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Books > Science & Mathematics > Physics > Nuclear structure physics
"There is a nuclear ghost in Minamisōma." This is how one resident describes a mysterious experience following the 2011 nuclear fallout in coastal Fukushima. Investigating the nuclear ghost among the graying population, Ryo Morimoto encounters radiation’s shapeshifting effects. What happens if state authorities, scientific experts, and the public disagree about the extent and nature of the harm caused by the accident? In one of the first in-depth ethnographic accounts of coastal Fukushima written in English, Nuclear Ghost tells the stories of a diverse group of residents who aspire to live and die well in their now irradiated homes. Their determination to recover their land, cultures, and histories for future generations provides a compelling case study for reimagining relationality and accountability in the ever-atomizing world.
Describing the processes in stars which produce the chemical elements for planets and life, this book shows how similar processes may be reproduced in laboratories using exotic beams, and how these results can be analyzed. Beginning with one-channel scattering theory, the book builds up to multi-channel reactions. Emphasis is placed on using transfer and breakup reactions to probe structure and predict capture processes, as well as R-matrix methods for modeling compound nucleus dynamics described by Hauser-Feshbach methods. Practical applications are prominent in this book, confronting theory predictions with data throughout. The associated reaction program Fresco is described, allowing readers to apply the methods to practical cases. Each chapter ends with exercises so readers can test their understanding of the materials covered. Supplementary materials at www.cambridge.org/9780521856355 include the Fresco program, input and output files for the examples given in the book, and hints and graphs related to the exercises.
The tokamak (a doughnut-shaped vacuum chamber surrounded by
magnetic coils) is the principal tool in controlled fusion
research. This book acts as an introduction to the subject and a
basic reference for theory, definitions, equations, and
experimental results. Since the first introductory account of
tokamaks in 1987, when the tokamak had become the predominant
device in the attempt to achieve a useful power source from
thermonuclear fusion, and the developments and advances in the
subject covered in the second edition in 1997, following
substantial research on large tokamaks (the long awaited
achievement of significant amounts of fusion power and the problems
involved in designing and building a tokamak reactor), the emphasis
has been on preparing the ground for an experimental reactor. In
addition, there have been further significant advances in
understanding plasma behaviour, such as the wider experience of
internal transport barriers, the appreciation of the role of
tearing models driven by neoclassical effects and insights from
turbulence simulations.
The first nuclear engineers emerged from the Manhattan Project in the USA, UK and Canada, but remained hidden behind security for a further decade. Cosseted and cloistered by their governments, they worked to explore applications of atomic energy at a handful of national labs. This unique bottom-up history traces how the identities of these unusually voiceless experts - forming a uniquely state-managed discipline - were shaped in the context of pre-war nuclear physics, wartime industrial management, post-war politics and utopian energy programmes. Even after their eventual emergence at universities and companies, nuclear workers carried the enduring legacy of their origins. Their shared experiences shaped not only their identities, but our collective memories of the late twentieth century. And as illustrated by the Fukushima accident seven decades after the Manhattan project began, this book explains why they are still seen conflictingly as selfless heroes or as mistrusted guardians of a malevolent genie.
The book is based on the lectures delivered at the XCIII Session of
the Ecole de Physique des Houches, held in August, 2009. The aim of
the event was to familiarize the new generation of PhD students and
postdoctoral fellows with the principles and methods of modern
lattice field theory, which aims to resolve fundamental,
non-perturbative questions about QCD without uncontrolled
approximations.
Atoms in strong radiation fields are interesting objects for study, and the research field that concerns itself with this study is a comparatively young one. For a long period after the ~scovery of the photoelectric effect. it was not possible to generate electro magnetic fields that did more than perturb the atom only slightly, and (first-or~er) perturbation theory could perfectly explain what was going on at those low intensities. The development of the pulsed laser bas changed this state of affairs in a rather dramatic way, and fields can be applied that really have a large, or even dominant influence on atomic structure. In the latter case, w~ speak of super-intense fields. Since the interaction between atoms and electromagnetic waves is characterized by many parameters other than the light intensity, such as frequency, iQnization potential, orbit time, etc., it is actually quite difficult to define what is exactly meant by the term 'super-intense'. Obviously the term does not have an absolute meaning, and intensity should always be viewed in relation to other properties of the system. An atom in a radiation field can thus best be described in terms of various ratios of the quantities involved. The nature of the system sometimes drastically changes if the value of one of these parameters exceeds a certain critical value, and the new regime could be called super-intense with respect to that parameter.
Taking the reader through the underlying principles of molecular
translational dynamics, Translational Dynamics and Magnetic
Resonance outlines the ways in which magnetic resonance, through
the use of magnetic field gradients, can reveal those dynamics. The
measurement of diffusion and flow, over different length and time
scales, provides unique insight regarding fluid interactions with
porous materials, as well as molecular organization in soft matter
and complex fluids.
