We perform a systematic theoretical analysis of fully-aligned, high-spin $f_{7/2}^n$ seniority isomers and $d_{3/2}^{-1}{f}_{7/2}^{n+1}$ intruder states in the $A~44$ nuclei from the lower-$\mathit{fp}$ shell. The configuration-interaction calculations, based on the nuclear shell model, are performed in the full $\mathit{sdfp}$ configuration space allowing $1p$-$1h$ cross-shell excitations. The density functional theory calculations are carried out within the self-consistent Hartree-Fock approach with the Skyrme energy functional that reproduces empirical Landau parameters. While there is a nice agreement between experimental and theoretical relative energies of fully-aligned states in $N>Z$ nuclei, this is no longer the case for the $N=Z$ systems. The remaining deviation from the data is attributed to the isoscalar proton-neutron correlations. It is also demonstrated that the Coulomb corrections at high spins noticeably depend on the choice of the energy density functional.

In an attempt to resolve the inconsistencies found among earlier measurements, we remeasured the half-life of ${}^{50}\mathrm{Mn}$, paying particular attention to possible count rate and contaminant effects, and obtained 283.10(14) ms. Although most previous accounts seem to lack adequate detail, we are nevertheless constrained to retain their values in an overall recommended half-life of 283.21(11) ms.

By looking at the parity-nonconserving (PNC) asymmetries for different energies in $\overrightarrow{p}p$ scattering, it is in principle possible to determine the PNC $\rho NN$ and $\omega NN$ couplings of a single-meson-exchange model of the PNC $\mathit{NN}$ force. Analysis of the experimental data at 13.6, 45, and 221 MeV was performed by Carlson et al., [Phys. Rev. C 65, 035502 (2002)] who concluded the data were in agreement with the uncertainties accorded the original DDH estimates for the PNC meson-nucleon couplings. In this work it is shown first that a comparison with updated hadronic predictions of these couplings suggests the existence of some discrepancy for the PNC $\omega NN$ coupling. The effect of varying the strong coupling constants and introducing cutoffs in the one-boson-exchange weak potential is then investigated. As expected, the resulting asymmetry is quite sensitive to these parameters regardless of the energy. However, the above mentioned discrepancy persists. The dependence of this conclusion on various ingredients entering an improved description of the PNC $\mathit{NN}$ force is also examined. Additional mechanisms include the two-pion resonance nature of the rho meson and some momentum dependence of the isoscalar PNC $\rho NN$ vertex. None of these corrections removes or even alleviates the above discrepancy. Their impact on the theoretical determination of the vector meson-nucleon couplings, the description of the PNC force in terms of single-meson exchange, and the interpretation of measurements are examined.

The representations of fusion barrier distribution were derived from the quasielastic excitation function measured at the backward angle in ${}^{11}\mathrm{B}$, ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$, ${}^{13}\mathrm{C}+{}^{209}\mathrm{Bi}$ reactions at energies around the Coulomb barrier. The experimental fusion barrier distributions were compared with the predictions of simplified coupled-channels fusion (CCDEF) calculations with inclusion of various channels coupling because of low-lying inelastic states of target and one and few nucleon transfers. The influence of neutron transfer coupling on fusion barrier distribution has been discussed.

The $g$ factor of the $4_1^{+}$ state in ${}^{66}\mathrm{Zn}$ has been measured for the first time employing the technique of projectile Coulomb excitation in inverse kinematics combined with transient magnetic fields. The lifetime of this state, $\tau (4_1^{+})=1.1(2)$ ps, which has been remeasured by the Doppler shift attenuation method, is twice as large as a previously determined value. Both the deduced $B(E2;4_1^{+}\to 2_1^{+})=133(24)$ $e^2{\mathrm{fm}}^4$ and the $g$ factor of the $4_1^{+}$ state, $g(4_1^{+})=+0.65(20)$, were interpreted, together with results for the $2_1^{+}$ state, in the framework of shell-model calculations based on a ${}^{56}\mathrm{Ni}$ closed-shell core. The present results are also compared with those for neighboring ${}^{64}\mathrm{Zn}$ and ${}^{68}\mathrm{Zn}$ that were obtained in previous measurements by the same technique.

Alpha decays of ${}^{237}\mathrm{Cm}$ and ${}^{238}\mathrm{Cm}$ have been studied using a gas-jet coupled on-line isotope separator. The new isotope ${}^{237}\mathrm{Cm}$ has been identified through the detection of $6656\pm 10$ keV α particles. The α energy of ${}^{238}\mathrm{Cm}$ has been revised more precisely than the previous one. The α transition to the first excited $2^{+}$ state in ${}^{234}\mathrm{Pu}$ has also been observed. It was found that the $2^{+}$ energy in ${}^{234}\mathrm{Pu}$ is much higher than those in heavier Pu isotopes.

Using the no-core shell model approach, we report on the first results for ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ based on the next-to-next-to-leading order chiral nuclear interaction. Both two-nucleon and three-nucleon interactions are taken into account. We show that the $p$-shell nuclei are sensitive to the subleading parts of the chiral interactions including three-nucleon forces. Though chiral interactions are soft, we do not observe overbinding for this $p$-shell nucleus and find a realistic description for the binding energy, excitation spectrum, and radius.

