‚Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics'

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

‚Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics' WS2010/11: ‚‚IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn ttoo NNuucclleeaarr aanndd PPaarrttiiccllee PPhhyyssiiccss‘‘ Lectures: Elena Bratkovskaya Thursday, 14:00-16:15 Room: Phys_ 2.216 Office: FIAS 3.401; Phone: 069-798-47523 E-mail: [email protected] Script of lectures + tasks for homework: http://th.physik.uni-frankfurt.de/~brat/index.html 1 LLiitteerraattuurree 1) Walter Greiner, Joachim A. Maruhn, „Nuclear models“; ISBN 3-540-59180-X Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg New York 2) „Particles and Nuclei. An Introduction to the Physical Concepts“ Bogdan Povh, Klaus Rith, Christoph Scholz, and Frank Zetsche - 2006 http://books.google.com/books?id=XyW97WGyVbkC&lpg=PR1&ots=zzIVa2OptV&dq=Bogdan%20Povh%2C%20Klaus%20Rith%2C%20Christoph%20Scholz%2C%20and%20Fr ank%20Zetsche&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false 3) "Introduction to nuclear and particle physics" Ashok Das, Thomas Ferbel - 2003 http://books.google.de/books?id=E39OogsP0d4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=related:ISBN0521621968&lr=#v=onepage&q&f=false 4) "Elementary particles" Ian Simpson Hughes - 1991 http://books.google.de/books?id=JN6qlZlGUG4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=related:ISBN0521621968&lr=#v=onepage&q&f=false 5) "Particles and nuclei: an introduction to the physical concepts" Bogdan Povh, Klaus Rith - 2004 http://books.google.de/books?id=rJe4k8tkq7sC&printsec=frontcover&dq=related:ISBN0521621968&lr=#v=onepage&q&f=false 6) "Particle physics" Brian Robert Martin, Graham Shaw - 2008 http://books.google.de/books?id=whIbrWJdEJQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=related:ISBN0521621968&lr=#v=onepage&q&f=false 7) "Nuclear and particle physics" Brian Robert Martin - 2009 http://books.google.de/books?id=ws8QZ2M5OR8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=related:ISBN0521621968&lr=#v=onepage&q&f=false 3 LLeeccttuurree 11 IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn:: uunniittss,, ssccaalleess eettcc.. NNuucclleeaarr mmooddeellss WS2010/11: ‚Introduction to Nuclear and Particle Physics‘ 4 SSccaalleess iinn tthhee UUnniivveerrssee 5 SSccaalleess iinn nnuucclleeaarr pphhyyssiiccss 6 PPhhyyssiiccaall uunniittss Common unit for length and energy: •• Length: fm (Fermi) – femtometer 1 fm = 10-15m =10-13 cm corresponds approximately to the size of the proton •• Energy: eV – electron volt 1 eV = 1.602.10-19 J is the energy gained by a particle with charge 1e by traversing a potential difference of 1V Prefixes for the decimal multiples: 1keV = 103 eV; 1MeV = 106 eV; 1GeV = 109 eV; 1TeV= 1012 eV •• Units for particle masses: MeV/c2 or GeV/c2 according to the mass-energy relation: E=mc2, the total energy E2=mc2+p2c2 ° speed of light in vacuum c=299 792 458 m/s ° Correspondence to the International System of Units (SI): 1MeV/ c2 = 1.783 .10-30 kg 7 SSyysstteemm ooff uunniittss iinn eelleemmeennttaarryy ppaarrttiiccllee pphhyyssiiccss Length and energy scales are connected by the uncertainty principle: The Planck constant h is a physical constant reflecting the sizes of quanta in quantum mechanics the reduced Planck constant : Unit system used in elementary particle physics: identical determination for masses, momentum, energy, inverse length and inverse time [m]=[p]=[E]=[1/L]=[1/t]= keV, MeV,… Typical masses: •• photon mγ=0 •• neutrino mν < 1 eV −31 •• electron me=511 keV (= 9.10938215×10 kg) −27 8 •• nucleon (proton, neutron) mp=938 MeV (=1.672621637×10 kg) AAnngguullaarr mmoommeennttuumm C Spin – S The spin angular momentum S of any physical system is quantized. The allowed values of S are: S = > s(s +1) Spin quantum numbers s is n/2, where n can be any non-negative integer: 1 3 s = 0, ,1, ,2,... 