Deep Inelastic Scattering provides an up-to-date, self-contained
account of deep inelastic scattering in high-energy physics,
intended for graduate students and physicists new to the subject.
It covers the classic results which led to the quark-parton model
of hadrons and the establishment of quantum chromodynamics as the
theory of the strong nuclear force, in addition to new vistas in
the subject opened up by the electron-proton collider HERA. The
extraction of parton momentum distribution functions, a key input
for physics at hadron colliders such as the Tevatron at Fermi Lab
and the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, is described in detail. The
challenges of the HERA data at 'low x' are described and possible
explanations in terms of gluon dynamics and other models outlined.
This textbook brings together nuclear and particle physics, presenting a balanced overview of both fields as well as the interplay between the two. The theoretical as well as the experimental foundations are covered, providing students with a deep understanding of the subject. In-chapter exercises ranging from basic experimental to sophisticated theoretical questions provide an important tool for students to solidify their knowledge. Suitable for upper undergraduate courses in nuclear and particle physics as well as more advanced courses, the book includes road maps guiding instructors on tailoring the content to their course. Online resources including color figures, tables, and a solutions manual complete the teaching package. This textbook will be essential for students preparing for further study or a career in the field who require a solid grasp of both nuclear and particle physics.
This book is on inertial confinement fusion, an alternative way to
produce electrical power from hydogen fuel by using powerful lasers
or particle beams. It involves the compression of tiny amounts
(micrograms) of fuel to thousands times solid density and pressures
otherwise existing only in the center of stars. Thanks to advances
in laser technology, it is now possible to produce such extreme
states of matter in the laboratory. Recent developments have
boosted laser intensities again with new possibilities for laser
particle accelerators, laser nuclear physics, and fast ignition of
fusion targets. This is a reference book for those working on beam
plasma physics, be it in the context of fundamental research or
applications to fusion energy or novel ultrabright laser sources.
The Physics of Inertial Fusion combines quite different areas of
physics: beam target interaction, dense plasmas, hydrodynamic
implosion and instabilities, radiative energy transfer as well as
fusion reactions. Particular attention is given to simple and
useful modelling, including dimensional analysis and similarity
solutions. Both authors have worked in this field for more than 20
years. They want to address in particular those teaching this topic
to students and all those interested in understanding the technical
basis.
This is the resource that engineers turn to in the study of radiation detection. The fourth edition takes into account the technical developments that continue to enhance the instruments and techniques available for the detection and spectroscopy of ionizing radiation. New coverage is presented on ROC curves, micropattern gas detectors, new sensors for scintillation light, and the excess noise factor. Revised discussions are also included on TLDs and cryogenic spectrometers, radiation backgrounds, and the VME standard. Engineers will gain a strong understanding of the field with this updated book.
Forget everything you thought you knew about reality. The world is a seriously bizarre place. Things can exist in two places at once and travel backwards and forwards in time. Waves and particles are one and the same, and objects change their behaviour according to whether they are being watched. This is not some alternative universe but the realm of the very small, where quantum mechanics rules. In this weird world of atoms and their constituents, our common sense understanding of reality breaks down - yet quantum mechanics has never failed an experimental test. What does it all mean? For all its weirdness, quantum mechanics has given us many practical technologies including lasers and the transistors that underlie computers and all digital technology. In the future, it promises computers more powerful than any built before, the ability to communicate with absolute privacy, and even quantum teleportation. The Quantum World explores the past, present and future of quantum science, its applications and mind-bending implications. Discover how ideas from quantum mechanics are percolating out into the vast scale of the cosmos - perhaps, in the future, to reveal a new understanding of the big bang and the nature of space and time. ABOUT THE SERIES New Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive and accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge, attract debate, invite controversy and engage the most enquiring minds. Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work and why, the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter and their impact on individuals, society, and the planet, translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone, and putting new ideas and discoveries into perspective and context.
This book offers a comprehensive survey of basic elements of nuclear dynamics at low energies and discusses similarities to mesoscopic systems. It addresses systems with finite excitations of their internal degrees of freedom, so that their collective motion exhibits features typical for transport processes in small and isolated systems. The importance of quantum aspects is examined with respect to both the microscopic damping mechanism and the nature of the transport equations. The latter must account for the fact that the collective motion is self-sustained. This implies highly nonlinear couplings between internal and collective degrees of freedom --- different to assumptions made in treatments known in the literature. A critical discussion of the use of thermal concepts is presented. The book can be considered self-contained. It presents existing models, theories and theoretical tools, both from nuclear physics and other fields, which are relevant to an understanding of the observed physical phenomena.
