Concepts of Radiation Physics

3 credits · Undergraduate

Introduces the essential radiation physics concepts of relevance for nuclear energy, radiation therapy, radiation protection and medical imaging professionals. Topics include basic constituents of matter; mass-energy equivalence; atomic mass unit; relativistic mass; de Broglie wavelength; Compton wavelength; excited states and radiation; nuclear stability and radioactive decay; radioactive disintegration laws; activation analysis; energetics of nuclear decays and reactions; binding energy and separation energies; nuclear fission and nuclear fusion; interaction of radiation with matter; charged particle interactions: range and stopping power; photon attenuation: photoelectric effect, Compton scattering and pair production; neutron interactions: elastic and inelastic scattering, capture, nuclear fission; neutron attenuation. Further topics include the physics of nuclear reactors; chain reactions; criticality of a reactor; elements of radiation protection: radiation units, quality factor and equivalent dose.