This is an interuniversity course. At the UvA the course is listed with the title: Particles and Fields. In this course we investigate the structure and manifestations of (non-abelian) gauge theories. The Standard Model is an example, but we will often take a more general view. We begin with a general discussion of global and local symmetries, and the construction of non-abelian gauge theories. Then we discuss their quantization: gauge-fixing, ghosts and Feynman rules. The enables a treatment of renormalization, the property of asymptotic freedom, and the decoupling of heavy degrees of freedom. We then discuss some applications for Quantum Chromodynamics at the one-loop level. This is followed by an in-depth treatment of spontaneous symmetry breaking for both global and local symmetries, and the Higgs mechanism. The Standard Model is introduced, and some of its phenomenology is discussed. When time permits, the course will be concluded by a discussion of chiral anomalies, and some outlook beyond the Standard Model.

See also:

http://www.phys.uu.nl/~bdewit/teaching.htm