Subnuclear physics course

Nuclear physics is the branch of physics that studies the atomic nucleus, its constituents, protons and neutrons, and their interactions. It differs from atomic physics, of which it is a sub-group, which studies the atom in its entirety, and from particle physics, which has as its object the study of individual free particles. This branch has largely supplanted the term "subnuclear physics", referring to the study of the constituent particles of the nucleus, as it is more general, since it is not limited to the particles bound inside the nuclei. Nuclear physics is mainly divided into nuclear structure physics, which includes all theories concerning the formation, cohesion and measurable static properties of nuclei (such as their mass, energy levels, decays etc. ) and physics of nuclear reactions, which study the processes in which two or more nuclei interact colliding in various ways to form other nuclei, perhaps emitting other particles, fragmenting, merging or simply changing their state of motion. The two sub-disciplines are interconnected, in the sense that our information about the structure comes to us almost exclusively from the study of reactions and decays (natural or artificial). Nuclear reactions that occur in nature are radioactive decays or transmutations and thermonuclear reactions that occur in stars, generating light, heat and other radiation. Particle accelerators are used in the laboratory (such as the Van de Graaff generator, linacs, tokamak, betatrons or synchrotrons) to study nuclear reactions or to recreate the conditions of stellar plasma. The most common application of nuclear physics is the production of nuclear energy, but it is also the basis of many other important applications, for example in medicine (nuclear medicine, nuclear magnetic resonance), materials science (ion implantation), archeology (radiodating carbon).