Nuclear Physics From Fundamentals To Frontiers

This textbook is a unique and ambitious primer of nuclear physics, which introduces recent theoretical and experimental progresses starting from basics in fundamental quantum mechanics. The highlight is to offer an overview of nuclear structure phenomena relevant to recent key findings such as unstable halo nuclei, superheavy elements, neutron stars, nucleosynthesis, the standard model, lattice quantum chromodynamics (LQCD), and chiral effective theory. An additional attraction is that general properties of nuclei are comprehensively explained from both the theoretical and experimental viewpoints. The book begins with the conceptual and mathematical basics of quantum mechanics, and goes into the main point of nuclear physics – nuclear structure, radioactive ion beam physics, and nuclear reactions. The last chapters devote interdisciplinary topics in association with astrophysics and particle physics. A number of illustrations and exercises with complete solutions are given. Each chapter is comprehensively written starting from fundamentals to gradually reach modern aspects of nuclear physics with the objective to provide an effective description of the cutting edge in the field.

Nuclear physics deals with the study of atomic nuclei and their constituents. It is a sub-field of physics and is also concerned with the study of many other forms of nuclear matter. It focuses on studying the nuclei under extreme conditions like excitation energy and high spin along with studying the extreme shapes and extreme neutron-to-proton ratios. It primarily aims to study two processes: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. The process in which two low weighted nuclei come in close contact with each other and merge due to strong forces around them is known as nuclear fusion. Nuclear fission is the process by which a heavy nucleus is broken down into two subsequent nuclei. The field finds its application in areas such as nuclear medicine, radiocarbon dating, magnetic resonance imaging, ion implantation, nuclear power, etc. This discipline is an upcoming field of science that has undergone rapid development over the past few decades. The topics covered in this extensive book deal with the core aspects of nuclear physics. It will serve as a valuable source of reference for those interested in this field.

This book introduces the current understanding of the fundamentals of nuclear physics by referring to key experimental data and by providing a theoretical understanding of principal nuclear properties. It primarily covers the structure of nuclei at low excitation in detail. It also examines nuclear forces and decay properties. In addition to fundamentals, the book treats several new research areas such as non-relativistic as well as relativistic Hartree–Fock calculations, the synthesis of super-heavy elements, the quantum chromodynamics phase diagram, and nucleosynthesis in stars, to convey to readers the flavor of current research frontiers in nuclear physics. The authors explain semi-classical arguments and derivation of its formulae. In these ways an intuitive understanding of complex nuclear phenomena is provided. The book is aimed at graduate school students as well as junior and senior undergraduate students and postdoctoral fellows. It is also useful for researchers to update their knowledge of diverse fields of nuclear structure. The book explains how basic physics such as quantum mechanics and statistical physics, as well as basic physical mathematics, is used to describe nuclear phenomena. A number of questions are given from place to place as supplements to the text.

This textbook on nuclear physics will be of value to all undergraduates studying nuclear physics, as well as to first-year graduates.

This book reviews the basic models and theories of nuclear structure and gives an in-depth analysis of their experimental and mathematical foundations. It shows the relationships between the models and exhibits the value of following the strategy of: looking for patterns in all the data available, developing phenomenological models to explain them, and finally giving the models a foundation in a fundamental microscopic theory of interacting neutrons and protons. This unique book takes a newcomer from an introduction to nuclear structure physics to the frontiers of the subject along a painless path. It provides both the experimental and mathematical foundations of the essential models in a way that is accessible to a broad range of experimental and theoretical physicists. Thus, the book provides a unique resource and an exposition of the essential principles, mathematical structures, assumptions, and observational data on which the models and theories are based. It avoids discussion of many non-essential variations and technical details of the models.

This is the second edition of an established textbook on nuclear physics for senior undergraduates and postgraduate students. Professor Heyde has taken the opportunity to make the book more useful for students and teachers by adding an extensive set of problems. To bring the book up to date, he has revised several chapters and added a new chapter on nuclei at the extremes of stability. The book has evolved from a course taught by the author and gives a balanced account of both theoretical and experimental nuclear physics. It is also ideal for researchers wanting an accessible introduction to the subject. Emphasis is given to depth of treatment rather than skimming over topics and there are many diagrams as well as box inserts illustrating particular topics.

This symposium was organized at the B.M. Birla Science Centre, Hyderabad, India, and provided a platform for frontier physicists to exchange ideas and review the latest work and developments on a variety of interrelated topics. A feature of the symposium, as well as the proceedings, is the B.M. Birla Memorial Lecture by Nobel Laureate Professor Gerard 't Hooft. There were participants from the USA, several European countries, Russia and CIS countries, South Africa, Japan, India and elsewhere, of whom some forty scientists presented papers. Spanning a wide range of contemporary issues in fundamental physics from string theory to cosmology, the proceedings present many of these talks and contributions.

Fundamentals of Nuclear Physics gives elementary understanding of nuclear and particle physics. The textbook offers an overview of the subject, providing students with a basic understanding about 1) the atomic structure and the nucleus, 2) equipment such as particle detectors, particle accelerators, and nuclear reactors, 3) radioactivity, and 4) elementary particles. Each chapter provides fundamental theoretical and experimental knowledge required for students to strengthen their concepts. Other key features of the book include: - Structured chapters designed for easy reading and stimulating interest for learners - Sophisticated figures - Thoroughly solved equations - Bibliographic references for further reading - Updated information about different types of nuclear reactors - Information about nuclear astrophysics Fundamentals of Nuclear Physics is suitable for introductory undergraduate courses in nuclear physics as well as more innovative courses geared towards nuclear engineering.