School of Physics and Technology of University of Kharkiv now being carried by the department. The department is considered to be the most difficult department at the school. Students of the department study special courses on elementary particles, quantum electrodynamics, general relativity, astrophysics, theoretical nuclear physics, solid-state theory, and plasma physics. In addition, the professors of the department teach most of the bachelors-level mathematics and theoretical physics courses at the school. The department was created in 1937 by Anton Valter. The name of the department changed several times: "Department of Physics of the Atomic Nucleus", "Department of Physics of the Atomic Nucleus and Electronics", "Department of Electronic Processes", "Department
Atomic theory hydrogen atoms - then assumed to be the lightest particles - led him to conclude that hydrogen nuclei were singular particles and a basic constituent of all atomic nuclei. He named such particles protons. Further experimentation by Rutherford found that the nuclear mass of most atoms exceeded that of the protons it possessed; he speculated that this surplus mass was composed of previously-unknown neutrally charged particles, which were tentatively dubbed "neutrons". In 1928, Walter Bothe observed that beryllium emitted a highly penetrating, electrically neutral radiation when bombarded with alpha particles. It was later discovered that this radiation could knock hydrogen