"In an age in which the inexhaustible power of scientific technology makes all things possible, it remains to be seen where we will draw the line, where we will be able to say, here are possibilities that wisdom suggest we avoid." First published to great acclaim in 1986, Langdon Winner's groundbreaking exploration of the political, social, and philosophical implications of technology is timelier than ever. He demonstrates that choices about the kinds of technical systems we build and use are actually choices about who we want to be and what kind of world we want to create--technical decisions are political decisions, and they involve profound choices about power, liberty, order, and justice. A seminal text in the history and philosophy of science, this new edition includes a new chapter, preface, and postscript by the author.
Aage Bohr (1922-2009) was the central artificer of the unification of the independent (shell) - and of the collective (liquid drop) - models of the atomic nucleus. This unification constitutes the basis of what can be called the second discovery of the atomic nucleus, for which Aage Bohr and his close collaborator Ben Mottelson co-shared the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physics.The selected papers of Aage Bohr published in the present volume provide a clear account of Aage Bohr's ideas concerning the finite quantal many-body system. These ideas changed the nuclear paradigm and connected the field of nuclear physics with that of quantum condensed matter physics as well as with Quantum Electrodynamics (QED). It has also inspired a whole generation of theorists and experimentalists, helping to create the 'Copenhagen School of Nuclear Physics' which turned the Niels Bohr Institute into the Mecca for research in this subject during the 1960s and 1970s. The legacy of Aage Bohr's scientific achievements and that of the school he founded are felt to this day in connection with the cutting-edge research carried out at the forefront of nuclear structure and nuclear reaction studies.Remembering the words of the sage that 'We are dwarfs mounted on the shoulders of giants, so that we can see more and further than they', the present volume is an attempt at seeking illumination from Aage Bohr, through the reading of his masterfully written papers, and by reflecting over commonly experienced events. Furthermore, it may help practitioners acquire an overall view of the basis of modern theory of nuclear structure.
Das vorliegende Werk enth{lt wichtiges Quellenmaterial zur Geschichte der Elementarteilchen- und Quantenfeldtheorie aus den 40er Jahren. Die Briefe sind chronologisch eingeordnet und kommentiert. Umfangreiche Verzeichnisse erleichtern den Zugang zu dem reichhaltigen Informationsmaterial, das die Sch-pfer dieser Disziplin w{hrend ihrer Entstehungsperiode miteinander austauschten. F}r jeden, der sich ernsthaft mit der Geschichte der modernen Physik auseinandersetzen will, eine unumg{ngliches Standardwerk.
The third edition of a classic book, Basic Ideas and Concepts in Nuclear Physics sets out in a clear and consistent manner the various elements of nuclear physics. Divided into four main parts: the constituents and characteristics of the nucleus; nuclear interactions, including the strong, weak and electromagnetic forces; an introduction to nuclear structure; and recent developments in nuclear structure research, the book delivers a balanced account of both theoretical and experimental nuclear physics for students studying the topic. In addition to the numerous revisions and updates to the previous edition to capture the developments in the subject over the last five years, the book contains a new chapter on the structure and stability of very light nuclei. As with the previous edition the author retains a comprehensive set of problems and the book contains an extensive and well-chosen set of diagrams. He keeps the book up to date with recent experimental and theoretical research, provides mathematical details as and when necessary, and illustrates topics with box features containing examples of recent experimental and theoretical research results.
This book describes the manipulation of molecular properties, such as orientation, structure, and dynamics, of small molecules and molecular clusters isolated in cold inert matrices by using unprecedentedly strong external electrostatic fields. Manipulation of molecules with controllable external forces is a dream of chemists. Molecules are inherently quantum-mechanical systems, control of which potentially can lead to quantum technology, such as quantum sensing and computing. This book demonstrates a combination of the ice film nanocapacitor method and the matrix isolation technique enabled the application of intense external dc electric fields across the isolated molecules and molecular clusters. Changes in molecular states induced by fields were monitored by means of vibrational spectroscopy. Also, the book presents manipulations of the inversion tunneling dynamics of ammonia molecule and the dislocation of acidic proton in hydrogen chloride-water complex. The book shows that the vibrational spectroscopy with the aid of unprecedentedly strong dc electric field can provide rich information on the electrostatic behaviors of molecules and molecular clusters, which underlie the understanding of intermolecular processes and molecular manipulation.
This book provides a comprehensive look at the state of the art of externally driven and self-generated rotation as well as momentum transport in tokamak plasmas. In addition to recent developments, the book includes a review of rotation measurement techniques, measurements of directly and indirectly driven rotation, momentum sinks, self-generated flow, and momentum transport. These results are presented alongside summaries of prevailing theory and are compared to predictions, bringing together both experimental and theoretical perspectives for a broad look at the field. Both researchers and graduate students in the field of plasma physics will find this book to be a useful reference. Although there is an emphasis on tokamaks, a number of the concepts are also relevant to other configurations.
