M2 - Cosmos, Fields, and Particles (CCP)

This course describes the various detectors and the physical processes involved in particle detection in high-energy physics. Next, we will describe how the main particle accelerators work—not only in high-energy physics but also in many other fields, such as medicine, industry, materials science, archaeology, and more.

The course provides a detailed description of the physical processes and experimental techniques involved in the detection of charged and neutral particles in detectors, as these detections form the basis of all physical measurements.

We will provide a detailed description of the various types of radiation and particle-matter interactions.

We will focus on describing the methodologies associated with these processes as well as their statistical analysis.

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English tutorial course for students in the Master 2 Physics program who are preparing for a career in an English-speaking professional environment in a contemporary context.

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This course covers the essential fundamentals needed for a solid understanding of the physics of stellar atmospheres and stellar winds. The key elements of radiation transfer theory are covered, both in local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and out of LTE, as well as the description of the gas (equation of state) and its interaction with the radiation field (opacities). Modern models and simulations are presented along with their application to determining stellar parameters—particularly chemical composition—through spectroscopy. The different types of stellar winds (pressure, radiative, and hybrid) are described using theories compared with observational data.

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During the “Observational Astrophysics 2” course, students must complete all stages of an observational astrophysics study. From defining the spectroscopic or photometric observations to be conducted during a four-night stay at the Haute-Provence Observatory, to modeling and critically discussing their measurements and writing a scientific report, students take an active role in this course.

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Interstellar Medium: Physicochemical Processes—Phases—Radioastronomy.

This course provides an introduction to the physicochemical processes relevant to the interstellar medium (dynamic, thermal, and chemical processes) as well as the associated observational techniques (molecular spectroscopy, radio astronomy). The main phases of the interstellar medium (ionized, atomic, and molecular phases) are also covered.

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This course provides a comprehensive overview of the Standard Model of particle physics. We will begin by studying the Dirac equation, the quantum description of the dynamics of a spin-½ particle. Next, we will examine how to describe electromagnetic interactions using quantum electrodynamics. Next, we will address weak interactions and their unified description with the electromagnetic interaction through the electroweak theory. Finally, we will study gauge theories and their spontaneous symmetry breaking in order to present the complete theory of the Standard Model of particle physics. To conclude, we will provide a brief overview of theories beyond the Standard Model.

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This course is an introduction to relativistic quantum field theory and its applications in particle physics. Using a scalar field as an example, we will develop the formalisms of canonical quantization and path integral quantization before introducing perturbation theory and some concepts of renormalization. We will discuss the quantization of spin-1/2 and spin-1 fields, concluding with a discussion of quantum electrodynamics.

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This course is an introduction to the standard model of cosmology, covering its theoretical and phenomenological aspects. It focuses on the hot inflationary Big Bang model. It builds on the M1 course in general relativity and cosmology.

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The lab exercises focus on the detection and measurement of cosmic rays (muons).

The goal will be to become familiar with a data acquisition system designed for measuring cosmic rays (primarily muons). Students will need to understand how the various components of the acquisition chain work individually (power supplies, photomultipliers, scintillators, discriminators, oscilloscopes, etc.) and then build their own acquisition system using these components. One objective of the system could be to determine the mass of the muon, but other applications are possible and are left to the students’ imagination.

Students will then need to collect data using their devices and analyze that data, taking into account the systematic and statistical errors in the dataset.

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This course describes the theoretical and observational foundations of the so-called cosmological dark matter problem. Dark matter manifests itself through gravitational effects at various astrophysical scales, ranging from the scale of galaxies to cosmological scales (the observable universe as a whole). It constitutes approximately 85% of the total matter in the universe, and it is impossible for it to be composed of the elementary particles that characterize ordinary, known matter. The course will focus in particular on potential solutions to this problem that connect the infinitely small (elementary particles) to the infinitely large (the large-scale universe).

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A 3- to 6-month internship (21 ECTS) in a laboratory designed to provide immersion in the world of research and preparation for the dissertation. This internship may be completed in a research laboratory in France or abroad. It runs from March¹ to May 31, the deadline for submitting the written report. An oral defense takes place in early June. The internship may be extended until August 31 in order to transition directly into the thesis. Topics cover a broad spectrum ranging from theoretical physics (cosmology, particle physics, and astroparticle physics) to experimental physics (LHC experiments, the search for gravitational waves or dark matter, large-field cosmological surveys, etc.).

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This course is an introduction to the acceleration, propagation, and radiation mechanisms of energetic particles in astrophysical media. It will cover the fundamental concepts in this field.

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