OVERVIEW

The lecture offers an introduction to Astroparticle Physics. Elementary particles, together with electromagnetic radiation and gravitational waves, are messengers that can be used to study the nature of many celestial objects, from the Sun to deep space objects.

The course offers an overview of the most important emission mechanisms of astroparticles and the different types of detectors that are used to study astrophysical neutrinos and cosmic rays.

AIMS AND CONTENT

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Teaching aims to provide students with basic knowledge of astroparticle physics, focusing particularly on models predicting particle emission from astrophysical sources and experimental techniques for detecting cosmic rays and neutrinos of extraterrestrial origin.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

Students will acquire the following skills :

• knowledge and understanding of the physical mechanisms leading to the production and emission of particles from the Sun and deep space objects.   
• knowledge and understanding of experimental techniques for the detection of astroparticles and of the different types of measurements in the astroparticle field
• ability to implement statistical methods useful for data analysis in the astroparticle field

PREREQUISITES

The contents of the course of Particle Physics 1 can be considered as prerequisites.

TEACHING METHODS

Lectures - 48 hours

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

First module:
Stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis: nuclear reactions in stars, nucleosynthesis in the Big Bang and in stars, direct and indirect measurements
Neutrinos beyond the Standard Model: solar neutrinos and oscillations, mass hierarchy, sterile neutrinos, detection of medium-low energy neutrinos (keV-100 MeV)

Second module:
Supernova neutrinos: introduction to models, detection methods
High-energy cosmic neutrinos: hadronic accelerators and production mechanisms, neutrino telescopes

Third module:
Cosmic rays: direct measurements in space and on Earth, indirect measurements (neutrinos and atmospheric muons)
Indirect measurements of Dark Matter by neutrinos
Statistical methods for astroparticle physics, low-number statistics.

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Maurizio Spurio - Probes of Multimessenger Astrophysics
Maurizio Spurio - Particles and Astrophysics, A multimessenger approach
Alessandro De Angelis, Mário João Martins Pimenta - Introduction to Particle and Astroparticle Physics

TEACHERS AND EXAM BOARD

LESSONS

LESSONS START

See the calendar at the link

Class schedule

The timetable for this course is available here: Portale EasyAcademy

EXAMS

EXAM DESCRIPTION

Presentation/thesis on a scientific article relating to the topics of the teaching, oral discussion of the paper.

ASSESSMENT METHODS

The discussion of the essay is aimed at verifying the student's level of understanding of the most important concepts covered in the course and underlying astroparticle physics.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Compensatory and dispensatory measures Disability/Invalidity/Specific Learning Disorder

Dispensatory measures and compensatory tools are intended to enable students to achieve the same learning objectives as their fellow students, not to facilitate the examination.

The use of compensatory tools and the application of dispensatory measures must be authorised in advance by the teacher in agreement with the Referee.

To take advantage of the adaptations during the examination, fill in the Adaptation request form; the request will be automatically sent by the system to the teacher in charge of the teaching, to the Contact Person of your School/Area/Department and in copy to the Sector; you will also receive a copy of the request sent by e-mail.

The adjustments available to students are as follows:

• Additional time (+30% DSA)
• Additional time (+50% disability/invalidity)
• Additional time during oral exams to organise the answer
• Calculator (programmable and graphing calculators are not allowed)
• Conceptual Maps
• Tables and/or Forms
• Take the exam in written form
• Take the exam in oral form
• Tutor reader (for written tests only)
• Tutor-writer (for written tests only)

Your request for adaptations must be submitted at least 7 working days before the scheduled exam date.

All information for students with disabilities and DSA is available on the webpage: Services for students with disabilities or DSA | UniGe | University of Genoa

Reference for inclusion: Sergio Di Domizio - sergio.didomizio@unige.it