There will be no Final Exam for this course.
The course meets on Tuesday and Thursday at 11:30 am on Zoom. An additional meeting time of one hour per week has been scheduled to analyze homework and allow for the make-up of material. Class will start on Tuesday, January 26.
| Instructor: | Willem
Dickhoff Office: Compton 371; Email: wimd@wuphys.wustl.edu Office hours: TBD and by appointment |
| Class | Online on Zoom Tuesday and Thursday 11:30 - 12:45 |
| Homework & make-up section: | Online on Zoom Friday 1:00-1:45 PM |
| Office hour | Online on Zoom Wednesday 2:00-3:00 PM and by appointment |
| Course Textbook: | Basic ideas and concepts in nuclear physics by Heyde, ISBN 0 7503 0980 6, is recommended. Some of the books listed below are available as ebooks. |
| Other useful books: | Additional books that you should consult once in a while
are: Zelevinsky & Volya (ebook) Donnelly et al Thompson & Nunes Bertulani (ebook) Bertulani & Danielewicz Shapiro & Teukolsky (ebook) Siemens & Jensen Wong Bohr & Mottelson I & II (ebook only 1 user at a time..) Ring & Schuck Dickhoff & Van Neck (some material will be provided as necessary) |
The course is defined by the material discussed in the lectures and studied in the reading material. A tentative schedule is given below. It includes the material to read for the corresponding meeting, the material covered, and the assigned homework.
| Reading | Subject material | Meeting date | Homework |
| Ch. 1.1-1.3 | Global nuclear properties | 1/26/21 | -Calculate the energy liberated when
240Pu splits into two 120Ag nuclei (use a
table of binding energies; for example atomic
masses). (due 1/29) |
| Ch. 1.4 | Densities & electron scattering | 1/28/21 | -Calculate the form factor for a Fermi distribution and adjust
radius and diffuseness parameters to get the essence of the
experimental (e,e) elastic cross section for Pb nuclei. Make a plot.
(due 1/29) |
| D1 | Weekly meeting | 1/29/21 | Second quantization |
| Ch. 1.4-1.6 | Angular momentum & moments | 2/2/21 | -Assume that nucleons are confined by
3-D square well of roughly the correct size and depth for 4He
(one
bound state). Determine the ground state wave function and plot the
corresponding density distribution. Calculate the corresponding form
factor and plot its square. (due
2/5) Review: Wigner-Eckart theorem, parity |
| Ch. 1-8 | Nuclear reactions | 2/4/21 | -Select one problem from #4 or #5
(p.91-92 book) and do problem #6 (p.92)
(TBD) |
| D2 | Weekly meeting | 2/5/21 | Wigner-Eckert and parity |
| Ch. 2.1-5 | Decay properties | 2/9/21 | - Do problems #8, #9 (p.93), #20
(p.97) (due x/x as much as possible)
|
| Ch.7 | Liquid drop ideas | 2/11/21 | - Do problem #1(p.312) (due x/x) |
| D3 | Weekly meeting | 2/12/21 | |
| Ch. 7 | Liquid drop corrections |
2/16/21 | - Do problem #3 (p.312) (due
x/x) |
| Ch. 8 | Fermi gas ideas | 2/18/21 | - Do problem #13 (p.315) together with the part of #12 that is suggested. (due x/x) |
| D4 | Weekly meeting | 2/19/21 | |
| Ch. 9.1-4 | Shell model I | 2/23/21 | Optional: study the factorization of the Hamiltonian of the 3D
harmonic oscillator (ask for a copy of my notes if interested). Review
any numerical work you have done related to calculating
derivatives etc. Start thinking about a subject for a
presentation. (due x/x) |
| Ch. 9.4-6 | Shell model II; fermions; antisymmetry | 2/25/21 | Numerical problem: solve the single-particle problem for the
Woods-Saxon potential discussed in class (including spin-orbit
coupling) for neutrons in 208Pb and compare with
experiment. (March project; can
be done together; due date March x and certainly March y) Compare with Bomo_208Pb_levels and make plots of the l=0 bound wave functions. A comparison with corresponding 3D harmonic oscillator wave functions would be useful (with a suitably chosen oscillator parameter) |
| D5 | Weekly meeting | 2/26/21 | |
| 3/2/21 | Wellness day | ||
| Ch. 9.6-7 | Antisymmetry and second quantization Shell model III and isospin |
3/4/21 | Check all the isospin commutation relations not explicitly done in class. (due x/x) |
