An Introduction To Nuclear Astrophysics

Nuclear astrophysics background -- The instruments used to study astrophysics -- Nuclear basics of nuclear astrophysics -- Stellar basics of nuclear astrophysics -- Hydrogen burning -- Advanced stellar evolution, supernovae, and gamma-ray bursters -- Production of the abundant heavy nuclides -- Nucleosynthesis on the proton-rich side of stability, X-ray bursts, and magnetars -- The beginning of the universe.

TO NUCLEAR ASTROPHYSICS The Formation and the Evolution of Matter in the Universe JEAN AUDOUZE lnstitut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France and SYLVIE VA UCLAI R DAPHE, Ohservatoire de Meudon, France and lnstitut d'Astrophysique, Paris D, REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY DORDRECHT: HOLLAND/BOSTON: U. S. A. LONDON: ENGLAND Library of Congre~ Cataloging in Publication Data Audouzc. Jean An introduction to nuclear astrophysics. (Geophysics and astrophysics monographs; v. 18) En!. and updated translation of L'Astrophysique nuclt\aire. Includes bibliographies and index. \. Nuclear astrophysics. I. Vauclair, Sylvie, joint author. II. Title. III. Series. QB464. A9313 1979 523. 01'9'7 79-20752 ISBN-13: 978-90-277-1053-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-9477-5 DO I: 10. 1007/978-94-009-9477-5 Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P. O. Box 17. Dordrecht, Holland Sold and distributed in the U. S. A. , Canada, and Mexico by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Inc. Lincoln Building. 160 Old Derby Street, Hingham, Mass. 02043, U. S. A. All Rights Reserved Copyright © 1980 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1980 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner TABLE OF CONTENTS IX FOREWORD INTRODUCTION xi XXI ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER I / THE OBSERVATIONAL BASIS OF NUCLEAR ASTROPHYSICS 1. 1. The Importance of the Four Fundamental Interactions 1 1. 2.

This book is intended for undergraduate or beginning graduate students. The net outcome is material to cover one integrated course on Nuclear and Particle Physics as well as Astrophysics.There are many advantages in teaching all these subjects together as they have become increasingly inseparable. From a theoretical point of view, understanding the similarities between atoms, nuclei and other hadrons and applying analogs from one to the other have been very effective in research and they have led to the development of all these fields. From an experimental point of view, a high energy experimentalist must understand nuclear physics, if he or she wants to construct new devices, like detectors, etc., appropriate for observing new high energy phenomena. Furthermore, an understanding of certain areas of astrophysics and the physics of the cosmos, demands a good grasp of both nuclear and particle physics.This book is intended as a menu from which the reader can pick material according to his or her taste and interests. The authors inserted proper cross references to make a specific selection by the reader from this menu as easily digestible as possible. The authors supplied sets of problems with varying degree of complexity, accompanied by hints or a sketch of the solution, if needed, in most chapters.

This book fills the need for a coherent work combining carefully reviewed articles into a comprehensive overview accessible to research groups and lecturers. Next to fundamental physics, contributions on topical medical and material science issues are included.

An Introduction to Experimental Nuclear Reactions is a book with a concise and simple approach to the subject of experimental nuclear physics. The subject being very technical, it is dealt with in a lucid way so that the reader can grasp the concept and later gain hands-on experience while doing fieldwork. In this book, theoretical, experimental and instrumentation aspects are covered with an emphasis on accelerator-based techniques, which form the basis for the subject of experimental nuclear physics. Other books on similar topics either concentrate on the physics aspects or are more focussed on the instrumentation and radiation detection techniques while accelerator-related concepts are less explained. One of the main standalone features of the book is its to-the-point approach so that the beginner is not lost in the never-ending details. This book discusses the following aspects: Basic introduction to nuclear reactions Two- and three-body kinematics Accelerator-based experimental techniques Basic aspects of the accelerator and accessories Vacuum physics Radiation detector physics and its associated electronics Theoretical modelling and errors This book is mainly intended for students who aspire to pursue a career in experimental nuclear physics research or work in a nuclear accelerator laboratory. Chinmay Basu, PhD, is a researcher in the field of experimental nuclear physics, and his present interests are in the field of low-energy nuclear astrophysics. He is a professor and head of an accelerator facility at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India.

Covers all the phenomenological and experimental data on nuclear physics and demonstrates the latest experimental developments that can be obtained. Introduces modern theories of fundamental processes, in particular the electroweak standard model, without using the sophisticated underlying quantum field theoretical tools. Incorporates all major present applications of nuclear physics at a level that is both understandable by a majority of physicists and scientists of many other fields, and usefull as a first introduction for students who intend to pursue in the domain.

Die Kernphysik ist ohne Zweifel eines der Schlüsselgebiete der modernen Physik, das nicht nur theoretische Aufschlüsse liefert, sondern auch vielfältige Anwendung findet - von der Nuklearmedizin bis zur Sammlung geophysikalischer und archäologischer Daten. Dieses Standardlehrbuch, gedacht für fortgeschrittene Studenten, behandelt alle Gebiete der Kernphysik ausführlich und anschaulich; in die zweite Auflage wurden aktuelle Kapitel zu Schwerionenreaktionen und zur nuklearen Astrophysik neu aufgenommen. (12/98)

Describes how the processes in stars which produce the chemical elements for planets and life may be reproduced in laboratories.