An Introduction to Experimental Nuclear Reactions

Book excerpt: An Introduction to Experimental Nuclear Reactions is a book with a concise and simple approach to the subject of experimental nuclear physics. The subject being very technical, it is dealt with in a lucid way so that the reader can grasp the concept and later gain hands-on experience while doing fieldwork. In this book, theoretical, experimental and instrumentation aspects are covered with an emphasis on accelerator-based techniques, which form the basis for the subject of experimental nuclear physics. Other books on similar topics either concentrate on the physics aspects or are more focussed on the instrumentation and radiation detection techniques while accelerator-related concepts are less explained. One of the main standalone features of the book is its to-the-point approach so that the beginner is not lost in the never-ending details. This book discusses the following aspects: Basic introduction to nuclear reactions Two- and three-body kinematics Accelerator-based experimental techniques Basic aspects of the accelerator and accessories Vacuum physics Radiation detector physics and its associated electronics Theoretical modelling and errors This book is mainly intended for students who aspire to pursue a career in experimental nuclear physics research or work in a nuclear accelerator laboratory. Chinmay Basu, PhD, is a researcher in the field of experimental nuclear physics, and his present interests are in the field of low-energy nuclear astrophysics. He is a professor and head of an accelerator facility at the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata, India.