Elementary Nuclear Theory: A Short Course on Selected Topics

2013 Reprint of 1947 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Hans Albrecht Bethe was a German and American nuclear physicist, and Nobel laureate in physics for his work on the theory of stellar nucleosynthesis. A versatile theoretical physicist, Bethe also made important contributions to quantum electrodynamics, nuclear physics, solid-state physics and astrophysics. During World War II, he was head of the Theoretical Division at the secret Los Alamos laboratory which developed the first atomic bombs. There he played a key role in calculating the critical mass of the weapons, and did theoretical work on the implosion method used in both the Trinity test and the "Fat Man" weapon dropped on Nagasaki, Japan. For most of his career, Bethe was a professor at Cornell University. This early book by Bethe emphasizes the problem of nuclear forces. This problem is the central problem of nuclear physics. He treats the problem entirely from the empirical point of view, and made an effort to present the evidence available on nuclear forces from the behavior of the simplest nuclear systems. The book also focuses on beta disintegration.