Lectures on Nuclear Theory (Dover Books on Physics) Paperback – July 19, 2011

This is a nice thin book on nuclear physics that you can read fast and learn the basics. Although it was first published in 1959, nuclear physics has not been turned upside down with new discoveries as it happened with particle physics during the same period. It is true that we now know that the nuclear force is a gauge theory ruled by the SU(3) Lie group but this has almost no effect in the description of the nucleus. That is, so far it has proven extremely hard to use the underlying symmetry to derive the properties of the nuclei. Only when one looks at the structure of the nucleons (protons and neutrons), this group starts playing a role and we have a relative good understanding how to perform the calculations.The book is aimed towards experimentalists. It is an overview of the facts and how they relate to experiments. The style is that of Landau: simple and to the point. Many calculations and almost all information from quantum mechanics is omitted. Therefore, to read it, you will need to have studied quantum mechanics and, in particular, know quantum mechanical scattering theory. Without this minimum, reading the book will be impossible.If you wish for a more extensive book on nuclear physics, then use Blatt and Weisskopf's Theoretical Nuclear Physics (Dover Books on Physics). It contains much more information and it is a classic on the topic.

As everything written by Lev Landau, this book is a must for every physicist. However, as the authors themselves say, the content is from a time when nuclear physics was still in its infancy. Do not expect quark theory or QCD.

not bad

All pages are excellent. A good copy.

thank you.