FY842: Astroparticle physics
The Study Board for Science
Teaching language: English
EKA: N510055102
Assessment: Second examiner: Internal
Grading: 7-point grading scale
Offered in: Odense
Offered in: Spring
Level: Master
STADS ID (UVA): N510055101
ECTS value: 10
Date of Approval: 15-11-2024
Duration: 1 semester
Version: Approved - active
Comment
The course is complementary to FY825, Galactic dynamics and dark matter, and students are encouraged to pick both courses for their elective courses.
Entry requirements
The course cannot be chosen if you have passed, registered, or have followed FY839, or if FY839 is a constituent part of your Curriculum.
Academic preconditions
Knowledge of special relativity mechanics at the level of FY546 and FY549 as well as introductory of astrophysics and cosmology, e.g. at the level of FY535 and FY537 is useful. Furthermore, knowledge of electrodynamics at the level of FY549 and elementary particles and their interactions at the level of FY545 is useful as well. Basic knowledge of programming with python, including the packages for numerical calculations (numpy, scipy, matplotlib), and being familiar with jupyter notebooks is beneficial.
Course introduction
The aim of the course is to introduce the students to high-energy astroparticle physics. Astrophysical objects can accelerate particles to enormous energies and we can only understand their observations with the help of elementary particle physics. This course enables the students to make the connection between astrophysics, elementary particle physics, detector physics, cosmology, gravity, as well as searches for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle phyiscs.
The course builds on the knowledge acquired in the courses FY535, FY537, FY545, FY546, and FY549, and provides an academic basis for advanced studies and graduate research in astrophysics and astroparticle physics.
Expected learning outcome
The learning objective of the course is that the student demonstrates the ability to:
- Provide a general overview of the basics of the field of (high-energy) astroparticle physics
- Describe the radiative processes responsible in different sources for the generation of high energy gamma rays and cosmic rays
- Be familiar with the gravitational wave generation in binary mergers
- Describe the basic theory of acceleration of particles through stochastic acceleration
- Describe the different astrophysical sources that produce gamma rays, cosmic rays, neutrinos, and gravitational waves
- Be familiar with the principles to detect gamma rays, cosmic rays, neutrinos, and gravitational waves
- Describe the basic evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang until today in the framework of the Lambda CDM model
- Be able to name and describe different particle candidates for cold dark matter
- Distinguish direct from indirect dark matter searches
Content
The following main topics are contained in the course:
- Cosmic rays, historical context and current observations
- Radiative processes and particle acceleration in astrophysical environments
- Galactic sources of high energy gamma rays: supernova remnants and pulsar wind nebula
- Extragalactic sources of high energy gamma rays: active galactic nuclei and gamma-ray bursts
- Multimessenger observations: gamma rays, cosmic rays, neutrinos, gravitational waves
- Detectors for multimessenger observations
- Photon propagation over cosmological distances
- Searches for dark matter and physics beyond the Standard Model
- Fundamentals of cosmology and the Lambda CDM model
Literature
Examination regulations
Exam element a)
Timing
Spring and June
Tests
Portfolio med mundtlig eksamen
EKA
N510055102
Assessment
Second examiner: Internal
Grading
7-point grading scale
Identification
Full name and SDU username
Language
Normally, the same as teaching language
Duration
Oral exam - 30 minutes, no preparation
Examination aids
Exam is with aids (3 power point slides)
ECTS value
10
Additional information
Portfolio exam consisting of the following elements:
1) 4 problem sets
2) two projects
3) Oral exam
An overall grade will be given with the problem sets counting 20% in total, the two projects counting 10% each, and the oral exam counting 60%.
Indicative number of lessons
Teaching Method
At the faculty of science, teaching is organized after the three-phase model ie. intro, training and study phase.
- Intro phase: 30 hours
- Training phase: 14 hours, hereof tutorials: 14 hours
Activities during the study phase:
- Solution of 4 bi-weekly assignments, which include problem solving and programming assignments
- Working on 2 project assigments: a) you will design your own code to calculate the emission processes in supernova remnants and b) you will search for a dark matter signal from a galaxy using actual telescope data
- Self study of various parts of the course material.
- Reflection upon the intro and training sections.
Teacher responsible
Additional teachers
| Name | Department | City | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atreya Acharyya | atreya@cp3.sdu.dk | Department of Physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy | Odense |
Timetable
Administrative Unit
Team at Registration
Offered in
Recommended course of study
Transition rules
Transitional arrangements describe how a course replaces another course when changes are made to the course of study.
If a transitional arrangement has been made for a course, it will be stated in the list.
See transitional arrangements for all courses at the Faculty of Science.