Special Topics

(1.5-6 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course is used by the Department of Physics to administratively accommodate study abroad course work by students. In the past, it has included course work in the following studies: Phase portraits, flows and evolution. Linear systems; Classification of linear systems, phase portraits of linear systems. Non-linear systems in the plane: Local and global behaviours, fixed points, linearization, stability of fixed points, limit points and limit cycles, Poincare-Bendixson theory. Non-linear systems in higher dimensions: Hyperbolic and non-hyperbolic fixed points, closed orbits, attracting sets and attractors. Chaotic orbits. More recently, it has been used to record a student's completion of a course in Nuclear Physics: Introduction and summary/review of elementary concepts. Natural and artificial radioactivity. Radioactive Decay. Radioactive equilibrium. Interaction of radiation with matter (heavy charged particles, electrons, gamma and X-rays, neutrons). Overview on modes of radioactive decay. Theory of alpha decay - Gamow theory of alpha decay. Beta decay and the electron neutrino. Fermi theory of beta decay. Parity and its non-conservation in the weak interaction. Gamma decay and internal conversion. Liquid drop model of the nucleus. Spontaneous and induced fission. Modern fission reactors. Neutron activation analysis. Nuclear reactions. Nuclear fusion, including properties and confinement of high temperature plasmas. Proto-type fusion reactor. On completion of this module the student should have acquired a basic knowledge of key topics in modern nuclear physics. The student should also be able to solve problems related to the various topics covered, having acquired a competence in the manipulation of appropriate mathematical tools. The module should provide the appropriate foundation for more advanced courses in nuclear physics at postgraduate level.