southampton

Module overview

Students will learn about Nuclear Scattering, various properties of Nuclei, the Liquid Drop Model and the Shell Model, radioactive decay, fission and fusion. By the end of the course, the students should be able to classify elementary particles into hadrons and leptons, and understand how hadrons are constructed from quarks. They will also learn about flavour quantum numbers such as isospin, strangeness, etc. and understand which interactions conserve which quantum numbers. They will study the carriers of the fundamental interactions and have a qualitative understanding of QCD as well as the mechanisms of weak and electromagnetic interactions.

This course provides an introduction to nuclear and particle physics. There are approximately 16 lectures for each section supplemented by directed reading. Lectures delivered using mainly blackboard and with a slight admixture of computer presentation for selected topics.

There will be three problem sheets with respective three sessions devoted to going over these problem sheets. Model solutions will be provided after the problem sheets are due to be handed in. The problem sheets also contain non-assessed supplementary questions usually of a descriptive nature designed for deeper understanding of the material.

Linked modules

Pre-requisites: PHYS1011 AND PHYS2001 AND PHYS2003 AND PHYS3008

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

Nuclear Scattering, various properties of Nuclei, the Liquid Drop Model and the Shell Model, radioactive decay, fission and fusion.
familiarity with the basics of elementary particle physics and particle accelerators and understanding of building blocks of matter and their interactions via different forces of Nature.
flavour quantum numbers such as isospin, stangeness, etc. understanding which interactions conserve which quantum numbers
the students should be able to classify elementary particles into hadrons and leptons, and understand how hadrons are constructed from quarks
This course provides a working knowledge of nuclear structure, nuclear decay and certain models for estimating nuclear masses and other properties of nuclei.
carriers of the fundamental interactions and have a qualitative understanding of QCD as well as the mechanisms of weak and electromagnetic interactions

Learning and Teaching

Study time
Type	Hours
Wider reading or practice	61
Follow-up work	18
Preparation for scheduled sessions	18
Revision	10
Completion of assessment task	7
Lecture	36
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Internet Resources

Online Materials.

The Basics of Nuclear and Particle Physics.

Textbooks

W S C Williams (1991). Nuclear and Particle Physics. Oxford University Press.

R.A.Dunlap (2004). An Introduction to the Physics of Nuclei and Particles. Thomson.

Alexander Belyaev and Douglas Ross (2022). The Basics of Nuclear and Particle Physics. Springer.

D Perkins. Introduction to High Energy Physics. Addison-Wesley.

Francis Halzen, Alan D. Martin (1984). Quarks and Leptons: An Introductory Course in ModernParticle Physics. John Wiley.

Assessment

Assessment strategy

Late hand-ins of problem sheets are not allowed.

Feedback: There will be three assessed problem sheets. All three sheets count for the purposes of assessment, and mitigation for missed problem sheets requires students to make a request to the Special Considerations Board in the usual way.

Model solutions will be provided after the problem sheets are due to be handed in. The problem sheets might also contain non-assessed supplementary questions, usually of a descriptive nature, designed for a deeper understanding of the material.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Problem Sheets	10%
Examination	90%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Examination	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Examination	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External

Nuclei and Particles