87982 - Flavour Physics

Academic Year 2021/2022

  • Moduli: Angelo Carbone (Modulo 1) Maximiliano Sioli (Modulo 2)
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures (Modulo 1) Traditional lectures (Modulo 2)
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Physics (cod. 9245)

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course the student will become familiar with the basic concepts of heavy flavor and neutrino physics. He/she will be acquainted with the rich CKM and PMNS phenomenology, from CP violation in the hadronic and leptonic sectors up to search for New Physics through the measurement of rare decays. The student will also be able to conceive an experimental apparatus useful for these searches and distinguish between the main experimental techniques used to reach this goal.

Course contents

The course is divided into two modules:

  • Module 1: Weak Hadronic Interaction and CP violation
  • Module 2: Flavour physics in the letponic sector 

For both modules, after a brief introduction of the theoretical framework, phenomenological and experimental aspects will be also presented. 

Program of Module 1

The weak charged current interaction and its classification. The Fermi constant. Cabibbo mixing. The Glashow, Iliopoulos, and Maiani mechanism. The quark mixing and the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix. The weak neutral current. Quantum mechanic oscillations in the K, D, and B meson systems and experimental results. CP violation in the K, D, and B meson decays and experimental results. The Unitarity Triangle of the CKM matrix and the current experimental knowledge. Rare K, D, and B decays and experimental results. The indirect search for New Physics with the flavor physics experiment. 

Program of Module 2

Charged and neutral leptons in the Standard Model. Physics of massive neutrinos. Mechanisms of neutrino mass generation. Neutrino cross sections. Experimental searches in the framework of seesaw mechanisms (colliders, beam dumps). Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay. Flavor mixing and CP violation in the neutral sector. Short/medium/long baselines (accelerators and reactors). Connection with Cosmology. Leptogenesis. Dark sector. Flavor violation in the charged sector. Electron and muon magnetic dipole moments.

 

 

Readings/Bibliography

CP violation, Bigi and Sanda

Teaching methods

The lecture will be held on the blackboard and are supplemented by video projection and slides.

Assessment methods

The assessment will be an oral exam simultaneously to be given in the same joined session (the commission is formed by lecturers of Modules 1 and 2). During the examination, the assessment will be carried out asking questions on general theory items, evaluating problem-solving attitude on exercises.

Teaching tools

Lecture notes are available in Insegnamenti OnLine. In case of problems write an email to the respective lecturer.

Office hours

See the website of Angelo Carbone

See the website of Maximiliano Sioli