This book gives an accessible overview of the 70-year history of nuclear fusion research and the vain attempts to construct an energy-generating nuclear fusion reactor. It shows that even in the most optimistic scenario nuclear fusion, despite the claims of its proponents and the billions being spent on research, will not be able to make a sizable contribution to the energy mix in this century. The important consequence is that nuclear fusion will not be a factor in combating climate change, since the race for carbon-free energy will have been won or lost long before the first nuclear fusion power station comes on line.
This book focuses on complex shaped micro- and nanostructures for future biomedical and sensing applications that were investigated by both theory and experiments. The first part of the book explores rotation-translation coupling of artificial microswimmers at low Reynolds numbers. Usually corkscrew shapes, i.e chiral shapes, are considered in such experiments, due to their inspiration from nature. However, the analysis of the relevant symmetries shows that achiral objects can also be propulsive, which is experimentally demonstrated for the first time. In the second part, a new single-particle spectroscopy technique was developed and the role of symmetry in such measurements is carefully examined. Spectra stemming from one individual nanoparticle that is moving freely in bulk solution, away from a surface, and only due to Brownian motion, are presented. On that basis, the rotationally averaged chiroptical spectrum of a single nanoparticle is measured - a novel observable that has not been accessible before.
Magnetic resonance is a field that has expanded to a range of disciplines and applications, both in basic research and in its applications, and polarized targets have played an important role in this growth. This volume covers the range of disciplines required for understanding polarized targets, focusing in particular on the theoretical and technical developments made in dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP), NMR polarization measurement, high-power refrigeration, and magnet technology. Beyond particle and nuclear physics experiments, dynamically polarized nuclei have been used for experiments involving structural studies of biomolecules by neutron scattering and by NMR spectroscopy. Emerging applications in MRI are also benefiting from the sensitivity and contrast enhancements made possible by DNP or other hyperpolarization techniques. Topics are introduced theoretically using language and terminology suitable for scientists and advanced students from a range of disciplines, making this an accessible resource to this interdisciplinary field.
Quantum physics and special relativity theory were two of the greatest breakthroughs in physics during the twentieth century and contributed to paradigm shifts in physics. This book combines these two discoveries to provide a complete description of the fundamentals of relativistic quantum physics, guiding the reader effortlessly from relativistic quantum mechanics to basic quantum field theory. The book gives a thorough and detailed treatment of the subject, beginning with the classification of particles, the Klein Gordon equation and the Dirac equation. It then moves on to the canonical quantization procedure of the Klein Gordon, Dirac and electromagnetic fields. Classical Yang Mills theory, the LSZ formalism, perturbation theory, elementary processes in QED are introduced, and regularization, renormalization and radiative corrections are explored. With exercises scattered through the text and problems at the end of most chapters, the book is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in theoretical physics.
This book presents numerical methods for solving a wide range of problems associated with the structure of atoms and simplest molecules, and their interaction with electromagnetic radiation, electrons, and other particles. It introduces the ATOM-M software package, presenting a unified software suite, written in Fortran, for carrying out precise atomic and molecular numeric calculations. The book shows how to apply these numerical methods to obtain many different characteristics of atoms, molecules, and the various processes within which they interact. In an entirely self-sufficient approach, it teaches the reader how to use the codes provided to build atomic and molecular systems from the ground up and obtain the resulting one-electron wave functions. The computational programs presented and made available in this book allow calculations in the one-electron Hartree-Fock approximation and take into account many-electron correlations within the framework of the random-phase approximation with exchange or many-body perturbation theory. Ideal for scholars interested in numerical computation of atomic and molecular processes, the material presented in this book is useful to both experts and novices, theorists, and experimentalists.
Pulsars, generally accepted to be rotating neutron stars, are dense, neutron-packed remnants of massive stars that blew apart in supernova explosions. They are typically about 10 kilometers across and spin rapidly, often making several hundred rotations per second. Depending on star mass, gravity compresses the matter in the cores of pulsars up to more than ten times the density of ordinary atomic nuclei, thus providing a high-pressure environment in which numerous particle processes, from hyperon population to quark deconfinement to the formation of Boson condensates, may compete with each other. There are theoretical suggestions of even more "exotic" processes inside pulsars, such as the formation of absolutely stable strange quark matter, a configuration of matter even more stable than the most stable atomic nucleus, T56Fe. In the latter event, pulsars would be largely composed of pure quark matter, eventually enveloped in nuclear crust matter. These features combined with the tremendous recent progress in observational radio and x-ray astronomy make pulsars nearly ideal probes for a wide range of physical studies, complementing the quest of the behavior of superdense matter in terrestrial collider experiments. Written by an eminent author, Pulsars as Astrophysical Laboratories for Nuclear and Particle Physics gives a reliable account of the present status of such research, which naturally is to be performed at the interface between nuclear physics, particle physics, and Einstein's theory of relativity. |
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