List of equations in nuclear and particle physics

This article summarizes equations in the theory of nuclear physics and particle physics.

Definitions

Quantity (common name/s)	(Common) symbol/s	Defining equation	SI units	Dimension
Number of atoms	N = Number of atoms remaining at time t N0 = Initial number of atoms at time t = 0 ND = Number of atoms decayed at time t	${\displaystyle N_{0}=N+N_{D}\,\!}$	dimensionless	dimensionless
Decay rate, activity of a radioisotope	A	${\displaystyle A=\lambda N\,\!}$	Bq = Hz = s^−1	[T]^−1
Decay constant	λ	${\displaystyle \lambda =A/N\,\!}$	Bq = Hz = s^−1	[T]^−1
Half-life of a radioisotope	t1/2, T1/2	Time taken for half the number of atoms present to decay ${\displaystyle t\rightarrow t+T_{1/2}\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle N\rightarrow N/2\,\!}$	s	[T]
Number of half-lives	n (no standard symbol)	${\displaystyle n=t/T_{1/2}\,\!}$	dimensionless	dimensionless
Radioisotope time constant, mean lifetime of an atom before decay	τ (no standard symbol)	${\displaystyle \tau =1/\lambda \,\!}$	s	[T]
Absorbed dose, total ionizing dose (total energy of radiation transferred to unit mass)	D can only be found experimentally	N/A	Gy = 1 J/kg (Gray)	[L]^2[T]^−2
Equivalent dose	H	${\displaystyle H=DQ\,\!}$ Q = radiation quality factor (dimensionless)	Sv = J kg^−1 (Sievert)	[L]^2[T]^−2
Effective dose	E	${\displaystyle E=\sum _{j}H_{j}W_{j}\,\!}$ Wj = weighting factors corresponding to radiosensitivities of matter (dimensionless) ${\displaystyle \sum _{j}W_{j}=1\,\!}$	Sv = J kg^−1 (Sievert)	[L]^2[T]^−2

Equations

Nuclear structure

Physical situation	Nomenclature	Equations
Mass number	A = (Relative) atomic mass = Mass number = Sum of protons and neutrons N = Number of neutrons Z = Atomic number = Number of protons = Number of electrons	${\displaystyle A=Z+N\,\!}$
Mass in nuclei	M'nuc = Mass of nucleus, bound nucleons MΣ = Sum of masses for isolated nucleons mp = proton rest mass mn = neutron rest mass	${\displaystyle M_{\Sigma }=Zm_{p}+Nm_{n}\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle M_{\Sigma }>M_{N}\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle \Delta M=M_{\Sigma }-M_{\mathrm {nuc} }\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle \Delta E=\Delta Mc^{2}\,\!}$
Nuclear radius	r0 ≈ 1.2 fm	${\displaystyle r=r_{0}A^{1/3}\,\!}$ hence (approximately) nuclear volume ∝ A nuclear surface ∝ A^2/3
Nuclear binding energy, empirical curve	Dimensionless parameters to fit experiment: EB = binding energy, av = nuclear volume coefficient, as = nuclear surface coefficient, ac = electrostatic interaction coefficient, aa = symmetry/asymmetry extent coefficient for the numbers of neutrons/protons,	${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}E_{B}=&a_{v}A-a_{s}A^{2/3}-a_{c}Z(Z-1)A^{-1/3}\\&-a_{a}(N-Z)^{2}A^{-1}+12\delta (N,Z)A^{-1/2}\\\end{aligned}}}$ where (due to pairing of nuclei) δ(N, Z) = +1 even N, even Z, δ(N, Z) = −1 odd N, odd Z, δ(N, Z) = 0 odd A

