The main up-to-date website for the course is on the Blackboard. Please use this link Particle and Nuclear Physics.

In 1911, Ernest Rutherford discovered that an atom consists of a small, hard nucleus surrounded by electrons - and nuclear physics was born.  Subsequent investigations showed that nuclei are made of protons and neutrons - the beginnings of particle physics.

Today we know that ``stuff'' is made of molecules that are made of atoms that are made of nuclei and electrons; nuclei are made of protons and neutrons that are made of quarks.  As far as we know, quarks and electrons aren't made of anything.

This class is an introduction to the subjects of nuclear and particle physics.  The two subjects are certainly related - and topics which used to be considered particle physics (or high energy physics) are now considered to be part of nuclear physics.

Particle physics is the study of  the ultimate constituents of matter and the interactions between them.  Nuclear physics is concerned with the behavior of nuclei, as well as the interaction between  nucleons and how the quarks in the nucleons affect the behavior of the nucleus.  Both fields are extremely broad - I hope to give you an introduction to each field, an understanding of what some of the current hot topics are and how we study them, as well as an idea of how we got to where we are today.