Experimental Techniques in Nuclear and Particle Physics

Abstract

The present textbook is an introduction to measurement techniques in nuclear and particle physics and to particle accelerators. This subject is a part of the standard curriculum in Physics, Nuclear Engineering and Medical Physics. The course should preferably be taken together with a more theoretically oriented course on nuclear physics or particle physics. References [1–3] are a few of the many good hand books providing this. However, the book can be used as a stand-alone textbook on the experimental aspects of nuclear and particle physics. The only pre-requisite is the general mathematics and physics background that is required for all students in Physics and Engineering. The emphasis in this textbook is on the principles of operation and the basic characteristics of measurement systems and accelerators. For a more detailed and complete description of measurement procedures, the readers should consult, for example reference [4], ‘A Handbook of Radioactivity Measurements Procedures’. Such books, however, assume that the reader already has a basic knowledge of the principles of particle measurement, and this is what the present textbook aims to provide.