Understanding a nuclear system

Prince Ahmad Ganai

Department of Physics –NIT Srinagar
prince_ganai.blogspot.com
prince_ganai@yahoo.co.uk

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

 Introduction
 Protons and their decay
 Neutrons and their decay
 Nuclear system
 Binding energy
 Fusion and Fission
 Experimental facilities
 LHC
 Theoretical Challenges
 Summary

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

Contributor
s

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
 Proton
ØOne of the implications of the grand unification theories is that the
proton should decay with a half-life on the order of 1032 years. Such a
long half-life is exceedingly difficult to measure, but the hope of doing
led to a deep mine experiment in the Soudan iron mines of Minnesota.
The Soudan 2 Proton Decay experiment ran from 1989-2001 without
observing any convincing proton decays. Such experiments serve to
push back the lower bound on the proton decay half life.

ØAnother set of experiments designed to detect proton decay was

carried out in the water Cherenkov detector at Super Kamiokandein
Japan. Ed Kearns of Boston University suggested the following
tentative bounds for proton decay in a review in 2001.

                                                               

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

 Neutron

  
The decay of the neutron is associated with a quark
transformation in which a down quark is converted to an up
by the weak interaction . The average lifetime of 10.3 min/0.693
= 14.9 minutes is surprisingly long for a particle decay that
yields 1.29 MeV of energy. You could say that this decay is
steeply "downhill" in energy and would be expected to
proceed rapidly. It is possible for a proton to be transformed
into a neutron, but you have to supply 1.29 MeV of energy to
reach the threshold for that transformation. In the very early
stages of the big bang when the thermal energy was much
greater than 1.29 MeV, we surmise that the transformation

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

 Decay of the Neutron

A free neutron will decay with a half-life of

about 10.3 minutes but it is stable if
combined into a nucleus. This decay is an
example of beta decay with the emission of
an electron and an electron antineutrino.
The decay of the neutron involves the
weak interaction as indicated in the
Feynman diagram to the right

A more detailed diagram of the neutron's

decay identifies it as the transformation of
one of the neutron's down quarks into an
up quark. It is an example of the kind of
quark transformations that are involved in
many nuclear processes, including beta
decay.

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

Summary of Masses

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
Atom Mostly empty
space !

Electrons 100meters

Nucleus
Electric Force
1mm
P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
Nuclear
Density

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
 Nuclear Binding Energy

ØNuclei are made up of protons and neutron, but the

mass of a nucleus is always less than the sum of the
individual masses of the protons and neutrons
which constitute it. The difference is a measure of
the nuclear binding energy which holds the nucleus
together. This binding energy can be calculated from
the Einstein relationship:

ØNuclear binding energy = Δmc2

ØFor the alpha particle Δm= 0.0304 u which gives a 
binding energy of 28.3 MeV. 
 

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

 comparis
on
The enormity of the nuclear binding energy can
perhaps be better appreciated by comparing it to the
binding energy of an electron in an atom. The
comparison of the alpha particle binding energy
with the binding energy of the electron in a
hydrogen atom is shown below. The nuclear binding
energies are on the order of a million times greater
than the electron binding energies of atoms.

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

 Fission and fusion can yield energy
  

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

Nuclear
Fission

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

 Nuclear
Fusion

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
Radio activity

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
 The Large Hadron
Collider
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is a
gigantic scientific instrument near
Geneva, where it spans the border
between Switzerland and France
about 100 m underground. It is a
particle accelerator used by
physicists to study the smallest
known particles – the fundamental
building blocks of all things. It will
revolutionise our understanding, from
the minuscule world deep within
atoms to the vastness of the

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

Beam
Accelerators

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

Detecto
rs

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

NSC

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

I
NGA

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

 Nuclear Theory
 Collective Models
 Shell Structure
 No- Core Models
 HFB
 PHFB
 FTHFB
 Monticarlo calculations

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09

P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09
 Thankx
vFinally I would like you to think
that if protons were unstable, by
that I mean that their decay
time is from few minutes to few
years, then would we exist to
solve the mysteries of nature ?.
vThe nature can’t be that
accidental, that every law is in
its Wright place to create
P.A.Ganai - NIT SRINAGAR01/14/09