Related papers: Splitting the atom before the atom had been split
The past two decades have witnessed tremendous progress in the microscopic description of atomic nuclei. The Topical Review `The Future of Nuclear Structure' aims at summarizing the current state-of-the-art microscopic calculations in…
If quantum friction existed [J.B. Pendry, New J. Phys. 12, 033028 (2010)] an unlimited amount of useful energy could be extracted from the quantum vacuum and Lifshitz theory would fail. Both are unlikely to be true.
This article (which appeared with illustrations) was the astrophysics/cosmology contribution to the historical series ``Pathways of Discovery'' which appeared in ``Science'' during last year.
Quantum computing exposes the brilliance of quantum mechanics through computer science and, as such, gives oneself a marvelous and exhilarating journey to go through. This article leads along that journey with a historical and current…
The review consists of two parts. In the first part the critical points in the past, present and future of neutrino physics (nuclear, particle and astroparticle) are reviewed. In the second part the contributions of Yugoslav physics to the…
We stand at the foot of a significant inflection in the trajectory of scientific discovery. As society continues on its fast-paced digital transformation, so does humankind's collective scientific knowledge and discourse. We now read and…
For many students, college physics courses have little or even negative impact on their beliefs about the connection between physics and the everyday world. One way to help students see this connection is to incorporate analysis of science…
The discovery of atomic nucleus by E. Rutherford, at the beginning of the twentieth century, was the Nuclear Physics original landmark. From then, a series of experiments in which beams of particles composed of neutrons, protons and others,…
The large body of experimental data on nuclear fission is analyzed with a semi-empirical ordering scheme based on the macro-microscopic approach and the separability of compound-nucleus and fragment properties on the fission path. We apply…
An introductory account is given of the modern understanding of the physics of the early Universe. Particular emphasis is placed on the paradigm of cosmological inflation, which postulates a period of accelerated expansion during the…
I review the theoretical motivation for the axion and present an update of the experimental status of axion searches. I finally comment on some aspects of the physics of axion-like particles.
In this paper it is suggested that inclusion of mutual gravitational interactions among the particles in the early dense universe can lead to a 'pre-big bang' scenario, with particle masses greater than the Planck mass implying an…
Although nuclear fission can be understood qualitatively as an evolution of the nuclear shape, a quantitative description has proven to be very elusive. In particular, until now, there exists no model with demonstrated predictive power for…
This paper discusses the formulations of the past in quantum mechanics.
Muon-induced fission could be utilized as a probe to study the underlying dynamics of nuclear fission. The probability of muon attachment to the light asymmetric fission fragment is sensitive to fission dynamics, such as the timescale and…
We solve the Langevin equations for the time evolution of parameters that describe the shape of fissioning system. On each integration step, we calculate the probability of neutron emission and estimate whether a neutron would be emitted or…
Nuclear astrophysics is that branch of astrophysics which helps understanding some of the many facets of the Universe through the knowledge of the microcosm of the atomic nucleus. In the last decades much advance has been made in nuclear…
Splitting by atomic bombs an asteroid in flight is the best way to deflect its trajectory. How and when it should be done is described.
The idea of atoms is old but X-rays provided the first probe into the physical atom. Photographs of X-ray scattering from crystals -Laue spots- were the first visual proof for the physical existence of atoms arranged in a perfect geometric…
The mixing of the quasifission component to the fissionlike cross section causes ambiguity in the quantitative estimation of the complete fusion cross section from the observed angular and mass distributions of the binary products. We show…