Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts

To cope with modern developments, especially in nuclear physics research, this textbook presents nuclear and particle physics from a unifying point of view. The first part, Analysis, is devoted to disentangling the substructure of matter. The second part, Synthesis, shows how the elementary particles may be combined to build hadrons and nuclei. A section on neutrino oscillations and one on nuclear matter at high temperatures bridge the field of "nuclear and particle physics" and "modern astrophysics and cosmology". New developments are also covered. This concise text has become a standard reference for advanced and undergraduate courses.

This well-established textbook gives a uniform and unique presentation of both nuclear and particle physics. Analysis, Part 1, is devoted to disentangling the substructure of matter. This part shows that experiments designed to uncover the substructures of nuclei and nucleons have a similar conceptual basis, and lead to the present picture of all matter being built out of a small number of elementary building blocks and a small number of fundamental interactions. Synthesis, Part 2, shows how the elementary particles may be combined to build hadrons and nuclei. The fundamental interactions responsible for the forces in all systems become less and less evident in increasingly complex systems. A section on neutrino oscillations and one on nuclear matter at high temperatures bridge the field of "nuclear and particle physics" and "modern astrophysics and cosmology". The new edition incorporates a large amount of new experimental results on deep inelastic scattering (obtained at the Electron-Proton Collider HERA at DESY in Hamburg) into chapters 7 and 8. Translated into many languages, Particles and Nuclei has become a standard reference for advanced and undergraduate courses.

From the reviews of an earlier edition:

"...an excellent introduction to nuclear and particle physics... A very clear presentation... I thus recommend this book as a very good phenomenological approach to the physics of particles and nuclei..." Physicalia