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 Nuclear and Particle Physics 2 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

Exam Board

MATTEO SANGUINETI (President)

VLADIMIR KULIKOVSKIY

SANDRA MARIA ZAVATARELLI (President Substitute)

LESSONS

LESSONS START

See the calendar at the link:

https://corsi.unige.it/corsi/9012/studenti-orario

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.

Exam schedule

FURTHER INFORMATION

Students who have valid certification of physical or learning disabilities on file with the University and who wish to discuss possible accommodations or other circumstances regarding lectures, coursework and exams, should speak both with the instructor and with Professor Sergio Di Domizio (sergio.didomizio@unige.it), the Department’s disability liaison.