Undergraduate and Master's level Nuclear and Particle Physics (PHYS 415/515) - Fall Semester 2025 - ODU

Instructor: Sebastian Kuhn - email: skuhn@odu.edu )

Important Announcements

General Information

CRN: 22118 / 22119.
This course is on CANVAS at 202510_FALL_PHYS415_22118 - go there for more information.

Meeting Place and Time:

Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 12:15 in the Nuclear/Atomic Physics Conference room, Physical Sciences Building 2 (adjacent to OCNPS), Room 2108.

Syllabus

Lecture Notes:

Week 1 - Copy of the Whiteboard from August 28 lecture
Week 2. Here are two articles related to fission: A technical paper and a popular science article. Copy of the Whiteboard from September 4 lecture
Week 3. Copy of the Whiteboard from September 9 lecture
Week 4. Copy of the Whiteboard from September 16 lecture and Copy of the Whiteboard from September 18 lecture
Week 5. Copy of the Whiteboard from September 23 lecture
Week 6. Copy of the Whiteboard from September 30 lecture
Week 7. Copy of the Whiteboard from October 7 lecture
Week 8. Copy of the Whiteboard from October 16 lecture
Week 9. Copy of the Whiteboard from October 21 lecture, Copy of the Whiteboard from October 23 lecture
Week 10.
Week 11.
Week 12. Copy of the Whiteboard from November 11 lecture
Week 13. Copy of the Whiteboard from November 18 lecture
Week 15. I am also posting the 2023 Long Range Plan by the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC). A lot of topics discussed in our class are addressed in this document - I especially recommend the "Executive Summary" and chapters 2 and 3. Read Chapter 3.3 (starting p. 26) for more details on the Quark-Gluon Plasma. Finally, here is the movie about the discovery of hidden chambers inside a pyramid.

HW Problem Sets:

HW Assignment 1. - Solution 1
HW Assignment 2 - Solution 2
HW Assignment 3 - Solution 3
HW Assignment 4 - Solution 4
No HW for the following week - prepare for the Midterm Test instead (open book, in class)
HW Assignment 5 - Solution 5
HW Assignment 6 - Solution 6
HW Assignment 7 - Solution 7
HW Assignment 8 - Solution 8
LAST HOMEWORK FOR THE SEMESTER: HW Assignment 9 - Solution 9

Some other material for your reading/viewing pleasure:

Watch this spot for important news.

This course is now open for Student Opinion Survey submissions. Please go to THIS link and fill out the survey. If at least 50% (3 people) participate, I will offer an extra credit problem on the Final Exam.
Our Final Exam is on Thursday, December 11, from 12:30 - 15:30 EST, in our regular classroom. It will be open book and open notes, but please don't bring computers or use any other devices with screen during the exam. (Calculators are allowed)