2 2 C Orbital angular momentum (or rotational momentum) – L Orbital angular momentum can only take on integer quantum numbers L = 0,1,2,... C C C Total angular momentum: J = S + L For each J exist 2J+1 projections of the angular momentum 9 SSttaattiissttiiccss:: ffeerrmmiioonnss aanndd bboossoonnss System of N particles: 1,2,…,N Wavefunction: Symmetry: Replace two particles: 1 2 Phase factor C (C2=1): •• Bosons: C= +1 •• Fermions: C= -1 Spin-statistics theorem: •• fermions have a half integer spin (1/2, 3/2, 5/2, …) •• bosons have an integer spin (0, 1, 2, …) E.g.: Bosons: photons (γ) J=1, pions (π) J=0 Fermions: e,µ,ν,p,n J=1/2, ∆-resonance J=3/2 10 EElleeccttrriicc cchhaarrggee aanndd ddiippoollee mmoommeenntt °° The electric charge is quantized : quanta – e the fine-structure constant as: 0 is the electric constant. In particle physics 0=1, so °° The Bohr magneton and the nuclear magneton are the physical constants and natural units which are used to describe the magnetic properties (magnetic dipole moment) of the electron and atomic nuclei respectively. Bohr magneton B (in SI units) : −24 B = 9.27400915×10 J/T −5 µe = 1.001159652 µB = 5.7883817555×10 eV/T < by factor 1836 nuclear magneton N : N B proton: p= 2.79 N neutron: n= -1.91 N ~ -2/3 p 11 FFuunnddaammeennttaall iinntteerraaccttiioonnss Interaction Current Theory Mediators Relative Range Strength (m) Strong Quantum chromodynamics(QCD) gluons 1038 10−15 Electromagnetic Quantum electrodynamics(QED) photons 1036 Weak Electroweak Theory W and Z bosons 1025 10−18 Gravitation General Relativity(GR) gravitons 1 (not yet discovered) Particle Electromagnetic Week Strong Statistic interraction interraction interraction Photon + (+) B Lepton + + F Baryon + + + F Meson + + + B B=Bosons F=Fermions Quarks + + + F Gluons + B 12 SSttrruuccttuurree ooff aattoommss ((hhiissttoorryy)) The existance of atomic nucleus was discovered in 1911 by Ernest Rutherford, Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden leads to the downfall of the plum pudding model (J.J. Thomson) of the atom, and the development of the Rutherford (or planetary) model. J.J. Thomson (1904) ‚plum pudding model‘ : the atom is composed of electrons surrounded by a soup of uniformly distributed positive charge (protons) to balance the electrons' negative charges Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937) Experiment 1909-1911: Rutherford bombarded gold foils with α-particles (ionized helium atom) α-particles Observed results: a small portion of Expected results from plum pudding the particles were deflected by large model : alpha particles passing through angles, indicating a small, concentrated the atom practically undisturbed. the atom practically undisturbed. positive charge ‚core‘ positive charge ‚core‘ 13 NNuucclleeaarr mmooddeellss Rutherford (or planetary) model: the atom has very small positive 'core' – nucleus - containing protons with negatively charged electrons orbiting around it (as a solar sytem - planets around the sun). the atom is 99.99% empty space ! The nucleus is approximately 100,000 times smaller than the atom. The diameter of the nucleus is in the range of 1.75 fm (1.75×10−15 m) for hydrogen (the diameter of a single proton) to about 15 fm for the heaviest atoms Experimental discovery of the neutrons – James Chadwick in 1932 (the existance of neutral particles (neutrons) has been predicted by Rutherford in 1921) Experimentally found:: The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons Neutron: charge = 0, spin 1/2 mn=939.56 MeV (mp=938.27 MeV) − Mean life time τn = 885.7 s ~ 15 minutes n → p + e +ν e 14 NNuucclleeaarr ffoorrccee The atomic nucleus consists of protons and neutrons (two types of baryons) bound by the nuclear force (also known as the residual strong force). The baryons are further composed of subatomic fundamental particles known as quarks bound by the strong interaction. The residual strong force is a minor residuum of the strong interaction which binds quarks together to form protons and neutrons. Properties of nuclear forces : 1. Nuclear forces are short range forces. For a distance of the order of 1 fm they are quite strong. It has to be strong to overcome the electric repulsion between the positively charged protons. 2. Magnitude of nuclear force is the same for n-n, n-p and p-p as it is charge independent. 3. These forces show the property of saturation. It means each nucleon interacts only with its immediate neighbours. 4. These forces are spin dependent forces. 5. Nuclear forces do not obey an inverse square law (1/r2). They are non-central non-conservative forces (i.e. a noncentral or tensor component of the force does not conserve orbital angular momentum, which is a constant of motion under central forces). 