Experimental Techniques in Nuclear and Particle Physics

✍ Scribed by Stefaan Tavernier

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 2010
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 316
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

I have been teaching courses on experimental techniques in nuclear and particle physics to master students in physics and in engineering for many years. This book grew out of the lecture notes I made for these students. The physics and engineering students have rather different expectations of what such a course should be like. I hope that I have nevertheless managed to write a book that can satisfy the needs of these different target audiences. The lectures themselves, of course, need to be adapted to the needs of each group of students. An engineering student will not qu- tion a statement like “the velocity of the electrons in atoms is ?1% of the velocity of light”, a physics student will. Regarding units, I have written factors h and c explicitly in all equations throughout the book. For physics students it would be preferable to use the convention that is common in physics and omit these constants in the equations, but that would probably be confusing for the engineering students. Physics students tend to be more interested in theoretical physics courses. However, physics is an experimental science and physics students should und- stand how experiments work, and be able to make experiments work.

This is an open access book.

✦ Table of Contents

Cover
Preface
Contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Documentation
1.2 Units and Physical Constants
1.3 Special Relativity
1.4 Probability and Statistics
1.5 The Structure of Matter at the Microscopic Scale
1.6 Nuclei and Nuclear Decay
1.6.1 The Beta Decay
1.6.2 The Alpha Decay
1.6.3 The Gamma Decay
1.6.4 Electron Capture and Internal Conversion
1.6.5 The Radioactive Decay Law
1.6.6 The Nuclear Level Diagram
1.7 Exercises
References
2 Interactions of Particles in Matter
2.1 Cross Section and Mean Free Path
2.2 Energy Loss of a Charged Particle due to Its Interaction with the Electrons
2.3 Other Electromagnetic Interactions of Charged Particles
2.4 Interactions of X-Rays and Gamma Rays in Matter
2.5 Interactions of Particles in Matter due to the Strong Force
2.6 Neutrino Interactions
2.7 Illustrations of the Interactions of Particles
2.8 Exercises
References
3 Natural and Man-Made Sources of Radiation
3.1 Natural Sources of Radiation
3.2 Units of Radiation and Radiation Protection
3.3 Electrostatic Accelerators
3.4 Cyclotrons
3.5 The Quest for the Highest Energy, Synchrotrons and Colliders
3.6 Linear Accelerators
3.7 Secondary Beams
3.8 Applications of Accelerators
3.9 Outlook
3.10 Exercises
References
4 Detectors Based on Ionisation in Gases
4.1 Introduction to Detectors for Subatomic Particles
4.2 Ionisation and Charge Transport in Gases
4.3 Ionisation Chambers
4.4 Counters with Gas Amplification
4.5 Applications of Counters with Gas Amplification
4.5.1 Proportional Counters for X-Ray Detection
4.5.2 Gas Counters for the Tracking of High-Energy Charged Particles
4.5.3 Applications of Gas Counters in Homeland Security
4.6 Recent Developments in Counters Based on Gas Amplification
4.6.1 Micro-strip Gas Counters (MSGC)
4.6.2 GEM and MICROMEGAS Counters
4.6.3 Resistive Plate Chambers
4.7 Exercises
References
5 Detectors Based on Ionisation in Semiconductor Materials
5.1 Introduction to Semiconductors
5.2 The Semiconductor Junction as a Detector
5.3 Silicon Semiconductor Detectors
5.4 Germanium Semiconductor Detectors
5.5 Other Semiconductor Detector Materials
5.6 Exercises
References
6 Detectors Based on Scintillation
6.1 Introduction to Scintillators
6.2 Organic Scintillators
6.3 Inorganic Scintillators
6.4 Photodetectors
6.5 Using Scintillators in the Nuclear Energy Range
6.6 Applications of Scintillators in High-Energy Physics
6.7 Applications of Scintillators in Medicine
6.8 Exercises
References
7 Neutron Detection
7.1 Slow Neutron Detection
7.2 Neutron Detectors for Nuclear Reactors
7.3 Fast Neutron Detection
7.3.1 Detectors for Fast Neutrons Based on Moderation
7.3.2 Detectors Based on the Observation of the Recoil Nuclei
7.4 Exercises
Reference
8 Electronics for Particle Detectors
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Impulse Response and Transfer Function
8.3 Amplifiers for Particle Detectors
8.4 The Thermal Noise of a Resistor
8.5 Resistor and Transistor Noise in Amplifiers
8.5.1 Noise Contribution of a Parallel Resistor or a Series Resistor
8.5.2 Noise Due to the First Transistor
8.6 Shot Noise
8.7 Summary and Conclusions
8.8 Exercises
References
Solutions to Exercises
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Index