The Nucleus Resolved

Structure, Reactions and the Origin of the Elements in 20 chapters — from “How big a nucleus is, and what the mass surface knows” to “What it is used for: medicine, dating and analysis”.

Chapters

  1. How big a nucleus is, and what the mass surface knows
    • Residuals of the semi-empirical mass formula
    • The first Born approximation
    • Form factor, charge radius and the Fermi shape
    • The muonic atom and the isotope shift
    • The refitted mass formula and its residuals
    • Mass-surface derivatives and separation energies
    • Drip lines and the limits of extrapolation
    • Problems
  2. Spin, parity and the electromagnetic moments of a nucleus
    • Coupling two angular momenta
    • Nuclear spin and nuclear parity
    • Allowed multipole moments and the missing dipole
    • The magnetic dipole moment and the Schmidt lines
    • The electric quadrupole moment
    • Hyperfine measurement and resonance methods
    • Problems
  3. The deuteron and what two nucleons do to each other
    • Partial waves and the phase shift
    • The deuteron square well
    • The tensor force from the deuteron's moments
    • Scattering length and spin dependence
    • Isospin and charge independence
    • Saturation and hard core of the force
    • One-pion exchange and the range of the force
    • Problems
  4. The shell model: a mean field, a spin-orbit term and the magic numbers
    • The radial equation in a central potential
    • The mean-free-path paradox
    • The self-consistent mean field
    • The Fermi-gas depth of the well
    • The oscillator and Woods-Saxon wells
    • The spin-orbit term
    • Shell closures from the spin-orbit term
    • Single-particle predictions
    • Pairing interaction and isobaric analogues
    • Summary
    • Problems
  5. Collective motion: the deformed nucleus, vibrations, rotations and giant resonances
    • Where single-particle predictions fail
    • Shape parametrisation
    • Deformation energy of a charged drop
    • The vibrational spectrum
    • The rotational band
    • Nilsson levels
    • Backbending and giant resonances
    • Summary
    • Problems
  6. Decay rates from the golden rule: kinetics closed and alpha decay finished
    • First-order time-dependent perturbation theory
    • The golden-rule decay constant
    • Width and lineshape of a decaying state
    • The general Bateman solution
    • The WKB wave function
    • WKB penetrability of the barrier
    • The preformation factor
    • Hindrance and selection at a shell closure
    • Settled results and the open preformation factor
    • Problems
  7. Beta decay: Fermi's theory, parity violation and the double beta modes
    • The Fermi interaction
    • Beta spectrum and Kurie plot
    • The Fermi function and neutrino mass
    • The ft value and transition classes
    • Fermi and Gamow-Teller transitions
    • Parity violation and the Wu experiment
    • Electron capture and the atom
    • Two-neutrino double beta decay
    • Neutrinoless double beta decay
    • Summary
    • Problems
  8. Gamma decay: multipoles, isomers, internal conversion and the Mossbauer line
    • Multipole operators
    • The multipole transition rate
    • Gamma selection rules
    • Isomers and the shell model
    • Internal conversion
    • Angular correlation and moments
    • The Mossbauer effect
    • Summary
    • Problems
  9. Radiation in matter, computed: Bethe, Klein-Nishina and what they leave out
    • The Bethe formula
    • The Bethe formula at work
    • Stopping corrections and range straggling
    • Electron stopping and radiation
    • Klein-Nishina and the other photon processes
    • Attenuation versus absorption
    • Neutron transport
    • Summary
    • Problems
  10. From a pulse to a number: detectors, resolution and what a spectrum establishes
    • The maximum-likelihood fit of a peak
    • The Ramo theorem
    • Collection defects and shaping time
    • The Fano factor and the resolution budget
    • Timing and coincidence
    • Detector efficiency and response
    • Gamma-spectrum features and their sizes
    • Detection limit and the two spectrometers
    • The resolution budget, settled and open
    • Problems
  11. Dose: kerma, cavity theory, and what energy does to a cell
    • Fluence, kerma and absorbed dose
    • Charged-particle equilibrium
    • Cavity theory and the ion chamber
    • LET and microdosimetry
    • The survival curve and fractionation
    • RBE and weighting
    • Risk models and their evidence
    • Protection practice and internal dose
    • Problems
  12. Reactions: four-vectors, amplitudes and partial waves
    • Invariant kinematics
    • Frame transformation and inverse kinematics
    • The cross section as amplitude
    • Partial waves for reactions
    • The black disc and optical theorem
    • Detailed balance
    • Thick-target yield and excitation functions
    • Partial waves for reactions, settled and open
    • Problems
  13. Reaction mechanisms: resonances, the compound nucleus, direct reactions and the optical model
    • Resonances and the Breit-Wigner formula
    • Slow neutrons and the one over v law
    • The compound nucleus and its decay
    • Direct reactions and spectroscopic factors
    • The optical model and doorway states
    • Summary
    • Problems
  14. Neutrons: the reagent with no barrier
    • The neutron energy regions
    • Maxwellian averaging of thermal cross sections
    • The slowing-down spectrum and lethargy
    • The resonance integral and escape probability
    • Doppler broadening of resonances
    • Capture systematics across the chart
    • Neutron sources, fast-neutron reactions and dose
    • Summary
    • Problems
  15. Beams and the edges of the chart: emittance, heavy ions, high spin and the drip lines
    • Alternating-gradient focusing
    • Phase stability and emittance
    • Radioactive beams by ISOL and in flight
    • Heavy-ion reaction classes
    • Coulomb excitation far from stability
    • Fusion-evaporation to high spin and superheavy nuclei
    • Drip lines and halos
    • Summary
    • Problems
  16. Fission: the double-humped barrier and the shells the drop cannot see
    • Three liquid-drop failures
    • The Strutinsky correction
    • The double-humped barrier
    • Fission isomers and class-II resonances
    • Mass asymmetry of the fragments
    • Scission and energy partition
    • Fission competition in the compound nucleus
    • Spontaneous-fission systematics, settled and open
    • Problems
  17. The reactor as a field equation: diffusion, criticality, feedback and burn-up
    • From transport to the diffusion equation
    • Buckling and criticality
    • Reflectors and flux flattening
    • Six-group kinetics and the inhour equation
    • Prompt criticality and the dollar
    • Reactivity feedback
    • Xenon poisoning after shutdown
    • Burnup and waste, settled and open
    • Problems
  18. Fusion: the cross section computed and the power balance made honest
    • Laplace's method for thermal averages
    • The astrophysical S factor
    • The DT resonance and the choice of fuel
    • The reactivity integral
    • Resonant reactivity and the saddle point
    • The power balance
    • Confinement routes and burn fraction
    • Tritium breeding, settled and open
    • Problems
  19. Stellar burning and the origin of the elements
    • Abundance peaks and the valley of stability
    • The pp chain and the CNO cycle
    • Triple alpha and the Hoyle state
    • Solar neutrinos and the core
    • Big-bang nucleosynthesis and the mass gaps
    • The s-process along the valley
    • The r-process and its waiting points
    • The p-process and abundance curve
    • Problems
  20. What it is used for: medicine, dating and analysis
    • Nuclide specification for a job
    • Generator and production routes
    • Imaging instruments and their resolution
    • Therapy emitter choice and the Bragg peak
    • Radiometric dating and closure
    • Activation and beam analysis
    • The application audit
    • Problems