15 NNuucclleeaarr YYuukkaawwaa ppootteennttiiaall Interactions between the particles must be carried by some quanta of interactions, e.g. a photon for the electromagnetic force. Hideki Yukawa (1907–1981): Nuclear force between two nucleons can be considered as the result of exchanges of virtual mesons (pions) between them. Yukawa potential (also called a screened Coulomb potential): e−mr V(r) = −g2 r Yukawa potential with a hard core: where g is the coupling constant (strength of interraction). repulsive core Since the field quanta (pions) are massive (m) the nuclear force has a certain range, i.e. V0 for large r. At distances of a few fermi, the force between two nucleons is weakly attractive, indicated by a negative potential. At distances below 1 fermi (rN ~1.12 fm): the force becomes attraction strongly repulsive (repulsive core), preventing nucleons merging. The core relates to the quark structure of the nucleons. 16 GGlloobbaall PPrrooppeerrttiieess ooff NNuucclleeii A - mass number gives the number of nucleons in the nucleus Z - number of protons in the nucleus (atomic number) N – number of neutrons in the nucleus A = Z + N A In nuclear physics, nucleus is denoted as Z X , where X is the chemical symbol of the 1 12 197 element, e.g. 1 H − hydrogen, 6 C − carbon, 79 Au− gold Different combinations of
Recommended publications
  • Fermi- Dirac Statistics
    Prof. Surajit Dhara Guest Teacher, Dept. Of Physics, Narajole Raj College GE2T (Thermal physics and Statistical Mechanics) , Topic :- Fermi- Dirac Statistics Fermi- Dirac Statistics Basic features: The basic features of the Fermi-Dirac statistics: 1. The particles are all identical and hence indistinguishable. 2. The fermions obey (a) the Heisenberg’s uncertainty relation and also (b) the exclusion principle of Pauli. 3. As a consequence of 2(a), there exists a number of quantum states for a given energy level and because of 2(b) , there is a definite a priori restriction on the number of fermions in a quantum state; there can be simultaneously no more than one particle in a quantum state which would either remain empty or can at best contain one fermion. If , again, the particles are isolated and non-interacting, the following two additional condition equations apply to the system: ∑ ; Thermodynamic probability: Consider an isolated system of N indistinguishable, non-interacting particles obeying Pauli’s exclusion principle. Let particles in the system have energies respectively and let denote the degeneracy . So the number of distinguishable arrangements of particles among eigenstates in the ith energy level is …..(1) Therefore, the thermodynamic probability W, that is, the total number of s eigenstates of the whole system is the product of ……(2) GE2T (Thermal physics and Statistical Mechanics), Topic :- Fermi- Dirac Statistics: Circulated by-Prof. Surajit Dhara, Dept. Of Physics, Narajole Raj College FD- distribution function : Most probable distribution : From eqn(2) above , taking logarithm and applying Stirling’s theorem, For this distribution to represent the most probable distribution , the entropy S or klnW must be maximum, i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • B2.IV Nuclear and Particle Physics
    B2.IV Nuclear and Particle Physics A.J. Barr February 13, 2014 ii Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Nuclear 3 2.1 Structure of matter and energy scales . 3 2.2 Binding Energy . 4 2.2.1 Semi-empirical mass formula . 4 2.3 Decays and reactions . 8 2.3.1 Alpha Decays . 10 2.3.2 Beta decays . 13 2.4 Nuclear Scattering . 18 2.4.1 Cross sections . 18 2.4.2 Resonances and the Breit-Wigner formula . 19 2.4.3 Nuclear scattering and form factors . 22 2.5 Key points . 24 Appendices 25 2.A Natural units . 25 2.B Tools . 26 2.B.1 Decays and the Fermi Golden Rule . 26 2.B.2 Density of states . 26 2.B.3 Fermi G.R. example . 27 2.B.4 Lifetimes and decays . 27 2.B.5 The flux factor . 28 2.B.6 Luminosity . 28 2.C Shell Model § ............................. 29 2.D Gamma decays § ............................ 29 3 Hadrons 33 3.1 Introduction . 33 3.1.1 Pions . 33 3.1.2 Baryon number conservation . 34 3.1.3 Delta baryons . 35 3.2 Linear Accelerators . 36 iii CONTENTS CONTENTS 3.3 Symmetries . 36 3.3.1 Baryons . 37 3.3.2 Mesons . 37 3.3.3 Quark flow diagrams . 38 3.3.4 Strangeness . 39 3.3.5 Pseudoscalar octet . 40 3.3.6 Baryon octet . 40 3.4 Colour . 41 3.5 Heavier quarks . 43 3.6 Charmonium . 45 3.7 Hadron decays . 47 Appendices 48 3.A Isospin § ................................ 49 3.B Discovery of the Omega § ......................
