NE 101 - NUCLEAR REACTIONS AND RADIATION

Energetics and kinetics of nuclear reactions and radioactive decay, fission, fusion, and reactions of energetic neutrons, properties of the fission products and the actinides; nuclear models and transition probabilities; interaction of radiation with matter. (Fall) Norman

Catalog Description

• 101. Nuclear Reactions and Radiations. Four hours
  of lecture per week. Energetics and kinetics of nuclear reactions
  and radioactive decay, fission, fusion, and reactions of energetic
  neutrons, properties of the fission products and the actinides;
  nuclear models and transition probabilities; interaction of radiation
  with matter.

Course Prerequisites

• Physics for scientists and engineers
  (Phys 7ABC)

Prerequisite knowledge and/or skills

The course uses the following knowledge and
skills from prerequisite and lower-division courses:

• solve linear, first and second order differential
  equations.
• understand and apply the fundamental laws of physical
  chemistry such as the Boltzmann distribution for particles in
  an ideal gas.
• understand and apply the fundamentals of classical
  mechanics, electricity and magnetism and the elements of quantum
  mechanics to idealized representations of the structure of nuclei
  and nuclear reactions.
• understand and apply the fundamental notions
  of probability and probability distributions.

Textbook(s) and/or other required material

• "Introductory Nuclear Physics", K.S.
  Krane, John Wiley and Sons, or Draft, "Nuclear Physics for
  Applications", S.G. Prussin

Course objectives and outcomes

Course Objectives: It is the instructor's
intention to...

• Provide the students with a solid understanding
  of the fundamentals of those aspect of low-energy nuclear physics
  that are most important to applications in such areas as nuclear
  engineering, nuclear and radiochemistry, geosciences, biotechnology,
  etc.
  

  Course Outcomes: Students must be
  able to...

• calculate the consequences of radioactive
  growth and decay and nuclear reactions.
• calculate estimates of nuclear masses and energetics
  based on empirical data and nuclear models.
• calculate estimates of the lifetimes of nuclear
  states that are unstable to alpha-,beta- and gamma decay and internal
  conversion based on the theory of simple nuclear models.
• use nuclear models to predict low-energy level
  structure and level energies.
• use nuclear models to predict the spins and
  parities of low-lying levels and estimate their consequences with
  respect to radioactive decay.
• use nuclear models to understand the properties
  of neutron capture and the Breit-Wigner single level formula to
  calculate cross sections at resonance and thermal energies.
• calculate the kinematics of the interaction
  of photons with matter and apply stopping power to determine the
  energy loss rate and ranges of charged particles in matter
• calculate the energies of fission fragments
  and understand the charge and mass distributions of the fission
  products, and prompt neutron and gamma rays from fission

Topics covered

• Introduction to nuclear reactions and radioactive
  decay - mass and energy balances and decay modes
• Nuclear and Atomic masses - empirical data and
  the semiempirpical mass formula
• Application of the Semiempirical mass formula to
  determine the nuclear mass surface and the general characteristics
  of the energetics of alpha- and beta-decay and nuclear fission
• Application of the Semiempirical mass formula to
  uncover empirical evidence for nuclear shell structure; the magic
  numbers
• Introduction to the facts of quantum mechanics
  and conserved quantities – angular momentum and parity, the
  Schroedinger equation and the particle in the box model
• The Spherical Shell Model - particle motion , angular
  momentum and parity in the spherical potential well and the isotropic
  harmonic oscillator potentials
• The Empirical Shell Model and low-lying levels
  of spherical and near spherical nuclei
• The Electric Potential of Nuclei and Evidence for
  Deformed Nuclei – multipole expansion of the electric potential
  and empirical data on quadrupole moments
• Predictions of the Quantized Rigid Rotor and
  Harmonic Vibrator - comparisons of the idealized models with empirical
  data on rotational and vibrational spectra of deformed nuclei
• Particle Motion in a Deformed Potential - levels
  in rectangular parallelepipeds of square cross section and the
  Nilsson Model. Comparison of model predictions with empirical
  data
• Alpha Decay - energetics and the decay probability
  in the limit of the Gamow model. Comparison of model predictions
  with empirical data. Alpha decay schemes
• Beta Decay - beta decay, positron emission and
  electron capture; the Fermi theory of allowed beta decay; forbidden
  transitions; Fermi and Gamow-Teller decay; empirical beta decay
  schemes and correlations with elementary beta decay theory
  and spherical shell structure
• Gamma Decay and Internal Conversion- multipole
  expansion of the radiation field and qualitative consideration
  of decay probabilities in the limit of the Moskowski and Weisskopf
  models; nuclear isomerism; competing electromagnetic radiation;
  internal conversion in the limit of a simple Coulomb potential;
  nuclear structure and empirical data on gamma decay
• Nuclear Fission - energetics and empirical
  data on mass distributions and shell structure, charge distribution
  of the fission fragments, prompt neutrons and gamma rays
• Nuclear Reactions - reaction types and energetics;
  kinematics of two-body elastic scattering and nuclear reactions;
  applications to moderation of neutrons and the interaction of
  charged particles with matter; direct and compound nuclear reactions;
  resonances and physical plausibility of the form of the Breit-Wigner
  single level formula; the Breit-Wigner single level formula and
  resonances properties of neutron reactions
• Introduction to the Interaction of Charged
  Particles with Matter - derivation of the classical model for
  stopping power; ranges of leptons and heavy charged particles
  in matter
• Introduction to the Interaction of Photons
  with Matter - Thompson scattering, Raleigh scattering; the Compton
  Effect; qualitative discussion of the effect of electron binding;
  form factors and scattering factors; pair production; macroscopic
  cross sections and attenuation coefficients

Class/laboratory schedule

• This is primarily a lecture course.

Contribution of course to meeting the professional
component

• This course contributes primarily to the students'
  knowledge of engineering topics, and does provide design experience.
• Nuclear reactions and radiation central to all
  parts of nuclear engineering, and thus this course is required
  for all NE students.

Relationship of course to undergraduate degree
program objectives

• This course primarily serves students in the department.
  The information below describes how the course contributes to
  the undergraduate program objectives.This course contributes to
  the NE program objectives by providing education in nuclear reactions
  and radiation important for a career in nuclear and bionuclear
  engineering. It does not provide students with direct design experience.

Assessment of student progress toward course objectives

• 12 problem sets: 20%
• Two midterm exams 20% (each)
• Final exam: 40%