| D6 | Weekly meeting | 3/5/21 | |
| More on isopin and angular momentum coupling; States in A+/-2 nuclei and excited states | 3/9/21 | Determine the possible values of the total angular momentum allowed by the Pauli principle for 3 neutrons in the d5/2 orbit and compare with the low-lying states in 19O. Same for f7/2 and 43Ca. (due x/x) | |
| Aspects of the nucleon-nucleon interaction | 3/11/21 | For those with spherical tensor experience: demonstrate the equalities shown for S12 in terms of the coupling of two spherical tensors of rank 2. (due x/x) | |
| D7 | Weekly meeting | 3/12/21 | |
| Ch. 3.1-2 | Two-particle quantum numbers and the Pauli principle; Time-dependent PT | 3/16/21 | Calculate the Fourier transform of the Yukawa potential using
contour integration (due x/x
or x/y) Generate a few more T=0 and T=1 nucleon-nucleon channels beyond the ones shown in class (due x/x) |
| Ch. 5.1-3 | Beta decay I | 3/18/21 | Problems #3 and #6 on p. 235 (due
x/x) |
| D8 | Weekly meeting | 3/19/21 | |
| Ch. 5.3-4 | Beta decay II | 3/23/21 | Problem #10 on p. 236 (due
x/x) |
| Ch. 5.4-5 | Beta decay III | 3/25/21 | |
| D9 | Weekly meeting | 3/26/21 | |
| Ch. 6.1-3 | Gamma decay I Quantization of the free electromagnetic field and coupling to charges | 3/30/21 | |
| Ch. 6.3 | Gamma decay II & Inelastic electron scattering | 4/1/21 | Check on the missing derivations of the quantization of the EM
field and the longitudinal response function (due
x/x) |
| D10 | Weekly meeting | ||
| Ch. 10.1-3 | Hartree-Fock | 4/6/21 | Check the matrix elements that lead to the Hartree-Fock equations (due x/x) |
| Ch. 10.3 | Knockout reactions | 4/8/21 | |
| D11 | Weekly meeting | 4/9/21 | |
| Chs. 6 & 10 | Beyond HF | 4/13/21 | Prepare |
| Ch. 11.1-3 | Excited states RPA | 4/15/21 | presentation |
| D12 | Weekly meeting | 4/16/21 | |
| Giant resonances | 4/20/21 | during |
|
| Giant resonances; Shell model | 4/22/21 | this | |
| D13 | Weekly meeting | 4/23/21 | |
| Ch. 11 | Aspects of nuclear pairing | 4/27/21 | period |
| current states of SRC & LRC | 4/29/21 | ||
| D14 | Weekly meeting | 4/30/21 | |
| Dispersive Optical Model |
5/4/21 | ||
| Presentations | Student talks | 5/11/21 | 10-12:30 |
Course material is represented by material covered in class and by reading assignments in the textbook or equivalent material. To avoid unnecessary duplication, reading material is required study material before class meeting and appropriate homework must be attempted. Review of homework during weekly meetings presented by students. A presentation is required on a related topic that is not the subject of your research activities. Class participation and attendance is essential and therefore mandatory.
FORMAT OF COURSE:
COURSE GRADE 477/542:
- Two meetings per week on Zoom.
- One homework/review meeting every week on Friday 1-2pm.
- Reading assignment for each class. Homework assignment for each class. Appropriate review of reading material during class mostly in lecture (perhaps some discussion) format. Homework can be discussed during class time and is reviewed during weekly sessions.
- 2 or 3 Computer assignments. Can be done in groups of 2.
- No written exams!
- A 25/30-minute presentation on material of a closely related topic. Attendance at all talks by other students is also required. This talk should include a motivation, a discussion of the method of solution and experimental data (where appropriate), a discussion of the results, and a summary plus conclusions of the presented material. A slide presentation is expected.
- Exit interview to assess understanding
| Homework: | Students are encouraged to form study groups and discuss the homework with each other, but each student must present his or her own solutions. You will be asked to demonstrate solution strategies of homework problems during the extra weekly session. |
| Numerical homework assigned so far: | |
| Assignment #1 | |
| Additional handouts: | |
| Slides |
During the evaluation period you can supply your evaluation of the course at the course evaluation website.