The Nuclear Cooper Pair

This monograph presents a unified theory of nuclear structure and nuclear reactions in the language of quantum electrodynamics, Feynman diagrams. It describes how two-nucleon transfer reaction processes can be used as a quantitative tool to interpret experimental findings with the help of computer codes and nuclear field theory. Making use of Cooper pair transfer processes, the theory is applied to the study of pair correlations in both stable and unstable exotic nuclei. Special attention is given to unstable, exotic halo systems, which lie at the forefront of the nuclear physics research being carried out at major laboratories around the world. This volume is distinctive in dealing in both nuclear structure and reactions and benefits from comparing the nuclear field theory with experimental observables, making it a valuable resource for incoming and experienced researchers who are working in nuclear pairing and using transfer reactions to probe them.

Advanced Heavy Water Reactor: A New Step Toward Sustainability

One of the great advances in the current evolution of nuclear power reactors is occurring in India, with the Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR). It is a reactor that uses thorium as part of its fuel, which in its two fueling cycle options, in conjunction with plutonium or low enriched uranium, produces energy at the commercial level, generating less actinides of long half-life and inert thorium oxide, which leads to an optimization in the proportion of energy produced versus the production of burnt fuels of the order of up to 50%. The objective of this work is to present the most recent research and projects in progress in India, and how the expected results should be in compliance with the current sustainability models and programs, especially the "Green Chemistry", a program developed since the 1990s in the United States and England, which defines sustainable choices in its twelve principles and that can also be mostly related to the nuclear field. Nevertheless, in Brazil, for more than 40 years there has been the discontinuation of research for a thorium-fueled reactor, and so far there has been no prospect of future projects. The AHWR is an important example as an alternative way of producing energy in Brazil, as the country has the second largest reserve of thorium on the planet.