Be knowledgeable about the historical evolution of the phenomenological and experimental understanding about nuclei, nucleons and particles.
Be knowledgeable about the relativistic scattering theory of nuclei, nucleons and particles.
Be able to describe the basic phenomena behind detecting radiation and particles.
Be knowledgeable about the basics of Standard Model.

D1. Knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course the student must demonstrate knowledge of the historical evolution of current phenomenological and theoretical knowledge, and of the experimental methods combined with them. Acquire familiarity with the relativistic description of collision and diffusion phenomena between nuclei, nucleons and particles. Knowing how to describe the phenomena underlying the detection systems of charged and neutral particles. Have learned the basic features of the standard model.
D2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding: At the end of the course the student must be able to apply the knowledge acquired in point D1 to solve exercises on the topics covered in the course.
D3. Making judgements: At the end of the course the student will be able to judge the experimental methods and theoretical topics covered in the course.
D4. Communication skills: At the end of the course the student must be able to clearly explain the concepts acquired in point D1.
D5. Learning skills: At the end of the course the student must be able to independently explore the topics covered, and must also be able to transfer the concepts learned in subsequent teachings.

Have passed the physics and mathematics exams of the first two years.
Have followed and understood the basic concepts of the Quantum Mechanics course a the first semester of the third year.

The course is divided in three parts:

Nuclear physics:
- general properties of nuclei and their structure
- stability of nuclei
- particles scattering
- nuclear force
- introduction to relativistic nuclear physics

Detectors:
- measurement and detection of radiation
- methods and techniques of particles detection
- particles detectors

Particles physics:
- special relativity and kinematics
- weak interactions
- strong interctions

Teachers' notes. Additional material:
- B. Povh, “Particles and nuclei”
- K. Krane, “Introductory nuclear physics”

Nuclear physics:
- Elementarity, fundamental interactions and units.
- Atom structure, binding energy and its parameterization, mass spectroscopy, abundance of nuclides.
- Fermi gas model, neutron stars, shell model, Wood-Saxon potential and spin-orbital potential, complex nuclear models.
- Law of radioactive decay, production and decay of radioactivity, series of decays, alpha decay and energy, beta decay, electronic capture and energy release, gamma decay and selection rules on angular momentum and parity, branching ratios, natural radioactivity , nuclear fission and energy, the Chernobyl explosion.
- elastic and inelastic scattering, cross sections, Fermi's golden rule, kinematics of electron sccattering, Rutherford cross section (classical and quantum computation), Mott cross section, nuclear form factors.
- the nuclear force and the exchange force model
- relativistic collisions among heavy ions, QCD phase transition, Bjorken energy density

Detectors:
- main mechanisms of interaction between radiation and matter, energy loss of charged particles in matter, range, energy loss due to electron radiation, Cherenkov radiation and transition radiation, interaction of photons with matter
- momentum measurements of charged particles, introduction to energy measurements
- detectors with visualization techniques, detectors using ionization, general characteristics of a detector

Particle physics:
- special relativity and kinematics
- antiparticles, introduction to Feynmann diagrams, fundamental particles and forces, electromagnetic interactions
- general properties of cosmic rays, the discovery of positron, the mesotron and the experimental difference between pions and muons, particle accelerators, discovery of the antiproton
- strangeness, weak interactions, neutrino discovery, Pontecorvo experiment, tau discovery, discrete symmetries, parity, charge conjugation and time inversion, parity violation and Wu experiment
- decay width and lifetime, mesonic and baryon resonances, the octet, SU (3) and quark model, color and gluons, introduction to QCD and introduction to the Standard Model.

Lectures and excercises.

N/A

The examination methods are explained by the teacher to the students during the presentation of the course in the first lesson.
The evaluation of the student includes a written and oral exam in which exercises and theoretical questions are proposed.
The student will have to demonstrate that he/she is able to solve exercises on the topics proposed during the course and explain the theoretical and experimental topics covered.
The score of the exam is attributed by means of a vote expressed in thirtieths.
To pass the exam (18/30) the student must demonstrate that he/she has acquired sufficient knowledge of the topics of nuclear physics, particle physics and detectors.
To achieve the maximum score (30/30 cum laude), the student must instead demonstrate that he/she has acquired an excellent knowledge of all topics covered during the course.


Any changes to the methods described here, which may be necessary to ensure the application of the safety protocols related to any emergency situations, will be communicated on the Department, Study Program and teaching website.