This book summarizes basic knowledge of atomic, nuclear, and radiation physics that professionals need for efficient and safe use of ionizing radiation. Concentrating on the underlying principles of radiation physics, it covers prerequisite knowledge for medical physics courses on the graduate and post-graduate levels, providing the link between elementary physics on the one hand and the intricacies of the medical physics specialties on the other.
I have been teaching courses on experimental techniques in nuclear and particle physics to master students in physics and in engineering for many years. This book grew out of the lecture notes I made for these students. The physics and engineering students have rather different expectations of what such a course should be like. I hope that I have nevertheless managed to write a book that can satisfy the needs of these different target audiences. The lectures themselves, of course, need to be adapted to the needs of each group of students. An engineering student will not qu- tion a statement like “the velocity of the electrons in atoms is ?1% of the velocity of light”, a physics student will. Regarding units, I have written factors h and c explicitly in all equations throughout the book. For physics students it would be preferable to use the convention that is common in physics and omit these constants in the equations, but that would probably be confusing for the engineering students. Physics students tend to be more interested in theoretical physics courses. However, physics is an experimental science and physics students should und- stand how experiments work, and be able to make experiments work. This is an open access book.
Dramatic progress has been made in all branches of physics since the National Research Council's 1986 decadal survey of the field. The Physics in a New Era series explores these advances and looks ahead to future goals. The series includes assessments of the major subfields and reports on several smaller subfields, and preparation has begun on an overview volume on the unity of physics, its relationships to other fields, and its contributions to national needs. Nuclear Physics is the latest volume of the series. The book describes current activity in understanding nuclear structure and symmetries, the behavior of matter at extreme densities, the role of nuclear physics in astrophysics and cosmology, and the instrumentation and facilities used by the field. It makes recommendations on the resources needed for experimental and theoretical advances in the coming decade.
Describes the fundamentals and applications of gaseous radiation detection, ideal for researchers and experimentalists in nuclear and particle physics.
The principal goals of the study were to articulate the scientific rationale and objectives of the field and then to take a long-term strategic view of U.S. nuclear science in the global context for setting future directions for the field. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter provides a long-term assessment of an outlook for nuclear physics. The first phase of the report articulates the scientific rationale and objectives of the field, while the second phase provides a global context for the field and its long-term priorities and proposes a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond. In the second phase of the study, also developing a framework for progress through 2020 and beyond, the committee carefully considered the balance between universities and government facilities in terms of research and workforce development and the role of international collaborations in leveraging future investments. Nuclear physics today is a diverse field, encompassing research that spans dimensions from a tiny fraction of the volume of the individual particles (neutrons and protons) in the atomic nucleus to the enormous scales of astrophysical objects in the cosmos. Nuclear Physics: Exploring the Heart of Matter explains the research objectives, which include the desire not only to better understand the nature of matter interacting at the nuclear level, but also to describe the state of the universe that existed at the big bang. This report explains how the universe can now be studied in the most advanced colliding-beam accelerators, where strong forces are the dominant interactions, as well as the nature of neutrinos.
Radiation detection is key to experimental nuclear physics as well as underpinning a wide range of applications in nuclear decommissioning, homeland security and medical imaging. This book presents the state-of-the-art in radiation detection of light and heavy ions, beta particles, gamma rays and neutrons. The underpinning physics of different detector technologies is presented, and their performance is compared and contrasted. Detector technology likely to be encountered in contemporary international laboratories is also emphasized. There is a strong focus on experimental design and mapping detector technology to the needs of a particular measurement problem. This book will be invaluable to PhD students in experimental nuclear physics and nuclear technology, as well as undergraduate students encountering projects based on radiation detection for the first time. Key Features Provides clear, concise descriptions of key detection techniques Describes detector types with "telescopic depth", so readers can go as deep as they wish Covers real-world applications including short case studies in industry
"A first-principles discussion of the fundamental neutron interactions . . . the writing is clear, and the explanations stress essential physical principles . . . an excellent survey."—Physics Today "A must for libraries of all universities and laboratories that are engaged in nuclear physics, particle physics, nuclear energy, astrophysics or condensed matter research . . . an outstanding multidisciplinary introduction to the physics and applications of cold neutrons."—Physics World "So many tables, facts and figures . . . the coverage is remarkable."—American Scientist This encyclopedic reference work covers nearly every conceivable aspect of neutron physics. Assembled by an expert in the field, it ranges from the neutron's role as a major element in tests of the standard model of astro-particle physics to its use in nuclear energy generation and the study of condensed matter systems. The multidisciplinary approach includes detailed treatment of strong, weak, and electromagnetic properties of the neutron as well as parallel developments in cosmology and astrophysics. Each subject is placed within its scientific context and receives considerable attention to historical detail.
Understanding of protons and neutrons, or "nucleons"â€"the building blocks of atomic nucleiâ€"has advanced dramatically, both theoretically and experimentally, in the past half century. A central goal of modern nuclear physics is to understand the structure of the proton and neutron directly from the dynamics of their quarks and gluons governed by the theory of their interactions, quantum chromodynamics (QCD), and how nuclear interactions between protons and neutrons emerge from these dynamics. With deeper understanding of the quark-gluon structure of matter, scientists are poised to reach a deeper picture of these building blocks, and atomic nuclei themselves, as collective many-body systems with new emergent behavior. The development of a U.S. domestic electron-ion collider (EIC) facility has the potential to answer questions that are central to completing an understanding of atoms and integral to the agenda of nuclear physics today. This study assesses the merits and significance of the science that could be addressed by an EIC, and its importance to nuclear physics in particular and to the physical sciences in general. It evaluates the significance of the science that would be enabled by the construction of an EIC, its benefits to U.S. leadership in nuclear physics, and the benefits to other fields of science of a U.S.-based EIC.
This comprehensive volume offers readers a progressive and highly detailed introduction to the complex behavior of neutrons in general, and in the context of nuclear power generation. A compendium and handbook for nuclear engineers, a source of teaching material for academic lecturers as well as a graduate text for advanced students and other non-experts wishing to enter this field, it is based on the author’s teaching and research experience and his recognized expertise in nuclear safety. After recapping a number of points in nuclear physics, placing the theoretical notions in their historical context, the book successively reveals the latest quantitative theories concerning: • The slowing-down of neutrons in matter • The charged particles and electromagnetic rays • The calculation scheme, especially the simplification hypothesis • The concept of criticality based on chain reactions • The theory of homogeneous and heterogeneous reactors • The problem of self-shielding • The theory of the nuclear reflector, a subject largely ignored in literature • The computational methods in transport and diffusion theories Complemented by more than 400 bibliographical references, some of which are commented and annotated, and augmented by an appendix on the history of reactor physics at EDF (Electricité De France), this book is the most comprehensive and up-to-date introduction to and reference resource in neutronics and reactor theory.
