Basic Concepts of Nuclear Physics

Copyright © 2009 by Jagadish B. Garg.

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Contents

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

CHAPTER 7

CHAPTER 8

AUTHOR’S REFERENCES

OTHER PUBLISHED BOOKS

ON THE TOPIC OF NUCLEAR PHYSICS.

TABLE OF ATOMIC MASSES, ABUNDANCES AND

HALF-LIFE OF DECAY

PREFACE

Nuclear physics is a core subject in physics, and it is quite extensive in its content and importance. This is due to extensive research, which had been carried out by many thousands of scientists all across the world since the discovery of nucleus by Rutherford in 1911 and the vigorous research activity in this field after the discovery of nuclear fission in 1938. This discovery culminated in the making of the atom bomb and later in the pursuit of peaceful uses of nuclear energy all around the world.

The field of nuclear physics was developed by scientists conducting numerous experiments to observe certain facts and later the efforts of scientists to explain these facts by visualization and interpretation with the help of mathematical tools and in particular with the use of quantum mechanics.

To promote the advancement of the field of nuclear physics, U.S. government established various laboratories such as Brookhaven National Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Los Alamos National Research Laboratory. Scientists of many universities conducted research in these laboratories and made important contribution to the field of nuclear physics.

As a consequence, research in the field of nuclear physics was pursued vigorously, and it became the dominant field of research and teaching throughout the world during the years 1950-1985.

At the same time for the pursuit of nuclear energy, many nuclear reactors were installed. A new field of nuclear engineering was established in many universities. Unfortunately, due to few nuclear accidents such as one at Chernobyl in USSR and the other at a three-mile reactor in Pennsylvania in this country, this has raised concerns among the politicians as well as the general public about the safety of nuclear reactors. Consequently, no new reactors were built in the country in the past thirty years. Over the years, the funds for research in the field of nuclear physics became scarce, and it affected the teaching and research of nuclear physics around the world.

Many universities, instead of requiring a full-year course in nuclear physics by graduate students, opted to offer either one-semester survey course in nuclear physics or none for their PhD students pursuing other fields of physics.

Many excellent textbooks in nuclear physics were published during the years 1950-1975, and due to lack of demand for a textbook, many of these books are now out of print.

I have taught a one-semester survey course in nuclear physics for the past twenty years. While teaching this course, I felt the need for a textbook, which could cover the basic topics of nuclear physics in one semester. In recent years, some books have been published combining topics of nuclear physics with particle physics. The research in particle physics has greatly advanced, and many universities are now offering either one semester or a full-year course on this subject. I believe that it is not possible to cover the combined topics of nuclear and particle physics in a one-semester course. Therefore, I have not found such books suited for my survey course in nuclear physics.

The topics covered in my book are nuclear properties, nuclear force obtained from the properties of deuteron and nucleon-nucleon interaction, nuclear structure as discussed in different nuclear models, modes of decay of unstable nuclei, and many types of nuclear reactions and their interpretation. For a one-semester course in nuclear physics, I can only discuss briefly experimental techniques of production and detection of various particles. I have given a brief discussion of application of nuclear physics to some other fields.

I have only quoted references of scientists who are credited with the original ideas or theories, which made important contribution to the field of nuclear physics. I have also quoted references of scientists whose data I have used as illustrations of the concepts of nuclear physics discussed in this book.

This book is written by me alone and is based upon the lecture notes I had prepared from consulting several textbooks on nuclear physics. In my book, I have used significant amount of material from Enge’s book Introduction to Nuclear Physics, an excellent book published in 1965 by Addison and Wesley. I would like to acknowledge with thanks the permission given to me by Mrs. Alice William Enge to use this material in my book. I am also thankful to nuclear theorist, Norman Francis, formerly of Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, for his helpful suggestions, which I have incorporated in my textbook. I will be thankful for any suggestions offered to me by the readers of this textbook. I would like to acknowledge the help of my students, Laxman Mainali, Hassan Mahmood, and Physics Department secretary, Paul LaBate, for their help in typing the manuscript.I would like to thank Muhammad Asim Mubeen for the design of the books front cover.

J. B. Garg

CHAPTER 1

BASIC PROPERTIES OF