--- title: Particle Physics description: This subfield of physics studies the fundamental constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them. Learners will understand the Standard Model, quarks, leptons, gauge bosons, and how particle accelerators probe subatomic forces. category: sciences subcategory: physics difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/particle-physics --- # Particle Physics This subfield of physics studies the fundamental constituents of matter and radiation, and the interactions between them. Learners will understand the Standard Model, quarks, leptons, gauge bosons, and how particle accelerators probe subatomic forces. ## Available Resources 1 Books • 7 Courses • 4 Websites ## Websites ### 1. Interactions.org Outreach site run by the InterActions Collaboration, communicators from particle physics laboratories worldwide. Aggregates news releases, image and video libraries, and plain-language explainers, giving newcomers a current picture of what accelerator and detector experiments are finding. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://interactions.org **Tags:** particle-physics, science-communication, physics-news, outreach, accelerators ### 2. Particle Data Group International collaboration based at Berkeley Lab that publishes the Review of Particle Physics, the reference tables of measured masses, lifetimes, and decay modes. Also carries review articles researchers cite for standard values and conventions. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://pdg.lbl.gov **Tags:** particle-physics, reference, standard-model, physics-data, research ### 3. particleadventure.org An interactive, beginner-friendly guide to particle physics that explains fundamental particles, forces, and the Standard Model through visuals and tutorials, with sections on accelerators, cosmology, and a glossary. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://particleadventure.org **Tags:** websites, science-research, physics ### 4. cern.ch CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research, a premier hub for particle physics research. The site provides information on its experiments (notably the LHC), science news, educational resources, and access to open data for learning about particle physics. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://home.cern/ **Tags:** websites, science-research, physics ## Courses ### 1. Particle Physics: an Introduction This course introduces you to subatomic physics, i.e. the physics of nuclei and particles. More specifically, the following questions are addressed: - What are the concepts of particle physics and how are they implemented? - What are the properties of atomic nuclei and how can one use them? - How does one accelerate and detect particles and measure their properties? - What does one learn from particle reactions at high energies and particle decays? - How do electromagnetic interactions work and how can one use them? - How do strong interactions work and why are they difficult to understand? - How do weak interactions work and why are they so special? - What is the mass of objects at the subatomic level and how does the Higgs boson intervene? - How does one search for new phenomena beyond the known ones? - What can one learn from particle physics concerning astrophysics and the Universe as a whole? The course is structured in eight modules. Following the first one which introduces our subject, the modules 2 (nuclear physics) and 3 (accelerators and detectors) are rather self contained and can be studied separately. The modules 4 to 6 go into more depth about matter and forces as described by the standard model of particle physics. Module 7 deals with our ways to search for new phenomena. And the last module introduces you to two mysterious components of the Universe, namely Dark Matter and Dark Energy. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/particle-physics **Tags:** particle-physics, nuclear-physics, standard-model, accelerators, online-course ### 2. Introduction to Relativity and Spacetime Physics (MIT 8.033) **Author:** Scott Hughes A thorough treatment of special relativity with an introduction to the core ideas of general relativity, pitched at sophomores after first-year physics. Detailed prose lecture notes that read as an open textbook teach spacetime diagrams, four-vectors, relativistic dynamics and curved spacetime. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-033-introduction-to-relativity-and-spacetime-physics-fall-2024/ **Tags:** special-relativity, spacetime-diagrams, four-vectors, relativistic-dynamics, general-relativity ### 3. Effective Field Theory (MIT 8.851) **Author:** Iain Stewart Graduate course in two parts: the common tools of effective field theories (power counting, matching, running), then an in-depth treatment of Soft-Collinear Effective Theory for hard collider processes. 26 lecture videos, lecture notes and problem sets for learners who already know quantum field theory. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-851-effective-field-theory-spring-2013/ **Tags:** effective-field-theory, soft-collinear-effective-theory, renormalization-group, collider-physics, quantum-field-theory ### 4. Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics (MIT 8.701) **Author:** Markus Klute Graduate introduction to the phenomenology and experimental foundations of nuclear and particle physics: fundamental forces, elementary and composite particles, and the detectors and theory used to establish the Standard Model. 67 short lecture videos, slides, and problem sets with solutions. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-701-introduction-to-nuclear-and-particle-physics-fall-2020/ **Tags:** particle-physics, nuclear-physics, standard-model, particle-detectors ### 5. Relativistic Quantum Field Theory I (MIT 8.323) **Author:** Hong Liu A self-contained first course in quantum field theory, developing concepts and basic techniques through applications in particle and condensed matter physics. 26 lecture videos, problem-solving notes, readings, and 12 problem sets with solutions take learners from canonical quantization toward perturbative calculations. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-323-relativistic-quantum-field-theory-i-spring-2023/ **Tags:** quantum-field-theory, canonical-quantization, path-integrals, perturbation-theory, particle-physics ### 6. String Theory and Holographic Duality (MIT 8.821) **Author:** Hong Liu Holographic duality (gauge/gravity duality, AdS/CFT) as a tool connecting quantum gravity and black holes, QCD at extreme conditions, exotic condensed matter and quantum information. 24 lecture videos, lecture notes, and problem sets with solutions for graduate students of theoretical physics. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-821-string-theory-and-holographic-duality-fall-2014/ **Tags:** string-theory, ads-cft, holographic-duality, black-holes, quantum-gravity ### 7. Statistical Mechanics I: Statistical Mechanics of Particles (MIT 8.333) **Author:** Mehran Kardar A graduate treatment of thermodynamics, probability theory, kinetic theory, classical statistical mechanics, interacting systems, quantum statistical mechanics and identical particles. Includes 26 lecture videos, detailed lecture notes, problem sets and exams with solutions, building the tools to derive equilibrium properties of many-particle systems. **Difficulty:** Advanced | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/8-333-statistical-mechanics-i-statistical-mechanics-of-particles-fall-2013/ **Tags:** statistical-mechanics, statistical-ensembles, kinetic-theory, quantum-statistics, interacting-systems ## Books ### 1. Introduction to Elementary Particles **Author:** David Griffiths Standard undergraduate text introducing the Standard Model, Feynman diagrams, and the calculation of decay rates and cross sections. Assumes quantum mechanics and special relativity; readers finish able to compute simple QED and weak-interaction processes. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0471615447?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, science-research, physics --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/particle-physics