Introduction to atomic and nuclear physics [antikvár]

PREFACE This book is written as the result of requests by many people for a really elementary text on atomic and nuclear physics. The subjects as they are presented here are the outgrowth of a course given at the University of California for students majoring in any one of a number of the physical or life sciences. The book is designed (1) to follow a one-semester or a one-year course in classical physics and (2) to confine the mathematics to algebra, geometry, and trigonometry. The first three chapters on Gravitational Fields and Potential, Electrical Fields and Potential, and Magnetic Fields and Magnetic Moments, respectively, serve several important functions; they serve as a review of the meter-kilogram-second-ampere (mksa) system of units, commonly used in mechanics and electricity, and at the same time bring out the similarity between the basic treatments of gravitational and electrical phenomena. They also introduce, through elementary mechanics, the concepts of energy levels, a subject so fundamental to quantum theory and the structure of atoms and nuclei. A chapter on Atoms with Two Valence Electrons is included for those who wish to go beyond the simplest atomic structures involving one valence electron. A chapter on Moving Frames of Reference and one on Interferometers and Lasers provide the background material needed for a better understanding of the special theory of relativity on the one hand and the subject of lasers on the other. The chapter on Photon Collisions and Atomic Waves brings out the apparent dual nature of matter, namely, particles vs. waves. A special chapter on Beta and Gamma Rays and one on Neutron and Gamma Ray Reactions present sufficient details to illustrate this duality and at the same time demonstrate the complexity of high-energy nuclear phenomena. Another chapter on Special Atomic and Nuclear Effects deals with the breadth of spectrum lines, gamma rays, resonance phenomena, and the Mossbauer effect.