Nuclear physics

Nuclear physics is the branch of physics concerned with the nucleus of the atom. It has three main aspects: probing the fundamental particles (protons and neutrons) and their interactions, classifying and interpreting the properties of nuclei, and providing technological advances.

History

Once the chemists of the 18th century had elucidated the kinds of atoms, the rules governing their combinations in matter, and their systematic classification (Mendeleev's periodic table of elements), it was natural that the next step would be a study of the fundamental properties of individual atoms of the various elements, an activity that we would today classify as atomic physics. These studies led to the discovery in 1896 by Becquerel of the radioactivity of certain species of atoms and to the further identification of radioactive substances by the Curies in 1898. Rutherford next took up the study of these radiations and their properties; once he had achieved an understanding of the nature of the radiations, he turned them around and used them as probes of the atoms themselves. In the process he proposed in 1911 the existence of the atomic nucleus, the confirmation of which (through the painstaking experiments of Geiger and Marsden) provided a new branch of science, nuclear physics. Investigations into the properties of the nucleus have continued from Rutherford's time to the present. In the 1940s and 1950s, it was discovered that there was yet another level of structure even more fundamental than the nucleus, which is itself composed of protons and neutrons. Thus nuclear physics can be regarded as the descendant of chemistry and atomic physics and in turn the progenitor of particle physics.

Experiments with nuclei continue to contribute to the understanding of basic interactions. Investigation of nuclear properties and the laws governing the structure of nuclei is an active and productive area of research, and practical applications, such as nuclear power, smoke detectors, cardiac pacemakers, and medical imaging devices, have become common.

See also

• Important publications in nuclear physics
• Nuclear fission
• Nuclear fusion
• Nuclear reactions
• Radioactivity
• Radioactive decay
• Nuclear force

• Models of the nucleus
  • Interacting boson model
  • Liquid drop model
  • Shell model

Applications

• Mossbauer effect
• Nuclear technology
• Nuclear engineering
• Nuclear magnetic resonance
• Nuclear medicine
• Nuclear power
• Nuclear weapons

External links

• SCK.CEN Belgian Nuclear Research Centre Mol, Belgium
• A Free E-Learning Course on Nuclear Physics

References

• Kenneth S. Krane, "Introductory Nuclear Physics", Wiley & Sons (1988).