Nuclear physics is a vast subject. The following shows the event display from the STAR heavy ion experiment at Brookhaven national lab. Each line shows a particle track in the STAR detector which was produced during a single collision of two Gold nuclei at high energies. We will try to introduce this subject by focussing on the traditional topics of Nuclear physics, the semi-empirical mass formula, the shell model, alpha, beta, and gamma decay etc.
The course grade will be based upon the homeworks submitted during the semester. The final will be a homework style exam. The relative percentage of the final to the other homeworks will be determined as the semester unfolds but is not anticipated to be worth more than 35%
Homework will be an essential part of the course and your grade. Expect homework weekly.
The class meets Tuesday and Thursday in Laboratory Sciences East 205.
Please feel free to contact me at anytime. My official office hours are,
The book is Nuclear Physics: Principles and Applications, by J.S. Lilley. Get it at amazon
You do not have to come to class. But please try.
I will scan the lecture notes and put them here.
| Week 1 | l1 |
| Week 2 | pset1, l2, This shows an expansion of a step function in fourier modes using 1, 2, 3, many terms. fourier |
| Week 3 | particle_box, This shows the expansion of an initial wave function in terms of the eigen functions of the box. 1,2, 3, many. fourier2, This shows the evolution of an initial wave function in time : particle_in_box. fourier_trans, pauli |
| Week 4 | mass1 |
| Week 5 | fermi1, fermi2, fermi3, |
| Week 6 | nuc1 central1 |
| Week 7/8 | problems_3 |