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Aims and objectives

This course aims at giving you an overview over central concepts in nuclear structure, starting with the relevant observables. The course covers different models that are used to describe fundamental properties of atomic nuclei. The following topics will be covered: nuclear masses, binding energies, radii and other observables, nuclear decays, nuclear forces, various mean-field models and single-particle states, spectroscopic factors, pairing and random-phase approximation, the nuclear shell model and various nuclear shapes.

Learning outcome

In order to understand various nuclear observables, we have singled out five major topics which may aid in understanding and interpreting various experiments. These five topics are then strongly correlated with the learning outcomes. To be more specific, we expect you to obtain an understanding of the following quantities that are used to interpret data:
  • Single particle properties and mean-field models
  • Nuclear forces, two and three-nucleon interactions and their applications to nuclear structure
  • The nuclear shell-model
  • Theoretical models like: particle-hole excitations, random-phase approximation and pairing
  • Decays and one and two-body transition probabilities

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    © 2013 PHY981 Nuclear Structure