Particle Astrophysics  - AST 585 / PHY 5XX (3 credits)

                          Peter Meszaros   - SP 09

Description: The course consists of lectures, and may involve seminar-type 
presentations by students or guests. Students will prepare a paper on 
assigned topics from the course. The grade will be based on course 
participation and the paper.

Requisites:  
Astro students: AY 501, 502 and exposure to quantum mechanics. 
Physics students: QM I,  EM I  (QM II useful but not required)

Textbooks:  the course will not follow any particular textbook, but
useful references are :
1) Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, Bergstrom & Goobar, 1999, Wiley 
  1st ed: ISBN 0-471-97041-7 (2nd ed. in press but not out yet).
2) Astroparticle Physics, Claus Grupen, 2005, Springer, ISBN-10 3-540-25312-2.
3) Particle Astrophysics, Donald Perkins, 2003, Oxford U. Press, ISBN 0-19-850952-9.

Syllabus

Review of particle physics standard model phenomenology and gauge fields
(broad-brush - about 1/3 of the course).  

Particle physics applications to and input from cosmology. Baryogenesis,
dark matter, dark energy.

Astrophysical sources of cosmic rays, neutrinos and highy energy photons.
Active galactic nuclei, gamma-ray bursts, supernovae and their remnants.

Cosmic ray acceleration, transport and relation to VHE photons and neutrinos.
Current issues. 

Neutrino astrophysics and neutrino properties. CP violation, oscillations, 
mass, hierarchy, experiments.

Dark matter models, direct and indirect searches.

Experimental facilities and observatories: Auger, Icecube, ACTs, GLAST, etc.
LHC, long baseline oscillation and underground experiments, etc. Prospects.