Nuclear decay

Physical situation	Nomenclature	Equations
Radioactive decay	N0 = Initial number of atoms N = Number of atoms at time t λ = Decay constant t = Time	Statistical decay of a radionuclide: ${\displaystyle {\frac {\mathrm {d} N}{\mathrm {d} t}}=-\lambda N}$ ${\displaystyle N=N_{0}e^{-\lambda t}\,\!}$
Bateman's equations	${\displaystyle c_{i}=\prod _{j=1,i\neq j}^{D}{\frac {\lambda _{j}}{\lambda _{j}-\lambda _{i}}}}$	${\displaystyle N_{D}={\frac {N_{1}(0)}{\lambda _{D}}}\sum _{i=1}^{D}\lambda _{i}c_{i}e^{-\lambda _{i}t}}$
Radiation flux	I0 = Initial intensity/Flux of radiation I = Number of atoms at time t μ = Linear absorption coefficient x = Thickness of substance	${\displaystyle I=I_{0}e^{-\mu x}\,\!}$

Nuclear scattering theory

The following apply for the nuclear reaction:

a + b ↔ R → c

in the centre of mass frame, where a and b are the initial species about to collide, c is the final species, and R is the resonant state.

Physical situation	Nomenclature	Equations
Breit-Wigner formula	E0 = Resonant energy Γ, Γab, Γc are widths of R, a + b, c respectively k = incoming wavenumber s = spin angular momenta of a and b J = total angular momentum of R	Cross-section: ${\displaystyle \sigma (E)={\frac {\pi g}{k^{2}}}{\frac {\Gamma _{ab}\Gamma _{c}}{(E-E_{0})^{2}+\Gamma ^{2}/4}}}$ Spin factor: ${\displaystyle g={\frac {2J+1}{(2s_{a}+1)(2s_{b}+1)}}}$ Total width: ${\displaystyle \Gamma =\Gamma _{ab}+\Gamma _{c}}$ Resonance lifetime: ${\displaystyle \tau =\hbar /\Gamma }$
Born scattering	r = radial distance μ = Scattering angle A = 2 (spin-0), −1 (spin-half particles) Δk = change in wavevector due to scattering V = total interaction potential V = total interaction potential	Differential cross-section: ${\displaystyle {\frac {d\sigma }{d\Omega }}=\left|{\frac {2\mu }{\hbar ^{2}}}\int _{0}^{\infty }{\frac {\sin(\Delta kr)}{\Delta kr}}V(r)r^{2}dr\right|^{2}}$
Mott scattering	χ = reduced mass of a and b v = incoming velocity	Differential cross-section (for identical particles in a coulomb potential, in centre of mass frame): ${\displaystyle {\frac {d\sigma }{d\Omega }}=\left({\frac {\alpha }{4E}}\right)\left[\csc ^{4}{\frac {\chi }{2}}+\sec ^{4}{\frac {\chi }{2}}+{\frac {A\cos \left({\frac {\alpha }{\hbar \nu }}\ln \tan ^{2}{\frac {\chi }{2}}\right)}{\sin ^{2}{\frac {\chi }{2}}\cos {\frac {\chi }{2}}}}\right]^{2}}$ Scattering potential energy (α = constant): ${\displaystyle V=-\alpha /r}$
Rutherford scattering		Differential cross-section (non-identical particles in a coulomb potential): ${\displaystyle {\frac {d\sigma }{d\Omega }}=\left({\frac {1}{n}}\right){\frac {dN}{d\Omega }}=\left({\frac {\alpha }{4E}}\right)^{2}\csc ^{4}{\frac {\chi }{2}}}$

Fundamental forces

These equations need to be refined such that the notation is defined as has been done for the previous sets of equations.

