active participation by all of us, the class will be organized as
follows:

Divide into groups of 3 or 4 people. Please work this out among
yourselves before the start of the second class on Tuesday. You will
keep the same groups for the quarter.

For each meeting, there will be a reading assignment which you should read and
think about BEFORE the lecture. Class starts at 9:00. At 9:05, each group is
required to produce its most pressing question on the reading for class
discussion. From 9:00 to 9:05, you will discuss this in your groups. Since
that is not a lot of time, you will need to be prepared with ideas and perhaps
have discussions before the start of class. These need not be deep or
sophisticated questions. Things like "We read sec. 2 ten times, and it still
makes no sense. What's going on there?" are encouraged. We will discuss the
questions from each group. After that, I will display a few questions for you
to work on in your groups. You will then present your results for discussion.
I will try to choose questions that bring out the most important points of the
reading. The purpose of this is to get you really involved in and thinking
about the topics for the day.

Following that, there will be a 10 min., open book quiz on the reading for that
day. This will be a group effort. You will work with the other members of your
group to produce one solution from your group to be handed in for grading.

There will be problem sets. You are encouraged to discuss the
problems with others. However, the solutions that you hand in should be your
own work. Problem sets are due at the start of lecture on the indicated day.
Use 8.5"x11" paper and write on one side only.

You will keep a journal. 
You will participate in discussions in the Chat Room and in the Message Center.
Each group will maintain a Wiki on a relevant topic of your choice. 

There will be no exams.

Journals:

Logistics: Write your journal entries with a text editor in plain text
and save them with suffix .txt. Date each entry and put your name on
it.  Each entry should be about a page. You should do one entry per
week. Hand them in by 9pm on Mondays by uploading them to your Drop
Box on SmartSite. I will read these and sometimes comment when
appropriate. I will not grade each entry, but your participation in
journal writing will be part of your grade for the quarter.

Content: The journals should NOT be a summary of the
reading or of class. They should be your 
thoughts and reactions to the material.

Suggestions:

1) Reflect upon the reading and class discussions.

2) Work through ideas that you are having trouble understanding. Question.
   Speculate. 

3) Look for connections to earlier parts of the course and to other parts of
   physics that you have studied.

The journals should reveal your process of working on the subject not the
final, polished product. A good journal is not one that is "right" but rather
one that shows how you have fully engaged the subject. The ratio of words to
equations should be very high. The words should be organized into COMPLETE
SENTENCES, otherwise it will be impossible for me to follow your thoughts.

The grading will be on problem sets, quizzes, journals, and
participation in the discussions in class or electronic. Presentation counts. 
Papers that are messy, hard to read, or disorganized, WILL be graded down.