    [Show full text]
  • Particle Production at Small-X in Deep Inelastic Scattering Dajing Wu Iowa State University
    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2014 Particle production at small-x in deep inelastic scattering Dajing Wu Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Physics Commons Recommended Citation Wu, Dajing, "Particle production at small-x in deep inelastic scattering" (2014). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 13846. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/13846 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Particle production at small-x in deep inelastic scattering by Dajing Wu A dissertation submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Major: Nuclear Physics Program of Study Committee: Kirill Tuchin, Major Professor James Vary Marzia Rosati Kerry Whisnant Alexander Roitershtein Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2014 Copyright © Dajing Wu, 2014. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this thesis to my father, Xianggui Wu, and my mother, Wenfang Tang. Without their encouragement and support, I could not have completed such work. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES . vi ABSTRACT . x ACKNOWLEGEMENT . xi PART I Theoretical foundations for small-x physics1 CHAPTER 1. QCD as a theory for strong interactions . 2 1.1 QCD Lagrangian . .2 1.2 Perturbative QCD . .2 1.3 Light-cone perturbation theory .
    [Show full text]
  • Lecture 24. Degenerate Fermi Gas (Ch
    Lecture 24. Degenerate Fermi Gas (Ch. 7) We will consider the gas of fermions in the degenerate regime, where the density n exceeds by far the quantum density nQ, or, in terms of energies, where the Fermi energy exceeds by far the temperature. We have seen that for such a gas μ is positive, and we’ll confine our attention to the limit in which μ is close to its T=0 value, the Fermi energy EF. ~ kBT μ/EF 1 1 kBT/EF occupancy T=0 (with respect to E ) F The most important degenerate Fermi gas is 1 the electron gas in metals and in white dwarf nε()(),, T= f ε T = stars. Another case is the neutron star, whose ε⎛ − μ⎞ exp⎜ ⎟ +1 density is so high that the neutron gas is ⎝kB T⎠ degenerate. Degenerate Fermi Gas in Metals empty states ε We consider the mobile electrons in the conduction EF conduction band which can participate in the charge transport. The band energy is measured from the bottom of the conduction 0 band. When the metal atoms are brought together, valence their outer electrons break away and can move freely band through the solid. In good metals with the concentration ~ 1 electron/ion, the density of electrons in the electron states electron states conduction band n ~ 1 electron per (0.2 nm)3 ~ 1029 in an isolated in metal electrons/m3 . atom The electrons are prevented from escaping from the metal by the net Coulomb attraction to the positive ions; the energy required for an electron to escape (the work function) is typically a few eV.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 13 Ideal Fermi
    Chapter 13 Ideal Fermi gas The properties of an ideal Fermi gas are strongly determined by the Pauli principle. We shall consider the limit: k T µ,βµ 1, B � � which defines the degenerate Fermi gas. In this limit, the quantum mechanical nature of the system becomes especially important, and the system has little to do with the classical ideal gas. Since this chapter is devoted to fermions, we shall omit in the following the subscript ( ) that we used for the fermionic statistical quantities in the previous chapter. − 13.1 Equation of state Consider a gas ofN non-interacting fermions, e.g., electrons, whose one-particle wave- functionsϕ r(�r) are plane-waves. In this case, a complete set of quantum numbersr is given, for instance, by the three cartesian components of the wave vector �k and thez spin projectionm s of an electron: r (k , k , k , m ). ≡ x y z s Spin-independent Hamiltonians. We will consider only spin independent Hamiltonian operator of the type ˆ 3 H= �k ck† ck + d r V(r)c r†cr , �k � where thefirst and the second terms are respectively the kinetic and th potential energy. The summation over the statesr (whenever it has to be performed) can then be reduced to the summation over states with different wavevectork(p=¯hk): ... (2s + 1) ..., ⇒ r � �k where the summation over the spin quantum numberm s = s, s+1, . , s has been taken into account by the prefactor (2s + 1). − − 159 160 CHAPTER 13. IDEAL FERMI GAS Wavefunctions in a box. We as- sume that the electrons are in a vol- ume defined by a cube with sidesL x, Ly,L z and volumeV=L xLyLz.
