An introduction to particle physics 2026 (short course)

Particle Physics is the study of nature at the highest energies and shortest distances that we can probe in a laboratory, an ambitious attempt to construct a fundamental picture of what the universe is made from and how it works.

Cambridge physicist Harry Cliff repeats his successful short course, will discuss the current state of particle physics and the key experiments and insights that led to the development of the Standard Model.

As the Large Hadron Collider begins a major upgrade that will allow it to search for ever rarer and more elusive phenomena, we will also explore some of the unsolved problems in particle physics and how theorists and experimentalists are trying to solve them.

In this course, you will learn the following:

How the Standard Model describes matter and forces in terms of quarks, leptons and gauge bosons.

How a century of experiments and theoretical insights led to the Standard Model.

A simple introduction to quantum mechanics and special relativity, the revolutionary ideas that led to modern 'quantum field theory'.

What the Large Hadron Collider is, how it works and why it was built.

What the Higgs boson is, why it matters and how it was discovered.

What questions remain to be answered and how particle physics and astronomy experiments are helping us to attack them

The course costs £400 (£340 Ri Members and Patrons) for six sessions, including all course materials and refreshments.

The course is for interest only, with no qualification, examination, or certificate of attendance at its conclusion.

Please note this will be the same content as the An introduction to particle physics delivered in June 2024.

The course will run for six, 90-minute sessions on:

• Mon 26 Oct

• Wed 28 Oct in-person or Mon 2 Nov online

• Mon 9 Nov

•Mon 16 Nov

• Mon 23 Nov

• Mon 30 Nov

Strictly 16 years and older.

Image via CERN