Elementary Particle Physics

The main focus of the Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics group (http://physik.uni-graz.at/itp/gruppen.php) is a deeper understanding of the basic building blocks of matter. It operates since six years the FWF-financed Doctoral Program "Hadrons in Vacuum, Nuclei and Stars" (http://physik.uni-graz.at/itp/doktoratskolleg/).  In this Doctoral Program six Principal Investigators and currently sixteen PhD students are coordinating their research.

The special research topic is the physics of hadrons which are  particles build from so-called quarks (which according to our current knowledge are elementary particles) and hold together by the Strong Interaction. The group Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics is investigating the properties of hadrons in different environments and with different methods. Besides other goals these investigations provide a substantial support to the FAIR project in Germany. In the next years the total investment into this european physics project will be 1.3 billion Euros.

The substructure of the group is according to methods:

Few-body physics:

The very complicated interaction between elementary particles is approximated in so-called constituent quark models by simpler forms.The solution of these models allows then conclusions on the physical relevance of the different components of the interaction.
Contact for further information: W. Plessas and W. Schweiger

Lattice gauge field theory:

In this approach one discretizes space and time and the interaction between quarks is investigated with statistical (so-called Monte-Carlo) methods. Such methods are computationally demanding and require in addition to the physics research the development of sophisticated algorithms.
Contact for further information:
C. Gattringer and C.B. Lang

Strong Interactions in Continuum Quantum Field Theory:

The correlations between elementary particles are studied with the help of functional methods.
This leads to systems of integral, differential and integro-differential equations which are then solved numerically.
Contact for further information: R. Alkofer