    [Show full text]
  • Recitation 8 Notes
    3.024 Electrical, Optical, and Magnetic Properties of Materials Spring 2012 Recitation 8 Notes Overview 1. Electronic Band Diagram Review 2. Spin Review 3. Density of States 4. Fermi-Dirac Distribution 1. Electronic Band Diagram Review Considering 1D crystals with periodic potentials of the form: ( ) ∑ n a Here where is an integer, is the crystal lattice constant, and is the reciprocal space lattice constant. The Schrodinger equation for these systems has a general solution of the form: ( ) ∑ Upon substitution of this solution into Schrodinger’s equation, the following Central Equation is found: ( ) ∑ This is an eigenvalue/eigenvector equation where the eigenvalues are given by E and the eigenvectors by the coefficients Ck. By rewriting the above expression as a matrix equation, one can computationally solve for the energy eigenvalues for given values of k and produce a band diagram. ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) [ ] [ ] The steps to solving this equation for just the energy eigenvalues is as follows: 1. Set values of equal to values of coefficients of the periodic potential of interest. 2. Truncate the infinite matrix to an matrix approximation suitable for the number of energy bands that is required for the problem to be investigated. If N is odd, set the center term to the Ck matrix coefficient. If N is even, an asymmetry will be introduced in the top band depending on whether the Ck matrix coefficient is placed to the left diagonal of the matrix center or the right diagonal of the matrix center. This asymmetry can be avoided by only using odd matrices or by solving both even matrices and superimposing the highest band energy solutions.
    [Show full text]
  • Physics 301 1-Nov-2004 17-1 Reading Finish K&K Chapter 7 And
    Physics 301 1-Nov-2004 17-1 Reading Finish K&K chapter 7 and start on chapter 8. Also, I’m passing out several Physics Today articles. The first is by Graham P. Collins, August, 1995, vol. 48, no. 8, p. 17, “Gaseous Bose-Einstein Condensate Finally Observed.” This describes the research leading up the first observation of a BE condensate that’s not a superfluid or superconductor. The second is by Barbara Goss Levi, March, 1997, vol. 50, no. 3, p. 17, “Bose Condensates are Coherent Inside and Outside an Atom Trap,” describing the first “atom laser” which was based on a BE condensate. The third is also by Levi, October, 1998, vol. 51, no. 10, p. 17, “At Long Last, a Bose-Einstein Condensate is Formed in Hydrogen,” describing even more progress on BE condensates. In addition, there is a recent Science report on an atomic Fermi Gas, DeMarco, B., and Jin, D. S., September 10, 1999, vol. 285, p. 1703, “Onset of Fermi Degeneracy in a Trapped Atomic Gas.” Bose condensates and Fermi degeneracy are current hot topics in Condensed Matter Research. Searching the preprint server or “Googling” with appropriate keywords is bound to turn up many more articles. More on Fermi Gases So far, we’ve considered the zero temperature Fermi gas and done an approximate treatment of the low temperature heat capacity of Fermi gases. The zero temperature Fermi gas was straightforward. We simply said that all states, starting from the lowest energy state, are filled until we run out of particles. The energy at which this happens is called the Fermi energy and is the same as the chemical potential at 0 temperature, ǫF = µ(τ = 0).
