An Introduction To Nuclear Physics. 2nd Edition

Introduction to one of the most fundamental subjects taught to undergraduate physicists. This textbook provides the basis for a "core" course on the physics of the atomic nucleus directed towards second and third year students. The book opens by setting nuclear physics in the context of elementary particle physics. The authors then show how the application of simple models can provide an understanding of the properties of nuclei, both in their ground states and excited states, and also of the nature of nuclear reactions. The book includes chapters on nuclear fission and its application in nuclear power reactors, and on the role of nuclear physics in energy production and nucleosynthesis in stars. In this new edition, the authors were concerned to assert the continuing importance and interest of nuclear physics, and they have taken the opportunity to include several additional topics of current interest: muon-catalysed fusion, the nuclear and neutrino physics of supernovae, neutrino mass and neutrino oscillations, and the biological effects of radiation. A knowledge of basic quantum mechanics and special relativity is assumed, but there are appendices on some other more specialized but relevant topics. Each chapter ends with a set of problems applying and extending the material covered in the text. Outline solutions to these problems are provided.