Nuclear fusion. Fusion in the stars and at the accelerators. Fission processes in Nature, at accelerators and reactors.
Applications.
Nuclear reactions
Types of nuclear reactions. Main categories of nuclear accelerators: electrostatic, cyclotron, synchrotron, linear and colliding-beam accelerators.
Conservation laws and energetics in nuclear reactions. Reaction cross sections. Coulomb and nuclear scattering. Direct, Compound-Nucleus, Resonance and Heavy-Ion reactions.
D.D.Clayton Principles of Stellar Evolution and Nucleosynthesis University of Chicago Press 1983
Learning Objectives
Knowledge acquired:
basic knowledge about nuclear fusion, fission and reactions.
Competence acquired:
understanding of the processes of fusion, fission and reactions, both nat
ural and artificial.
Skills acquired (at the end of the course):
and ability to perform simple calculations about fusion and nuclear reaction cross section in the stars, thresholds for fission processes.
Prerequisites
Basic knowledge of Nuclear Physics and Quantum Mechanics.
Teaching Methods
CFU: 6
Total hours of the course (including the time spent in attending lectures, seminars, private study, examinations, etc...): 140
Type of Assessment
Oral examination to evaluate the real understanding of the topics discussed in the course, with particular attention to the capacity of reasoning and the use of the appropriate language.
Course program
Basic fusion processes. Characteristics of Fusion. Solar Fusion. Controlled Fusion Fusion at the accelerators.
Fission: basic process. Characteristics of Fission. Mass distribution of fragments. Number of emitted neutrons. Radioactive decay processes. Energy in fissions. Controlled fission in reactors. Nuclear explosives (background).
Nuclear reactions
Types of nuclear reactions. Main categories of nuclear accelerators: electrostatic, cyclotron, synchrotron, linear and colliding-beam accelerators.
Conservation laws and energetics in nuclear reactions. Reaction cross sections. Coulomb and nuclear scattering. Direct, Compound-Nucleus, Resonance and Heavy-Ion reactions.
Outline of the main applications of nuclear techniques.