Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics

This thoroughly revised book, now in its Fourth Edition, continues to provide a comprehensive introduction to this increasingly important area of nuclear and particle physics. It combines coverage of basic concepts, principles and applications, along with the latest developments.

Beginning with the historical developments of the subject, properties and constituents of the nucleus, quantitative facts about nucleus, etc., the book moves on to give insights into nuclear models, phenomenon of radioactivity and its applications in various fields, nuclear reactions including reactions in the Sun and stars, photoelectric and Compton effects, pair creation, differunt particle accelerators and radiation detectors. Full chapter is also devoted to present an extensive discussion on elementary particles and their fundamental interactions, giving their properties, quantum numbers, basic conservation laws controlling particles decays and interactions, and the quark model.

In this present edition, some sections have been revised and enlarged to enhance their comprehension, besides including several new solved and unsolved problems.

The text is designed for the students of B.Sc. (Physics), though it can also serve as introductory review material for M.Sc. (Physics) students.

KEY FEATURES

Contains actual experimental data

Large number of solved problems to help students comprehend the concepts with ease

Provides unsolved problems with answers and review questions to test the students' comprehension of the subject

THE AUTHORS

V.K. MITTAL, Ph.D., has been Professor, Department of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala. He obtained his doctorate in Experimental Nuclear Physics from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1980. Professor Mittal has over three decades of experience in teaching and research and has published more than 70 research papers in national and international journals. He has also authored three books on computational physics and computer simulation. His major research interests are in the areas of nuclear physics, material science and computational physics.

R.C. VERMA, Ph.D., has been Professor and Head, Department of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala. He received his doctorate in Theoretical High Energy Physics from Panjab University, Chandigarh in 1978, and has published more than 120 research papers in national and international journals of high repute. A recipient of Hari Om Ashram Award for his outstanding contributions to theoretical physics, Professor Verma has been visiting scientist in Canada, the USA, Switzerland, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Italy. He has authored seven books on programming languages and computational physics. His areas of research interests are in the areas of particle physics and computational physics.

S.C. GUPTA, Ph.D., has been Professor and Head, Department of Physics, Punjabi University, Patiala. He received his doctorate in Theoretical Physics from the Australian National University, Canberra in 1968. Dr. Gupta has published nearly 60 research papers and has authored books on computational physics and computer simulation. He had a collaborative programme with the Institute of Plasma Research, Gandhi Nagar. His areas of research interest are plasma physics and computational physics.