Related papers: Nuclear Physics --- at the frontiers of knowledge
Experiment plays a decisive role in physics. It is the single source of our understanding of nature. But, during the last century the main accent in theoretical physics has moved toward metaphysics. Some mathematicians/theoreticians try to…
Over the past 25 years, I have been involved in some intriguing developments in the foundations of physics, exploring the quantum reality problem, the relationship between quantum theory and gravity and the interplay between consciousness…
How should we interpret physical theories, and especially quantum theory, if we drop the assumption that we should treat it as an exact description of the whole Universe? I expound and develop the claim that physics is about the study of…
An elementary general overview of the neutrino physics and astrophysics is given. We start by a historical account of the development of our understanding of neutrinos and how they helped to unravel the structure of the Standard Model. We…
The study of high energy cosmic rays is a diversified field of observational and phenomenological physics addressing questions ranging from shock acceleration of charged particles in various astrophysical objects, via transport properties…
Despite the spectacular achievements of molecular biology in the second half of the twentieth century and the crucial advances it permitted in cancer research, the fight against cancer has brought some disillusions. It is nowadays more and…
Nuclear reactions generate energy in nuclear reactors, in stars, and are responsible for the existence of all elements heavier than hydrogen in the universe. Nuclear reactions denote reactions between nuclei, and between nuclei and other…
This book chapter presents an overview of the historical experimental and theoretical developments in neutrino physics and astrophysics and also the physical properties of neutrinos, as well as the physical processes involving neutrinos. It…
The Introduction in this paper underlines the present general situation for energy and the environment using the words of the US Secretary of Energy. A short presentation is made of some major nuclear power plants used to study one…
Massive neutrinos open up the possibility for a variety of new physical phenomena. Among them are oscillations and double beta decay. Furthermore they influence several fields from particle physics to cosmology. In this article the concept…
We highlight recent developments in neutrino astrophysics. We discuss some of the connections with nuclear physics.
Recent developments in the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics have brought the theory closer to that of classical probability and statistics. On the other hand, the unique character of quantum physics sets many of the questions…
The present discussion concerning certain fundamental physical theories (such as string theory and multiverse cosmology) has reopened the demarcation problem between science and non-science. While parts of the physics community see the…
This introductory text on the basics of quantum mechanics is intended to serve as a kind of travel guide through the quantum world. It starts by asking whether quantum physics is important, or weird, or incomprehensible. It explains why…
Extensions of nuclear physics to the strange sector are reviewed, covering data and models of Lambda and other hypernuclei, multi-strange matter, and anti-kaon bound states and condensation. Past achievements are highlighted, present…
Neutrinos produced by nuclear reactors have played a major role in advancing our knowledge of the properties of neutrinos. The first direct detection of the neutrino, confirming its existence, was performed using reactor neutrinos. More…
The twentieth century saw two fundamental revolutions in physics -- relativity and quantum. Daily use of these theories can numb the sense of wonder at their immense empirical success. Does their instrumental effectiveness stand on the rock…
Lattice QCD is making good progress toward calculating the structure and properties of light nuclei and the forces between nucleons. These calculations will ultimately refine the nuclear forces, particularly in the three- and four-nucleon…
This is the first of a series of papers that we intend to publish about the epistemology of fundamental physics in its current state. One of the main objectives of these papers is to improve our understanding of fundamental physics (and…
Standard concepts of nuclear physics explaining the systematics of ground state spins in nuclei by the presence of specific coherent terms in the nucleon-nucleon interaction were put in doubt by the observation that these systematics can be…