    [Show full text]
  • Superfast Quarks, Short Range Correlations and QCD at High Density John Arrington Argonne National Laboratory
    Superfast Quarks, Short Range Correlations and QCD at High Density John Arrington Argonne National Laboratory A(e,e’) at PDFs at x>1 High Energy Superfast quarks PN12, The Physics of Nuclei with 12 GeV Electrons Workshop, Nov. 1, 2004 Superfast Quarks, Short Range Correlations and QCD at High Density John Arrington Argonne National Laboratory Nuclear structure SRCs Nuclear PDFs A(e,e’) at PDFs at x>1 EMC effect High Energy Superfast quarks QCD Phase Transition Cold, dense nuclear matter PN12, The Physics of Nuclei with 12 GeV Electrons Workshop, Nov. 1, 2004 Short Range Correlations (SRCs) Mean field contributions: k < kF Well understood High momentum tails: k > kF Calculable for few-body nuclei, nuclear matter. Dominated by two-nucleon short range correlations. Calculation of proton momentum distribution in 4He Wiringa, PRC 43 k > 250 MeV/c 1585 (1991) 15% of nucleons 60% of the K.E. k < 250 MeV/c 85% of nucleons 40% of the K.E. Isolate short range interaction (and SRCs) by probing at high Pm (x>1) V(r) N-N potential Poorly understood part of nuclear structure Significant fraction of nucleons have k > kF 0 Uncertainty in short-range interaction leads to uncertainty at large momenta (>400-600 MeV/c), even for the Deuteron r [fm] ~1 fm A(e,e’): Short range correlations 56Fe(e,e/ )X We want to be able to isolate and probe -1 10 /A 2 Fe two-nucleon and multi-nucleon SRCs F -2 F2 /A 10 x=1 x = 1 -3 10 -4 Dotted =mean field approx.
    [Show full text]
  • The Physics of Electron Degenerate Matter in White Dwarf Stars
    Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 6-2008 The Physics of Electron Degenerate Matter in White Dwarf Stars Subramanian Vilayur Ganapathy Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the Physics Commons Recommended Citation Ganapathy, Subramanian Vilayur, "The Physics of Electron Degenerate Matter in White Dwarf Stars" (2008). Master's Theses. 4251. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/4251 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE PHYSICS OF ELECTRON DEGENERATE MATTER IN WHITE DWARF STARS by Subramanian Vilayur Ganapathy A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of The Graduate College in partial fulfillment of the requirements forthe Degree of Master of Arts Department of Physics Western MichiganUniversity Kalamazoo, Michigan June 2008 Copyright by Subramanian Vilayur Ganapathy 2008 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my infinite gratitude and sincere appreciation to my advisor, Professor Kirk Korista, for suggesting the topic of the thesis, and for all of his direction, encouragement and great help throughout the course of this research. I would also like to express my gratitude to the other members of my committee, Professor Dean Halderson and Professor Clement Bums for their valuable advice and help. Subramanian Vilayur Ganapathy 11 THE PHYSICS OF ELECTRON DEGENERATE MATTER IN WHITE DWARF STARS Subramanian Vilayur Ganapathy , M.A. Western Michigan University, 2008 White dwarfs are the remnant cores of medium and low mass stars with initial mass less than 8 times the mass of our sun.
    [Show full text]
  • Phenomenological Review on Quark–Gluon Plasma: Concepts Vs
    Review Phenomenological Review on Quark–Gluon Plasma: Concepts vs. Observations Roman Pasechnik 1,* and Michal Šumbera 2 1 Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund University, SE-223 62 Lund, Sweden 2 Nuclear Physics Institute ASCR 250 68 Rez/Prague,ˇ Czech Republic; [email protected] * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: In this review, we present an up-to-date phenomenological summary of research developments in the physics of the Quark–Gluon Plasma (QGP). A short historical perspective and theoretical motivation for this rapidly developing field of contemporary particle physics is provided. In addition, we introduce and discuss the role of the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) ground state, non-perturbative and lattice QCD results on the QGP properties, as well as the transport models used to make a connection between theory and experiment. The experimental part presents the selected results on bulk observables, hard and penetrating probes obtained in the ultra-relativistic heavy-ion experiments carried out at the Brookhaven National Laboratory Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (BNL RHIC) and CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) accelerators. We also give a brief overview of new developments related to the ongoing searches of the QCD critical point and to the collectivity in small (p + p and p + A) systems. Keywords: extreme states of matter; heavy ion collisions; QCD critical point; quark–gluon plasma; saturation phenomena; QCD vacuum PACS: 25.75.-q, 12.38.Mh, 25.75.Nq, 21.65.Qr 1. Introduction Quark–gluon plasma (QGP) is a new state of nuclear matter existing at extremely high temperatures and densities when composite states called hadrons (protons, neutrons, pions, etc.) lose their identity and dissolve into a soup of their constituents—quarks and gluons.
