AAPT Session:Particle Physics in the Upper-Level Curriculum

Saturday, Feb.14, 10:00AM - 10:30AM

Presentations:

From Quarks to the Cosmos

Patrick Fox, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory

Particle physics is on the verge of important discoveries that will address some of the most fundamental questions of science:

• The origin of mass of the elementary particles
• The unification of all the forces, including gravity
• The explanation of the matter-antimatter imbalance of the universe
• The origin of Dark Matter and Dark Energy I will show ongoing and near future collider experiments, using the Tevatron at Fermilab and The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, that will re-shape our understanding of the universe.

GUTs, TOEs and Stringy Things: Biology or High-Energy Physics?

Speaker:Gordon Ramsey, Loyola University Chicago

The study of high-energy physics (HEP) is fundamental to understanding the basic structure of matter. With the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in Europe going online, it is timely, state-of-the-art research. A basic understanding of HEP should be included in the undergraduate curriculum. This should include instruction on the fundamental known families of particles and how they interact via the known forces of nature. This is accomplished by understanding the Standard Model in terms of the elements of the theory and how experimentalists test the models proposed by theorists. Coverage of the areas of the current research should include theoretical, phenomenological and experimental aspects of the field, including theories that attempt to unify the known forces. This talk will suggest related topics that can be included at various stages of the undergraduate (and high school) curriculum and appropriate references for each topic.