Doctor of Philosophy in Physics - Particle Experiment

University of Cincinnati

Particle physics, also called "high energy physics," is the study of the fundamental particles and their interactions. To explore such particles at the requisite subatomic distance scales requires particles with high energies, and most experiments use particle accelerators to produce them. According to our current understanding, embodied in a model known as the Standard Model, the true elementary particles - the building blocks of matter as we know it - are quarks and leptons. They interact through four types of forces - Strong, Electromagnetic, Weak, and Gravitational (although the gravitational force has not yet been incorporated into the model). Quarks interact strongly -- neutrons, protons, mesons and hyperons are some of the more familiar particles containing them, called hadrons. Leptons are not susceptible to the strong force (we say they have a "strong charge" of zero), and include electrons, muons, tau's, with an associated neutrino for each.