    [Show full text]
  • Deep-Inelastic Scattering on the Tri-Nucleons
    Three-body dynamics in hadron structure & hadronic systems: A symposium in celebration of Iraj Afnan’s 70th birthday Jefferson Lab, July 24, 2009 Deep-inelastic scattering on the tri-nucleons Wally Melnitchouk Outline Motivation: neutron structure at large x d/u ratio, duality in the neutron Status of large-x quark distributions nuclear corrections new global analysis of inclusive DIS data (CTEQx) DIS from A=3 nuclei model-independent extraction of neutron F2 plans for helium-3/tritium experiments Quark distributions at large x Parton distributions functions (PDFs) provide basic information on structure of hadronic systems needed to understand backgrounds in searches for new physics beyond the Standard Model in high-energy colliders, neutrino oscillation experiments, ... DGLAP evolution feeds low x, high Q2 from high x, low Q 2 1 dq(x, t) αs(t) dy x x = Pqq q(y, t)+Pqg g(y, t) dt 2π x y y y ! " # $ # $ % 2 2 t = log Q /ΛQCD Ratio of d to u quark distributions at large x particularly sensitiveHigher to twistsquark dynamics in nucleon SU(6) spin-flavor symmetry (a) (b) (c) proton wave function ↑ 1 ↑ √2 ↓ p = d (uu)1 d (uu)1 −3 − 3 Higher twists √2 ↑ 1 ↓ 1 ↑ + u (ud)1 u (ud)1 + u (ud)0 τ = 2 6 τ >− 23 √2 (τ = 2) (a) (b) (c) diquark spin single quark interactingqq and qg corquarkrelationsspectator scattering diquark τ = 2 τ > 2 single quark qq and qg scattering correlations Ratio of d to u quark distributions at large x particularly sensitive to quark dynamics in nucleon SU(6) spin-flavor symmetry proton wave function ↑ 1 ↑ √2 ↓ p = d (uu)1 d (uu)1 −3 − 3 √2 ↑ 1 ↓ 1 ↑ + u (ud)1 u (ud)1 + u (ud)0 6 − 3 √2 u(x)=2d(x) for all x n F2 2 p = F2 3 scalar diquark dominance M∆ >MN =⇒ (qq)1 has larger energy than (qq)0 .
    [Show full text]
  • 13 Classical and Quantum Statistics
    James Maxwell (1831–1879) Ludwig Boltzmann (1844–1906) Enrico Fermi (1901–1954) Established velocity Established classical statistics Established quantum statistics distribution of gases 13 Classical and quantum statistics Classical Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics and quantum mechanical Fermi–Dirac statistics are introduced to calculate the occupancy of states. Special attention is given to analytic approximations of the Fermi–Dirac integral and to its approximate solutions in the non- degenerate and the highly degenerate regime. In addition, some numerical approximations to the Fermi–Dirac integral are summarized. Semiconductor statistics includes both classical statistics and quantum statistics. Classical or Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics is derived on the basis of purely classical physics arguments. In contrast, quantum statistics takes into account two results of quantum mechanics, namely (i) the Pauli exclusion principle which limits the number of electrons occupying a state of energy E and (ii) the finiteness of the number of states in an energy interval E and E + dE. The finiteness of states is a result of the Schrödinger equation. In this section, the basic concepts of classical statistics and quantum statistics are derived. The fundamentals of ideal gases and statistical distributions are summarized as well since they are the basis of semiconductor statistics. 13.1 Probability and distribution functions Consider a large number N of free classical particles such as atoms, molecules or electrons which are kept at a constant temperature T, and which interact only weakly with one another. The energy of a single particle consists of kinetic energy due to translatory motion and an internal energy for example due to rotations, vibrations, or orbital motions of the particle.
    [Show full text]