Neutron Physics
When and where: Wednesdays 4-6 pm, 2 EVANS
Format: One 2-hr lecture/seminar session per week (student participation strongly encouraged), bi-weekly homework assignments
Instructor: Professor Dmitry Budker
- Office: 273 Birge, Labs: 203/207, 217, 219, 221, 230, 241, 245 Birge
- e-mail: budker AT Berkeley.edu
- research group web page
Professor's Office hour: by appointment (send e-mail to setup), 273 Birge
Synopsis and goals of the course:
Taking the neutron as a guide, we will venture into various diverse (but all very exciting!) areas of science from elementary nuclear physics to nuclear reactors and bombs, to neutron stars, to the beautiful physics of cold and ultra-cold neutrons, to measurements of the neutron electric dipole moments and the search for T-violation in β decay, to neutron interferometry and the direct demonstration of the fact that a 2π rotation multiplies a spin-1/2 wave function by (-1), to material science with neutrons…
Required text: none
Recommended texts:
- Introductory Nuclear Physics by Kenneth S. Krane (1987)
- Neutron Interferometry: Lessons in Experimental Quantum Mechanics by Helmut Rauch and Samuel A. Werner (2000)
- CP Violation Without Strangeness by Iosif B. Khriplovich and Steve K. Lamoreaux (Springer, 1997)
- Ultra-Cold Neutrons by R. Golub, D Richardson, and S.K Lamoreaux (Taylor&Francis, 1991)
- Neutrons, Nuclei and Matter: An Exploration of the Physics of Slow Neutrons by James Byrne (1996)
- Nuclear weapons: what you need to know by Jeremy Bernstein (Cambridge University Press, 2008)
Grading policy: the grade will be based on the homework, participation, and oral presentation in class
Invaluable resource: questions on organizational aspects of the course may be directed to Ms. Claudia Trujillo of Physics Student Services
Newsflash!
Find out about the most recent Nobel Prizes in Physics!
Lecture Notes, Electronic Tutorials
- Summer School on Fundamental Neutron Physics, NIST Center for Neutron Research, Gaithersburg (2009)
Assorted Physics-Related Links, Web Resources
- Budker group web tutorials
- Physics137A: Quantum Mechanics
- Physics124: Introductory Nuclear Physics
- Physics 250: Selected hot, cool, and ultracold topics in modern atomic physics
- Web Elements Periodic Table
- Nuclear Science Division, LBNL
- Particle Data Group (PDG)
- Radioactivity and radiation protection (from PDG) (pdf)
- Some links that may help you with mathematics
Homework
Oral-presentation topics
- Brief overview of particle accelerators by Eugene S. Evans
- The Chernobyl nuclear accident by David Gee
- The natural nuclear reactor at Oklo (Gabon) by Nicolas Baddour
- The search for the mirror neutron by Shicong Xie
- Superheavy elements by Andrey Shmakov
- Inertial fusion by Eugene S. Evans
- Neutron-activation analysis by Alexis Popkow
- Recent measurements of the neutron mass
- Suggest your own
Acknowledgment and Disclaimer: This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recomendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation (NSF).