Physics H190, Spring 2010

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: http://budker.berkeley.edu/

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!

Highly relevant meeting: Research Opportunities with Ultracold Neutrons in the US, November 6--7, 2009, Santa Fe, New Mexico

Lecture Notes, Electronic Tutorials

Physics H190 Spring 2010 Selected Lecture Notes
First Summer School on Fundamental Neutron Physics, University of Tennessee and the SNS (2006)
Professor Geoff Greene's lectures on fundamental neutron physics
Summer School on Fundamental Neutron Physics, NIST Center for Neutron Research, Gaithersburg (2009)

Assorted Physics-Related Links, Web Resources

Homework

Homework problems and solutions

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).