Nuclear spectroscopy

NOV 01, 1983

The study of how nuclei absorb and emit energy has progressed dramatically in the last few decades and has effects in fields as diverse as astrophysics and medical diagnostics.

DOI: 10.1063/1.2915356

Fay Ajzenberg‐Selove

Ernest K. Warburton

Nuclear spectroscopy can be defined as the study of how nuclei absorb and emit energy. It is particularly concerned with the properties of individual levels such as energy, angular momentum (spin), isospin (the embodiment of the basic equivalence of neutrons and protons), magnetic and electric moments and transition rates and so forth. Our knowledge of these properties has increased rapidly and dramatically since 1945. This nearly exponential advance has occurred because of tremendous technical advances in equipment, in experimental methods, and in analyzing experimental data. Figure 1 shows one example of the sort of spectrometers available to nuclear physicists today. The use of the computer in analysis has been especially important in the last 15 years. In this article we will try to convey a feeling for the diversity and sophistication of present‐day nuclear spectroscopy; we will concentrate on those areas where in recent years the most progress has been made in our understanding of the properties of nuclear levels.

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More about the authors

Fay Ajzenberg‐Selove, University of Pennsylvania.

Ernest K. Warburton, Brookhaven National Laboratory.