, Topic Number Nuclear Physics Course code : 3112 ’

Nuclear Physics

 History
 Basic Properties of Nucleus PART

 Nuclear Forces 1
 Nuclear Models
 Theories of Radioactive Decay

Dark Helper

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, Topic Number : 01 Nuclear Physics Course code : 3112

MID TERM History: Starting from Becqurel's

discovery of radioactivity to Chadwick's
neutron.
 1. History Basic Properties of Nucleus: Nuclear
size and mass, nuclear spin, magnetic
 2. Basic Properties of Nucleus dipole and electric quadrupole moment,
nuclear parity, mass defect and binding
 3. Nuclear Forces energy.
Nuclear Forces: Yukawa's theory of
 4. Nuclear Models nuclear forces. Nucleon scattering, charge
independence and spin dependence of
nuclear force.
5. Theories of Radioactive Decay Nuclear Models: Liquid drop model, Shell
model, Collective model and Fermi gas
model.
Theories of Radioactive Decay: Alpha
decay, Beta decay, Neutrino hypothesis,
Gamma decay, and nuclear isomerism.
Nuclear Physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies the building blocks and
interactions of atomic nuclei.
Applications
This includes nuclear power, nuclear weapons, nuclear medicine and
magnetic resonance imaging, industrial and agricultural isotopes, ion
implantation in materials engineering, and radiocarbon dating in geology and
archaeology .

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, Topic Number : 01 Nuclear Physics Course code : 3112

1
History

Starting from Becqurel's discovery of radioactivity to Chadwick's neutron

Henri Becquerel (1852-1908) discovered radioactivity.

Radioactivity: Spontaneous emission of radiation resulting from
1896 disintegration (decay) of unstable nuclei.
Radiation: Energy in the form of electromagnetic waves.
Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), Hanz Geiger (1882-1945) and
1911 Ernest Marsden (1888-1970) conducted scattering of alpha
particles on nuclei
1930 John D. Cocroft (1897-1967) and Ernest T.S Walton (1903-1995)
conducted the first artificial nuclear reaction
1932 James Chadwick (1891-1974) discovered the neutron

2
Basic properties of nucleus

 A nucleus is a bound assembly of neutrons and protons. 𝐴𝑍 𝑋 denotes a nucleus of an atom of the chemical
element „X’ containing „A’ nucleons, of which „Z’ are protons and N = (A – Z) are neutrons. For example,
35
17 Cl denotes a chlorine nucleus with 18 neutrons.
 A = (N + Z) is called the mass number of the nucleus.
 Neutrons and protons are jointly called nucleons.
 Nuclei which differ only in the number of neutrons they contain are called isotopes.
 Nuclei of the same A but different Z are called isobars.

Nuclear size and mass

The actual dimensions of nucleus present in the atom are called nuclear size.
The nuclear size can be determined as
1
𝑟 = 𝑅0 𝐴3
 Where „𝑟‟ is the radius of nucleus
 „𝐴‟ is the mass no. of atom
 „𝑅0 ‟ is constant whose value is 1.5*10-15m
Nuclear mass is the mass of all the nucleons present inside the nucleus. Atomic masses are expressed in
mass units (u), which are so defined that the mass of a 126𝐶 atom, the most abundant isotope of carbon, is
exactly 12 u. The value of a mass unit is
Atomic mass unit 1u = 1.66054 * 1027 kg

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, Topic Number : 01 Nuclear Physics Course code : 3112

Nuclear spin
“An intrinsic form of angular momentum possessed by atomic nuclei containing an odd number of nucleons
(protons or neutrons)”

The nuclear spin is different from the electron spin. The nuclear spin represents the total angular momentum
of the nucleus. It is represents by symbol, ℓ. The nucleus is, although composed of neutrons and protons, but it
acts as if it is single entity which has intrinsic angular momentum.

The nuclear spin depends on the mass number, if the mass number is odd then the nucleus has half-integer
spin like the electron while if the nucleus has even mass number then its spin will be integer spin.

Magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moment

Nuclear parity
If we want to describe the nuclear state (for a nucleus) completely we need to identify its parity. Strong
nuclear interactions will not alter the “parity”. The parity is conserved under strong nuclear interactions. Every
nuclear eigenstate has its own “parity”
Real mathematical functions can be categorized into three types.
1. If 𝑓(−𝑥) = 𝑓(𝑥) then 𝑓(𝑥) is called an “even function”, or a function of even parity.
2. If 𝑓(−𝑥) = −𝑓(𝑥) then 𝑓(𝑥) is called an “odd function”, or a function of even parity.
3. There are functions of mixed parities.
Ex. 𝑓(𝑥) = 𝑥 2 + 𝑥
Parity is the property of a wave function that depends on the result of the operation of inversion in which
all the co-ordinates are reflected through the origin, i.e. 𝑟 → −𝑟
In Cartesian coordinates the inversion results
𝑥 → −𝑥 , 𝑦 → −𝑦, 𝑧 → −𝑧
and in spherical coordinates
𝑟→𝑟, 𝜃 → 𝜋 − 𝜃, 𝜙 → 𝜋+𝜙
In term of quantum mechanical wave functions we may get from the Schrodinger‟s equation solutions of
even and odd parity separely.
𝜓 𝑟 = 𝜓 −𝑟 𝜓 −𝑥, −𝑦, −𝑧 = 𝜓 𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧 Even parity
𝜓 𝑟 = −𝜓 −𝑟 𝜓 −𝑥, −𝑦, −𝑧 = −𝜓(𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) Odd parity
Example
In describing the hydrogen atom we solve the Schrodinger equation and come up the solution which is
written as
𝜓𝑛ℓ𝑚 𝑟 = 𝜓𝑛ℓ𝑚 𝑟, 𝜃, 𝜙 = 𝑅𝑛ℓ 𝑟 𝑌ℓ𝑚 𝜃, 𝜙
where 𝑛, ℓ and 𝑚 are quantum numbers.

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, Topic Number : 01 Nuclear Physics Course code : 3112

𝑅𝑛ℓ 𝑟 is the radial part of the wave function and 𝑌ℓ𝑚 𝜃, 𝜙 is the angular part of the wave function or generally
referred as the spherical harmonics.
In this case
𝜓𝑛ℓ𝑚 −𝑟 = 𝜓𝑛ℓ𝑚 𝑟, 𝜋 − 𝜃, 𝜋 + 𝜙 = 𝑅𝑛ℓ 𝑟 𝑌ℓ𝑚 𝜋 − 𝜃, 𝜋 + 𝜙
𝑌ℓ𝑚 𝜃, 𝜙 = −1 ℓ 𝑌ℓ𝑚 𝜃, 𝜙
Therefore if ℓ = even, then
𝜓𝑛ℓ𝑚 −𝑟 is a function of even parity.
if ℓ=odd, then
𝜓𝑛ℓ𝑚 𝑟 is a function of odd parity.
If all the forces acting on a system of particles are invariant under inversion, it can be shown that parity is
conserved in any time development of the system that may take place. There is strong evidence that
electromagnetic and strong nuclear forces conserve parity and, therefore, wave functions of nuclear states,
which are product of wave functions of nucleons interacting under the influence of these forces will have
definite parity. The parity of a wave function representing a collection of particles will be odd if there is an odd
number of particles with odd parity and even otherwise.

Mass defect and Binding energy

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, Topic Number : 01 Nuclear Physics Course code : 3112

3
Nuclear Forces

Yukawa's theory of nuclear forces

Nucleon scattering

Charge independence and spin dependence of nuclear force.

6 Page MRB Notes