Name	Equations
Strong force	${\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}{\mathcal {L}}_{\mathrm {QCD} }&={\bar {\psi }}_{i}\left(i\gamma ^{\mu }(D_{\mu })_{ij}-m\,\delta _{ij}\right)\psi _{j}-{\frac {1}{4}}G_{\mu \nu }^{a}G_{a}^{\mu \nu }\\&={\bar {\psi }}_{i}(i\gamma ^{\mu }\partial _{\mu }-m)\psi _{i}-gG_{\mu }^{a}{\bar {\psi }}_{i}\gamma ^{\mu }T_{ij}^{a}\psi _{j}-{\frac {1}{4}}G_{\mu \nu }^{a}G_{a}^{\mu \nu }\,,\\\end{aligned}}\,\!}$
Electroweak interaction	${\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{\mathrm {EW} }={\mathcal {L}}_{g}+{\mathcal {L}}_{f}+{\mathcal {L}}_{h}+{\mathcal {L}}_{y}.\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{g}=-{\frac {1}{4}}W_{a}^{\mu \nu }W_{\mu \nu }^{a}-{\frac {1}{4}}B^{\mu \nu }B_{\mu \nu }\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{f}={\overline {Q}}_{i}iD\!\!\!\!/\;Q_{i}+{\overline {u}}_{i}^{c}iD\!\!\!\!/\;u_{i}^{c}+{\overline {d}}_{i}^{c}iD\!\!\!\!/\;d_{i}^{c}+{\overline {L}}_{i}iD\!\!\!\!/\;L_{i}+{\overline {e}}_{i}^{c}iD\!\!\!\!/\;e_{i}^{c}\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{h}=|D_{\mu }h|^{2}-\lambda \left(|h|^{2}-{\frac {v^{2}}{2}}\right)^{2}\,\!}$ ${\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{y}=-y_{u\,ij}\epsilon ^{ab}\,h_{b}^{\dagger }\,{\overline {Q}}_{ia}u_{j}^{c}-y_{d\,ij}\,h\,{\overline {Q}}_{i}d_{j}^{c}-y_{e\,ij}\,h\,{\overline {L}}_{i}e_{j}^{c}+h.c.\,\!}$
Quantum electrodynamics	${\displaystyle {\mathcal {L}}_{\mathrm {QED} }={\bar {\psi }}(i\gamma ^{\mu }D_{\mu }-m)\psi -{\frac {1}{4}}F_{\mu \nu }F^{\mu \nu }\;,\,\!}$

See also

• Defining equation (physical chemistry)
• List of electromagnetism equations
• List of equations in classical mechanics
• List of equations in quantum mechanics
• List of equations in wave theory
• List of photonics equations
• List of relativistic equations
• Relativistic wave equations

Footnotes

Sources

• B. R. Martin, G.Shaw (3 December 2008). Particle Physics (3rd ed.). Manchester Physics Series, John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0-470-03294-7.
• D. McMahon (2008). Quantum Field Theory. Mc Graw Hill (USA). ISBN 978-0-07-154382-8.
• P.M. Whelan, M.J. Hodgeson (1978). Essential Principles of Physics (2nd ed.). John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-3382-1.
• G. Woan (2010). The Cambridge Handbook of Physics Formulas. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-57507-2.
• A. Halpern (1988). 3000 Solved Problems in Physics, Schaum Series. Mc Graw Hill. ISBN 978-0-07-025734-4.
• R.G. Lerner, G.L. Trigg (2005). Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd ed.). VHC Publishers, Hans Warlimont, Springer. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0-07-025734-4.
• C.B. Parker (1994). McGraw Hill Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill. ISBN 0-07-051400-3.
• P.A. Tipler, G. Mosca (2008). Physics for Scientists and Engineers: With Modern Physics (6th ed.). W.H. Freeman and Co. ISBN 978-1-4292-0265-7.
• J.R. Forshaw, A.G. Smith (2009). Dynamics and Relativity. Wiley. ISBN 978-0-470-01460-8.

Further reading

• L.H. Greenberg (1978). Physics with Modern Applications. Holt-Saunders International W.B. Saunders and Co. ISBN 0-7216-4247-0.
• J.B. Marion, W.F. Hornyak (1984). Principles of Physics. Holt-Saunders International Saunders College. ISBN 4-8337-0195-2.
• A. Beiser (1987). Concepts of Modern Physics (4th ed.). McGraw-Hill (International). ISBN 0-07-100144-1.
• H.D. Young, R.A. Freedman (2008). University Physics – With Modern Physics (12th ed.). Addison-Wesley (Pearson International). ISBN 978-0-321-50130-1.