PHYSICS 126
Elementary Particle Physics
Description: Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour. Requisites: courses 1A, 1B, and 1C (or 1AH, 1BH, and 1CH), Mathematics 32B, 33A, 33B. Corequisite: course 115C. Introduction to physics of elementary particles. The four basic interactions: strong, electromagnetic, weak, and gravitational. Properties of baryons, mesons, quarks, and leptons; conservation laws, symmetries and broken symmetries; the Standard Model; experimental techniques; new physics at the new accelerators. P/NP or letter grading.
Units: 4.0
Units: 4.0
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Most Helpful Review
Professor Cousins is, concisely, what every college professor should be. His lectures are both articulate and comprehendable; when a mistake or complication comes up in class, he is sure to clarify it in an email or in the following class period. His handouts, homeworks, midterms, and finals are all very well integrated with the lecture and reading material; no question is trivial or beyond the scope of the course, and each reinforces key ideas presented in lecture. Personally, I found him very friendly, knowledgable, genuinely concerned with student learning, and occassionally humorous. In my 4 years as a physics major, I have never been so interested, nor have I ever learned so well in any class as I did in his physics 126 class. If you are concerned with receiving a fair shake, and a real opportunity to learn well, Professor Cousins is THE professor to consider.
Professor Cousins is, concisely, what every college professor should be. His lectures are both articulate and comprehendable; when a mistake or complication comes up in class, he is sure to clarify it in an email or in the following class period. His handouts, homeworks, midterms, and finals are all very well integrated with the lecture and reading material; no question is trivial or beyond the scope of the course, and each reinforces key ideas presented in lecture. Personally, I found him very friendly, knowledgable, genuinely concerned with student learning, and occassionally humorous. In my 4 years as a physics major, I have never been so interested, nor have I ever learned so well in any class as I did in his physics 126 class. If you are concerned with receiving a fair shake, and a real opportunity to learn well, Professor Cousins is THE professor to consider.
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Most Helpful Review
Spring 2025 - I honestly cannot recommend this class enough. Kamaha was a great lecturer, and clearly is very knowledgeable about the material, and the content discussed is very engaging and interesting. The tests are pretty fair, in addition to a large chunk of the test being taken either directly from the slides, homework, or past exams, making an A very achievable in her class. She does occasionally have in-class worksheets (which we do together and take five minutes) which she uses for participation, but she certainly did not want anyone in the class to lose any points for participation (7% of the final grade). Attendance was not the best in class, with roughly half of the class showing up to most lectures (It was at 9am during the spring, but I believe this is not typical for this class), and still at least the lower quartile for attendance in canvas was a 100. Again, the material is lots of fun, and honestly, for me, I enjoyed showing up to class in the morning, since it was a nice chill way to start the day.
Spring 2025 - I honestly cannot recommend this class enough. Kamaha was a great lecturer, and clearly is very knowledgeable about the material, and the content discussed is very engaging and interesting. The tests are pretty fair, in addition to a large chunk of the test being taken either directly from the slides, homework, or past exams, making an A very achievable in her class. She does occasionally have in-class worksheets (which we do together and take five minutes) which she uses for participation, but she certainly did not want anyone in the class to lose any points for participation (7% of the final grade). Attendance was not the best in class, with roughly half of the class showing up to most lectures (It was at 9am during the spring, but I believe this is not typical for this class), and still at least the lower quartile for attendance in canvas was a 100. Again, the material is lots of fun, and honestly, for me, I enjoyed showing up to class in the morning, since it was a nice chill way to start the day.
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