Particles and Nuclei

Abstract

The aim of P ARTICLES AND N UCLEI is to give a unified description of nuclear and particle physics because the experiments which have uncovered the substructure of atomic nuclei and nucleons are conceptually similar. With the progress of experimental and theoretical methods, atoms, nuclei, nucleons and finally quarks have been analysed during the course of this century. The intuitive assumption that our world is composed of a few constituents – an idea which seems attractive, but could not be taken for granted – appears to be confirmed. Moreover, the interactions between these constituents of matter can be formulated elegantly and are well understood conceptually, within the so-called standard model. Once we have arrived at this underlying theory, we are immediately faced with the question of how the complex structures around us are produced by it. On the way from elementary particles to nucleons and nuclei, we learn that the “fundamental” laws of the interaction between elementary particles are less and less recognisable in composite systems because many-body interactions cause greater and greater complexity for larger systems.