In
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...
, phenomenology is the application of
theoretical physics
Theoretical physics is a branch of physics that employs mathematical models and abstractions of physical objects and systems to rationalize, explain and predict natural phenomena. This is in contrast to experimental physics, which uses experi ...
to
experimental data by making quantitative predictions based upon known theories. It is related to the
philosophical notion of the same name in that these predictions describe anticipated behaviors for the phenomena in reality. Phenomenology stands in contrast with experimentation in the
scientific method
The scientific method is an Empirical evidence, empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century (with notable practitioners in previous centuries; see the article hist ...
, in which the goal of the experiment is to test a scientific hypothesis instead of making predictions.
Phenomenology is commonly applied to the field of
particle physics
Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) and ...
, where it forms a bridge between the
mathematical models of theoretical physics (such as
quantum field theories and theories of the structure of
space-time) and the results of the high-energy particle experiments. It is sometimes used in other fields such as in
condensed matter physics
Condensed matter physics is the field of physics that deals with the macroscopic and microscopic physical properties of matter, especially the solid and liquid phases which arise from electromagnetic forces between atoms. More generally, the s ...
and
,
when there are no existing theories for the observed experimental data.
Applications in particle physics
Standard Model consequences
Within the well-tested and generally accepted
Standard Model
The Standard Model of particle physics is the theory describing three of the four known fundamental forces ( electromagnetic, weak and strong interactions - excluding gravity) in the universe and classifying all known elementary particles. I ...
,
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
is the calculating of detailed predictions for experiments, usually at high precision (e.g., including
radiative corrections).
Examples include:
*
Next-to-leading order calculations of
particle production rate
In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.
They vary greatly in size or quantity, from s ...
s and distributions.
*
Monte Carlo simulation
Monte Carlo methods, or Monte Carlo experiments, are a broad class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to obtain numerical results. The underlying concept is to use randomness to solve problems that might be determ ...
studies of physics processes at
colliders.
* Extraction of
parton distribution functions from data.
CKM matrix calculations
The CKM matrix is useful in these predictions:
* Application of
heavy quark effective field theory
In quantum chromodynamics, heavy quark effective theory (HQET) is an effective field theory describing the physics of heavy (that is, of mass far greater than the QCD scale) quarks. It is used in studying the properties of hadrons containing a sing ...
to extract
CKM matrix elements.
* Using
lattice QCD to extract quark masses and CKM matrix elements from experiment.
Theoretical models
In
Physics beyond the Standard Model, phenomenology addresses the experimental consequences of new
models: how their new particles could be searched for, how the model parameters could be measured, and how the model could be distinguished from other, competing models.
Phenomenological analysis
Phenomenological analyses, in which one studies the experimental consequences of adding the most general set of beyond-the-Standard-Model effects in a given
sector of the Standard Model, usually parameterized in terms of anomalous
couplings and higher-dimensional operators. In this case, the term "
phenomenological
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (philosophy), a branch of philosophy which studies subjective experiences and a ...
" is being used more in its
philosophy of science
Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ulti ...
sense.
See also
*
Effective theory
*
Phenomenological model
*
Phenomenological quantum gravity
References
External links
Papers on phenomenology are available on the hep-ph archiveof the
ArXiv.org e-print archive
List of topics on phenomenologyfrom IPPP, the Institute for Particle Physics Phenomenology at
University of Durham, UK
Collider Phenomenology: Basic knowledge and techniques lectures by Tao Han
Pheno '08 Symposiumon particle physics phenomenology, including slides from the talks linked from the symposium program.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phenomenology (Particle Physics)
Condensed matter physics
Experimental particle physics
Experimental physics
Particle physics
Phenomenological methodology
Plasma physics
Theoretical physics