An undergraduate entryway into experimental particle physics

Activity guides based on education research are used widely in both introductory¹ and upper-level² physics labs. However, we are unaware of the existence of any such pedagogical resource for particle physics courses. This letter presents a multi-institutional effort to create an experimental particle physics activity guide which is inspired by physics education research.

We set out to develop Experimental Particle Physics Tutorials (EPPTs), an activity guide that:

• Engages students in peer-collaborative activities

• Focuses on conceptual understanding rather than mathematical techniques

• Highlights the important role of models in science³ 

• Develops computational skills in an authentic scientific context⁴ 

The EPPTs' content level is appropriate for advanced high school physics students, physics undergraduates, and high school physics teachers seeking professional education credits.

EPPTs consist of 14 topic units (Table I). These units are organized into four sections: Introduction, Relativistic Kinematics and Dynamics, Physics Analysis, and Student Projects.

Each topic consists of a lab, a reflective writing exercise,⁵ and a post-lab activity. Labs introduce fundamental concepts and typically end with one or more open-ended questions about a key phenomenon or experimental result (e.g., charged-particle tracking data). Reflective writings help to bridge lab and post-lab activities; these are based on textbook excerpts in special relativity, quantum mechanics, and particle physics. In post-lab activities, students have a chance to deploy emerging ideas and concepts in new contexts by answering the open-ended questions raised in labs.

Part I (Introduction) begins with special relativity and quickly progresses to relativistic collisions, Feynman diagrams, the Standard Model, and modern particle accelerators and detectors.

Part II (Relativistic Kinematics and Dynamics) develops the concepts of relativistic energy and momentum, followed by an examination of bound energy states and angular momentum, paying special attention to quantum numbers (e.g., spin and charge parity). This part culminates in an activity comparing the energy spectra of positronium (⁠ $e+e−$⁠) to charmonium (⁠ $cc¯$⁠).

In Part III (Physics Analysis), students analyze Monte Carlo (MC) simulated events of the process $: p¯p→ ψ$(1S) $→ l+l−,$ where $l$ indicates either an electron (⁠ $e$⁠) or muon (⁠ $μ)$⁠. Two-body leptonic charmonium decays are selected for their kinematic simplicity, ease of measurement, and relatively small background noise. Students are exposed to the basic tools of the trade, including ROOT, Linux, C++ programming, and the PandaRoot software environment.

Part IV (Student Projects) provides additional labs and reflective writings that cover such topics as event selection, statistical analysis, and branching fractions. Post-lab student projects extend and deepen the student research experience.

Finally, EPPT activities employ Excel “spreadsheet physics” as a bridge to C++ programming; PhET simulations and Pivot Interactives to deepen conceptual understanding of basic physics; and Virtual Python as an optional visualization tool.

A complete 340-page draft of Experimental Particle Physics Tutorials has been successfully tested with three undergraduate students, two high school physics teachers, and a practicing experimental particle physicist. We plan to pilot test EPPTs with an additional ten undergraduates and ten high school physics teachers (drawn internationally) and develop an assessment of student learning outcomes.