Which of the following particles is NOT a lepton?

A. Electron

B. Muon

C. Proton

D. Tau

The Higgs boson is associated with:

A. Electromagnetic force

B. Gravitational force

C. Weak nuclear force

D. Higgs field

Which of the following is NOT a force carrier particle?

A. Photon

B. Gluon

C. Neutrino

D. W boson

What is the primary role of quarks in the standard model of particle physics?

A. They are force carrier particles.

B. They combine to form hadrons.

C. They provide mass to other particles.

D. They mediate the electromagnetic force.

Which of the following is a potential candidate for dark matter?

A. Higgs boson

B. Neutrino

C. WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle)

D. Gluon

a) Describe the properties of quarks and leptons, highlighting their fundamental differences. [4]

b) Explain the conservation laws that apply in particle reactions and their significance in understanding particle interactions. [3]

a) Define the four fundamental forces in nature and identify their associated force carrier particles. [4]

b) Explain how the Higgs boson contributes to the understanding of particle masses and its role in the Standard Model. [3]

a) Discuss the concept of supersymmetry in particle physics, including its predictions and potential implications for particle interactions. [3]

b) Explain the significance of dark matter in cosmology and particle physics. How does it challenge our understanding of the universe? [3]

a) Explain the concept of the conservation of strangeness in particle interactions, providing examples to illustrate its application. [4]

b) Discuss the role of the weak nuclear force in transforming quarks and leptons, emphasising the challenges in detecting and studying weak interactions. [3]

c) Describe how neutrino oscillation experiments contribute to our understanding of neutrino properties and their implications for the Standard Model. [4]

a) Discuss the concept of the strong CP problem in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and the role of the theta parameter. Explain why the observed neutron electric dipole moment is relevant to this problem. [5]

b) Describe the experiments designed to measure the neutron electric dipole moment and their significance in testing QCD predictions. [4]

c) Explain how the QCD vacuum structure contributes to the understanding of confinement and the formation of hadrons. [4]

In the standard model, which force is responsible for radioactive decay?

A. Electromagnetic force

B. Strong nuclear force

C. Weak nuclear force

D. Gravitational force

Which of the following is NOT a property of quarks?

A. Charge

B. Spin

C. Colour

D. Mass number

Supersymmetry predicts that:

A. Every boson has a corresponding fermion.

B. Every quark has a corresponding lepton.

C. Every proton has a corresponding neutron.

D. Every electron has a corresponding positron.

Which of the following particles is responsible for mediating the strong nuclear force?

A. Photon

B. Gluon

C. Z boson

D. Graviton

What is the significance of the discovery of the Higgs boson?

A. It confirmed the existence of dark matter.

B. It provided evidence for the existence of the Higgs field, which gives particles mass.

C. It proved the existence of supersymmetry.

D. It demonstrated the unification of the four fundamental forces.

a) Explain the phenomenon of neutrino mixing and the significance of the Pontecorvo-Maki-Nakagawa-Sakata (PMNS) matrix in describing neutrino flavour oscillations. [4]

b) Describe the challenges and techniques involved in detecting neutrinos from astrophysical sources, such as supernovae and the Sun. [4]

c) Discuss the concept of neutrinoless double beta decay and its implications for understanding neutrino properties and the nature of neutrinos as Majorana particles. [4]

a) Explain the concept of CP violation in particle physics and provide examples of CP-violating phenomena in particle decays. [4]

b) Describe the significance of the BaBar and Belle experiments in studying CP violation in the decays of B mesons and the measurement of the CKM matrix elements. [4]

c) Discuss the connection between CP violation, baryogenesis, and the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe. [4]

a) Explain lepton flavour violation (LFV) in particle physics and give an example. [4]

b) Describe the significance of the Super-Kamiokande experiment in neutrino oscillation studies. [4]

c) Calculate the energy of a neutrino needed to produce a muon with 1 GeV energy in a charged current interaction. Show your calculations. [4]

d) Discuss the roles of the Daya Bay and RENO experiments in measuring the neutrino mixing angle θ₁₃. [4]

a) Explain grand unification theories (GUTs) in particle physics and their predictions. [2]

b) Discuss the challenges and evidence related to the unification of fundamental forces in GUTs. [2]

c) Calculate the energy needed to create a top quark-antiquark pair from a photon collision, given a photon energy of 500 GeV. Show your calculations. [3]

d) Describe proton decay in GUTs and the efforts to detect it experimentally. [2]

a) Define the concept of dark matter in astrophysics and cosmology. [3]

b) Explain the bullet cluster as evidence for the existence of dark matter. [3]

c) Calculate the escape velocity from a galaxy with a mass of 1.5 × 10^12 solar masses and a radius of 100 kpc. Show your calculations. [4]

d) Discuss the direct and indirect detection methods used to search for dark matter particles. [4]