COURSE GOALS:
The goals of the course Physics of Hadrons is mastering the basic concepts and facts of hadron phenomenology, of quantum chromodynamics (QCD) as the underlying theory, and of the quark substructure of hadrons.
LEARNING OUTCOMES AT THE LEVEL OF THE PROGRAMME:
1. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
1.2 demonstrate a thorough knowledge of advanced methods of theoretical physics including classical mechanics, classical electrodynamics, statistical physics and quantum physics
1.3 demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the most important physics theories (logical and mathematical structure, experimental support, described physical phenomena) 1.4 describe the state of the art in - at least- one of the presently active physics specialities
2. APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
2.1 identify the essentials of a process/situation and set up a working model of the same or recognize and use the existing models 2.3 apply standard methods of mathematical physics, in particular mathematical analysis and linear algebra and corresponding numerical methods
2.4 adapt available models to new experimental data
3. MAKING JUDGEMENTS
3.2 develop a personal sense of responsibility, given the free choice of elective/optional courses
4. COMMUNICATION SKILLS
4.2 present one's own research or literature search results to professional as well as to lay audiences
4.3 develop the written and oral English language communication skills that are essential for pursuing a career in physics
5. LEARNING SKILLS
5.1 search for and use physical and other technical literature, as well as any other sources of information relevant to research work and technical project development (good knowledge of technical English is required)
5.2 remain informed of new developments and methods and provide professional advice on their possible range and applications
5.3 carry out research by undertaking a PhD
LEARNING OUTCOMES SPECIFIC FOR THE COURSE:
After completing the course Physics of Hadrons (and passing the exam), a student will be able to:
* Present a systematic and detailed overview of the phenomenology of hadrons and strong interactions. Explain qualitatively the relationship between fundamental but unobservable (directly) degrees of freedom, i.e., elementary quarks and gluons, and their composites, i.e., observable hadrons. Also, to be able to explain the difference between the fundamental strong interaction of quarks and gluons (viz., QCD) and strong interactions of directly observable hadrons. Explain the role played by quarks, gluons and QCD in the wider context - in the Standard Model.
* Explain the role of the electric charge and generalized charges (isospin, strangeness, charm and baryon charge) in the systematics of hadrons, and the relationship between their conservation and the corresponding symmetries.
* Explain the similarities and differences between the abelian gauge theory (QED) and a non-abelian one, such as QCD. Present the onset of the perturbative regime of QCD at high energies. Present the non-perturbative nature of QCD at low energies, and how it yields the emergent phenomena of QCD: confinement and dynamical chiral symmetry breaking.
* Show how dynamical chiral symmetry breaking generates effective, constituent quark masses (of the order of 1/3 of the nucleon mass), thereby explaining many successes of the constituent quark models.
* Explain the roles of various methods in their appropriate domains of applicability: perturbative QCD at high energies; and at low energies, in the nonperturbative regime - lattice calculations, effective chiral theories, the approach through Schwinger-Dyson equations, and various dynamical quark models.
* Describe qualitatively the phenomena of axial anomalies (abelian and non-abelian) in QCD.
* Explain qualitatively the expected behaviour of the strongly interacting matter at high temperatures and densities.
* Explain qualitatively many static properties of hadrons, and some processes, by invoking appropriate methods or properties of QCD.
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Division in 15 lectures:
1. An overview of the phenomenology of hadrons and strong interactions, along with a short historical overview of the key experiments. Yukawa interaction by the exchange of mesons. The properties of hadrons and their quantum numbers. The concept of generalized charges (isospin, strangeness, charm and baryon charge) and the issue of their conservation. 2. Isospin and the simplest manifestations of the flavour SU(3) symmetry, electromagnetic structure of nucleons, the motivation for the quark substructure of hadrons. The quantum numbers of quarks. 3. Mesons as quark-antiquark composites. Baryons as composites of three quarks. Detailed overview of meson and baryon SU(N) multiplets, spectroscopy and some processes.
4. The concept of a quark model. The concept of partons. The parton model.
5. The concept of the non-abelian gauge theory, QCD, as the fundamental theory of strong interaction, introduced by analogy with the abelian one - QED. Gluons as the gauge bosons of QCD. Hadrons as bound states of quarks and gluons. 6. Elements of perturbative QCD and its domain of applicability. Asymptotic freedom.
7. Elements of non-perturbative QCD, its domain of applicability and possible applications. Colour confinement.
8. Chiral symmetry and its breaking: explicit versus spontaneous, or rather, dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. Generating of constituent quark masses.
9. The light pseudoscalar mesons as (quasi-)Goldstone bosons of dynamical chiral symmetry breaking. Effective chiral theories. 10. Modeling of non-perturbative QCD and some models of hadrons (baryons and mesons). Impact of the quark masses on the choice of a model.
11. Continuous approaches to non-perturbative QCD, e.g., Schwinger-Dyson equations for relativistic bound states. Comparison of the continuous approaches with lattice calculations.
12. Modeling of some concrete bound states of quarks and of their processes.
13. Abelian axial anomaly of QCD and its influence on some electromagnetic processes of the pseudoscalar mesons.
14. Non-abelian axial anomaly of QCD and its influence on the large mass of the eta'-meson. The complex of eta and eta' mesons as a two-level quantum system.
15. Hot and/or dense strongly interacting matter - hadronic or, after deconfinement, quark-gluon matter. Dense matter in compact stars. Hot, or hot and dense matter at contemporary hadron colliders (RHIC, FAIR, NICA).
REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS:
Obligatory attendance of lectures and preparing a seminar on an assigned topic.
GRADING AND ASSESSING THE WORK OF STUDENTS:
Presenting a seminar talk on an assigned topic. Oral examination.
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