Calculational Methods for Interacting Arrays of Fissile Material describes the methods used in assessing the criticality safety of interacting arrays of fissile materials. It demonstrates that the behavior of neutrons in an array can be divided into two parts which can, to a large extent, be treated independently. These are the neutron multiplication within units of the array and the transmission of neutrons between units. For the former the usual methods of neutron physics are applicable but used so as to place emphasis on the neutrons entering and leaving the unit. The latter is mainly a geometrical problem, being entirely so for an air-spaced array. This volume is comprised of four chapters and begins with an introduction to the practical aspects of the interaction problem affecting arrays of fissile materials. The discussion then turns to simple ""hand"" methods of calculation, paying particular attention to the general equilibrium conditions in interacting arrays, along with the Oak Ridge method, the Interaction Parameter method, and the PQR method. Finally, the application of Monte Carlo method to the study of the neutron economy of entire arrays is considered in terms of one particular computer code called GEM. The basis of neutron tracking in critical size calculations by GEM is analyzed. This book will be a valuable resource for nuclear engineers and scientists.

This book provides insight into concept of the weak interaction and its integration into the conceptual structure of elementary particle physics. It exhibits the important role of the weak interaction in nuclear, particle and astrophysics together with the close connection between these areas.

This book provides the first graduate-level, self-contained introduction to recent developments that lead to the formulation of the configuration-interaction approach for open quantum systems, the Gamow shell model, which provides a unitary description of quantum many-body system in different regimes of binding, and enables the unification in the description of nuclear structure and reactions. The Gamow shell model extends and generalizes the phenomenologically successful nuclear shell model to the domain of weakly-bound near-threshold states and resonances, offering a systematic tool to understand and categorize data on nuclear spectra, moments, collective excitations, particle and electromagnetic decays, clustering, elastic and inelastic scattering cross sections, and radiative capture cross sections of interest to astrophysics. The approach is of interest beyond nuclear physics and based on general properties of quasi-stationary solutions of the Schrödinger equation – so-called Gamow states. For the benefit of graduate students and newcomers to the field, the quantum-mechanical fundamentals are introduced in some detail. The text also provides a historical overview of how the field has evolved from the early days of the nuclear shell model to recent experimental developments, in both nuclear physics and related fields, supporting the unified description. The text contains many worked examples and several numerical codes are introduced to allow the reader to test different aspects of the continuum shell model discussed in the book.