In this Department, primarily experimental research is conducted in Nuclear Physics, Weak Interaction, Dark Matter, Neutrinos and Applications of Natural and Accelerator-Induced Radiation. Ultra-precise measurement of radioactive, cosmogenic and anthropogenic isotope concentrations: 14C, 10 Be, 26 Al, 129 I and Pu, for dating and other applications. Thermodynamics in and out of equilibrium.
The Department is composed of 14 researchers and 4 academic technicians. It has 7 laboratories, including three particle accelerators and a National Laboratory.
The research areas considered are concentrated on radiation of nuclear or cosmic origin and its use for the study of fundamental interactions, the atomic nucleus, the atom as a whole, as well as its applications in other areas of knowledge. The topics range from the effect of radiation on the origin of life, the structure and composition of the universe, the use of cosmogenic radioactive isotopes, the characterization of materials and atmospheric pollutants, among others, covering so far more than thirty specific research programs grouped into 6 general lines.
Other activities that are an important part of the academic life of those involved are the Angel Dacal Seminar, which is organized jointly with the Department of Experimental Physics, and the Nuclear Lunch Seminar, with more than 40 years of tradition and which is currently organized in collaboration with the Nuclear Physics Division of the Mexican Physical Society.
