Michele Papucci
Research Professor of Theoretical Physics
B.S., University of Pisa, 2001; M.S., Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, 2002; Ph.D., Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, 2009. Caltech 2019 -.
Research Interests: Theoretical Elementary Particle Physics
Overview
Michele Papucci is a Research Professor of Theoretical Physics at California Institute of Technology. He is a member of the Caltech Particle Theory Group, which studies superstring theory — one of the most promising candidates for the ultimate unification of forces and matter, including gravity — as well as the properties of hadrons described by QCD, cosmology including dark matter and dark energy, and mathematical techniques in quantum field theory.
Related Courses
Ph 230 abc. Elementary Particle Theory.
9 units (3-0-6); second, third terms, 2025-26.
Prerequisites: Ph 205 abc or equivalent.
First term: Standard model, including electroweak and strong interactions, symmetries and symmetry breaking (including the Higgs mechanism), parton model and quark confinement, anomalies. Second and third terms: more on nonperturbative phenomena, including chiral symmetry breaking, instantons, the 1/N expansion, lattice gauge theories, and topological solitons. Other topics include topological field theory, precision electroweak, flavor physics, conformal field theory and the AdS/CFT correspondence, supersymmetry, Grand Unified Theories, and Physics Beyond the Standard Model.
Part c not offered 2025-26.
Instructor: Papucci
Instructor: Papucci