Alpha decay or a-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus) and thereby transforms or "decays" into a different atomic nucleus, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atomic number that is reduced by two. An alpha particle is identical to the nucleus of a helium-4 atom, which consists of two protons and two neutrons. It has a charge of +2 e and amass of 4 Da. For example, uranium-238 decays to form thorium-234. ZE®> a —_ Visual representation of alpha decayIndependent particle model corresponds to the description of a nucleus in terms of noninteracting particles in the orbitals of these single-particle potentials which itself are produced by all the nucleons. Thus, nucleons move essentially free in these potentials. 5 Sept 2023The Fermi gas model defines properties of a system of non- interacting fermions in an infinite potential well. The model predicts gross properties of various quantum- mechanical systems, for example electrons in metals, or nucleons in nuclei. 2 Feb 2011Atomic nuclei consist of electrically positive protons and electrically neutral neutrons. These are held together by the strongest known fundamental force, called the strong force. The nucleus makes up much less than . 01% of the volume of the atom, but typically contains more than 99.9% of the mass of the atom.Atomic nuclei consist of electrically positive protons and electrically neutral neutrons. These are held together by the strongest known fundamental force, called the strong force. The nucleus makes up much less than . 01% of the volume of the atom, but typically contains more than 99.9% of the mass of the atom.The basic assumption of the Liquid Drop Model is that the nucleus is a charged, nonpolar liquid drop held together by the nuclear force. In the simplest case, the chemical analogy would be a droplet of composed of nonpolar molecules such as CCl4 or isopentane held together by Vander Waal's attraction.Protons and neutrons are members of the hadron group. Quarks are proposed to be the simplest, irreducible, structureless building blocks of hadrons. The Quark Hypothesis states that quarks in combinations of two or three, make all the observed hadrons.The SU(3) symmetry appears in the light quark flavour symmetry (among up, down, and strange quarks) dubbed the Eightfold Way (physics). The same group acts in quantum chromodynamics on the colour quantum numbers of the quarks that form the fundamental (triplet) representation of the group.In common usage, "resonance" only describes particles with very short lifetimes, mostly high-energy hadrons existing for 10-23 seconds or less. It is also used to describe particles in intermediate steps of a decay, so-called virtual particles.In common usage, "resonance" only describes particles with very short lifetimes, mostly high-energy hadrons existing for 10-23 seconds or less. It is also used to describe particles in intermediate steps of a decay, so-called virtual particles.Muonium (/ iam/) is an exotic atom made up of an antimuon and an electron, which was discovered in 1960 by Vernon W. Hughes"! and is given the chemical symbol Mu. During the muon's 2.2 is lifetime, muonium can undergo chemical reactions.®! Because, like a proton, the antimuon’s mass is vastly larger than that of the electron, Muonium (re) is more similar to atomic hydrogen (p’e) than positronium (e’e). Its Bohr radius and ionization energy are within 0.5% of hydrogen, deuterium, and tritium, and thus it can usefully be considered as an exotic light isotope of hydrogen!4! ©) @) Amuonium atomA muon is relatively unstable, with a lifetime of only 2.2 microseconds before it decays by the weak force into an electron and two kinds of neutrinos. Because muons are charged, before decaying they lose energy by displacing electrons from atoms (ionization). 21 Mar 2024Graviton, postulated quantum that is thought to be the carrier of the the well-established photon of the electromagnetic field. Gravitons, like photons, would be massless, electrically uncharged particles traveling at the speed of light. Since gravitons would apparently be identical to their antiparticles, the notion of antigravity is questionable. Gravitons have not been directly observed; as of 2016, observations of weak lensing of distant galaxies have placed the tightest bound on the graviton’s mass as being less than 6 x 10-°? electron volts.A photon (from Ancient Greek pwc, pwTdc (phés, photos) 'light’) is an elementary particle that is a quantum of the electromagnetic field, including electromagnetic radiation such as light and radio waves, and the force carrier for the electromagnetic force. Photons are massless particles that always move at the speed of light when in vacuum. The photon belongs to the class of boson particles.The muon is one of the fundamental subatomic particles, the most basic building blocks of the universe as described in the Standard Model of particle physics. Muons are similar to electrons but weigh more than 207 times as much. The muon is part of the lepton group.2.6 Alpha Decay This penetration of the potential barrier is often called tunnelling. The maximum potential energy of the barrier can be calculated as 30 MeV but alpha particles with energy of 4.18 MeV are emitted from 238U by tunnelling as illustrated by Fig. 2.3. This cannot be explained by classical physics.