Short description An accessible introduction to nuclear and particle physics with equal coverage of both topics, this text covers all the standard topics in particle and nuclear physics thoroughly and provides a few extras, including chapters on experimental methods; applications of nuclear physics including fission, fusion and biomedical applications; and unsolved problems for the future. It includes basic concepts and theory combined with current and future applications. An excellent resource for physics and astronomy undergraduates in higher-level courses, this text also serves well as a general reference for graduate studies.
From the contents Preface to Second Edition.
Notes.
1. Basic Concepts.
1.1 History.
1.2 Relativity and Antiparticles.
1.3 Space-Time Symmetries and Conservation Laws.
1.4 Interactions and Feynman Diagrams.
1.5 Particle Exchange: Forces and Potentials.
1.6 Observable Quantities: Cross-sections and Decay Rates.
1.7 Units: Length, Mass and Energy.
Problems.
2. Nuclear Phenomenology.
2.1 Mass Spectroscopy .
2.2 Nuclear Shapes and Sizes.
2.3 Semi-Empirical Mass Formula: the Liquid Drop Model.
2.4 Nuclear Instability.
2.5 Radioactive Decay.
2.6 ²Decay Phenomenology.
2.7 Fission.
2.8 ³Decays.
2.9 Nuclear Reactions.
Problems.
3. Particle Phenomenology.
3.1 Leptons.
3.2 Quarks.
3.3 Hadrons.
Problems.
4. Experimental Methods.
4.1 Overview.
4.2 Accelerators and Beams.
4.3 Particle Interactions with Matter.
4.4 Particle Detectors.
4.5 Multi-Component Detector Systems.
Problems.
5. Quark Dynamics: The Strong Interaction .
5.1 Colour.
5.2 Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD).
5.3 Heavy Quark Bound States.
5.4 The Strong Coupling Constant and Asymptotic Freedom.
5.5 Quark-Gluon Plasma.
5.6 Jets and Gluons.
5.7 Colour Counting.
5.8 Deep Inelastic Scattering and Nucleon Structure.
Problems.
6. Weak Interactions And Electroweak Unification.
6.1 Charged and Neutral Currents.
6.2 Symmetries of the Weak Interaction.
6.3 Spin Structure of the Weak Interactions.
6.4 W± and Z° Bosons.
6.5 Weak Interactions of Hadrons: Charged Currents.
6.6 Meson Decays and CP Violation.
6.7 Neutral Currents and the Unified Theory.
Problems.
7. Models And Theories Of Nuclear Physics .
7.1 The Nucleon-Nucleon Potential.
7.2 Fermi Gas Model.
7.3 Shell Model.
7.4 Non-Spherical Nuclei.
7.5 Summary of Nuclear Structure Models.
7.6 ±-Decay.
7.7 ²-Decay.
7.8 ³-Emission and Internal Conversion.
Problems.
8. Applications Of Nuclear Physics.
8.1 Fission.
8.2 Fusion.
8.3 Nuclear Weapons.
8.4 Biomedical applications.
Problems.
9. Outstanding Questions and Future Prospects.
9.1 Overview.
9.2 Hadrons and Nuclei .
9.3 The Origin of Mass: the Higgs Boson .
9.4 The Nature of the Neutrino.
9.5 Beyond the Standard Model: Unification Schemes.
9.6 Particle Astrophysics.
9.7 Nuclear Medicine.
9.8 Power Production and Nuclear Waste.
Appendix A: Some Results In Quantum Mechanics.
A.1 Barrier Penetration.
A.2 Density of States.
A.3 Perturbation Theory and the Second Golden Rule.
