Intro to LHC Physics - Spring 2026

This is a 21-hour course delivered over seven weeks. Each week consists of a 2-hour lecture and a 1-hour hands-on exercise session, primarily based on ATLAS open data.

This introductory course is designed for first-year Master’s students in particle physics at the University of Geneva (UniGe). Similar material has been presented in previous years, e.g. see here for material in year 2022 (and see here for Open Data material).

When: Wednesdays 8h00-11h00, starting April 15
Where: Sciences I - salle 102
Need more info? Contact anna.sfyrla_at_unige.ch

Course contents:

Week 1: Introduction to the LHC: why and how

What was happening in the particle physics world when the LHC started being discussed? Why was the LHC needed? How did its approval happen? Are there other similar projects?
In LHC physics we use a large number of slang words (luminosity, pile-up, transverse momentum, underlying event, hard scattering, ...). What do these mean?

Week 2: Trigger, data preparation, simulations

The three things you have to understand before starting to talk about LHC physics.

Weeks 3-4: Reconstruction

LHC data is basically made of analogue and digital signals coming from the detector. How is the LHC data reconstructed, i.e. how are these signals translated into objects that we can associate to elementary particles?

Week 5: Data analysis methods through key examples

How are analyses *really* done? A step-by-step guide to few representative examples (measurements and searches).

Week 6: Discussion of LHC results: measurements

Standard model measurements (jets, top, precision measurements of masses, ...) with focus on the higgs boson. (Guest lecturer: Valentina Cairo)

Week 7: Discussion of LHC results: searches

Bump searches, tail searches, non-conventional searches, some tantalising results, and what's next.

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