The authors present a relativistic and cross-section factorized framework for computing quasielastic $A(p,\mathit{pN})$ observables at intermediate and high energies. The model is based on the eikonal approximation and can accommodate both optical potentials and the Glauber method for dealing with the initial- and final-state interactions (IFSI). At lower nucleon energies, the optical-potential philosophy is preferred; whereas at higher energies, the Glauber method is more natural. This versatility in dealing with the IFSI allows one to describe $A(p,\mathit{pN})$ reactions in a wide energy range. Most results presented here use optical potentials, as this approach is argued to be the optimum choice for the kinematics of the experiments considered in the present paper. The properties of the IFSI factor, a function containing the entire effect of the IFSI, are studied in detail. The predictions of the presented framework are compared with two kinematically different experiments. First, differential cross sections for quasielastic proton scattering at 1 GeV off ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$, ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}$, and ${}^{40}\mathrm{Ca}$ target nuclei are computed and compared to data from Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute (PNPI). Second, the formalism is applied to the analysis of a ${}^4\mathrm{He}$$(p,2p)$ experiment at 250 MeV. The optical-potential calculations are found to be in good agreement with the data from both experiments, showing the reliability of the adopted model in a wide energy range.

We study the photoproduction of the $K^{*}(892)$ vector meson from both the charged and neutral reactions $\gamma p\to K^{*+}\Lambda$ and $\gamma n\to K^{*0}\Lambda$. The production mechanisms that we consider include $t$-channel $K^{*},K,\kappa$ exchanges, $s$-channel nucleon diagrams, and $u$-channel $\Lambda ,\Sigma ,{\Sigma }^{*}$ diagrams. These could constitute important backgrounds for future investigation of “missing” resonances that can be searched for especially in these reactions. The $t$-channel $K$ meson exchange is found to dominate both reactions. The total and differential cross sections are presented together with some spin asymmetries.

A simple model to calculate α-decay hindrance factors (HF) with special emphasis on the shape coexistence in the Pb-Po region is presented. Using deformation values obtained from potential energy surface (PES) calculations as the only input, hindrance factors for the α decay of Rn and Po isotopes are calculated. The fair agreement between experimental and theoretical hindrance factors suggest that the wave function obtained from the energy minima of the PES calculations contains an important part of the correlations that play a role for the α decay. The model is applicable to shape coexistence in the Po and Pb region when minima are well defined. The calculated HF that emerge from these calculations render a different interpretation than the commonly assumed $n$-particle $n$-hole picture of the intruder states in the Pb region.

We study the effect of phase relaxation on coherent superpositions of rotating clockwise and anticlockwise wave packets in the regime of strongly overlapping resonances of the intermediate complex. Such highly excited deformed complexes may be created in binary collisions of heavy ions, molecules, and atomic clusters. It is shown that phase relaxation leads to a reduction of the interference fringes, thus mimicking the effect of decoherence. This reduction is crucial for the determination of the phase-relaxation width from the data on the excitation function oscillations in heavy-ion collisions and bimolecular chemical reactions. The difference between the effects of phase relaxation and decoherence is discussed.

Nuclear structure of ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$, ${}^8\mathrm{B}$, and ${}^{7,8}\mathrm{Li}$ is studied within the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM). Starting from high-precision nucleon-nucleon ($\mathit{NN}$) interactions, wave functions of ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$ and ${}^8\mathrm{B}$ bound states are obtained in basis spaces up to $10\hslash \Omega$ and used to calculate channel cluster form factors (overlap integrals) of the ${}^8\mathrm{B}$ ground state with ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$+$p$. Due to the use of the harmonic oscillator (HO) basis, the overlap integrals have incorrect asymptotic properties. We fix this problem in two alternative ways. First, by a Woods-Saxon potential solution fit to the interior of the NCSM overlap integrals. Second, by a direct matching with the Whittaker function. The corrected overlap integrals are then used for the ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$($p$,γ)${}^8\mathrm{B}$ $S$-factor calculation. We study the convergence of the $S$ factor with respect to the NCSM HO frequency and the model space size. Our $S$ factor results agree with recent direct measurement data. We also test the spectroscopic factors and the corrected overlap integrals from the NCSM in describing the momentum distributions in knockout reactions with ${}^8\mathrm{B}$ projectiles. A good agreement with the available experimental data is also found, attesting to the overall consistency of the calculations.

The second $0^{+}$ state in ${}^{10}\mathrm{Be}$ and ${}^{10}\mathrm{B}$ is shown to be almost pure $(\mathit{sd}){}^2$ in character. Its energy puts a severe constraint on the possible location of the first $1/2^{+}$ state in ${}^9\mathrm{B}$, and on the location of ${}^{10}\mathrm{C}$ ($0_2^{+}$).

The high-spin structure of ${}^{157}\mathrm{Er}$ has been greatly expanded using the Gammasphere spectrometer to investigate the ${}^{114}\mathrm{Cd}$(${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$,$5n$) reaction at 215 MeV. Many new transitions have been placed in a greatly augmented level scheme up to spin $40\hslash$ with many collective rotational sequences established. With increasing angular momentum, this nucleus undergoes a Coriolis-induced shape transition from a deformed state of collective rotation to a noncollective configuration. This transition manifests itself as favored band termination near $I=45\hslash$ in three rotational structures. Many weakly populated states lying at high excitation energy that decay into the terminating states have been discovered. Cranked-Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations suggest that the levels that feed the terminating states arise from weakly collective configurations that break the $Z=64$ semimagic core.

The generalized Baldin sum rule for virtual photon scattering, the unpolarized analogy of the generalized Gerasimov-Drell-Hearn integral provides an important way to investigate the transition between perturbative QCD and hadronic descriptions of nucleon structure. This sum rule requires integration of the nucleon structure function $F_1$, which until recently had not been measured at low $Q^2$ and large $x$, i.e., in the nucleon resonance region. This work uses new data from inclusive electron-proton scattering in the resonance region obtained at Jefferson Lab, in combination with SLAC deep inelastic scattering data, to present first precision measurements of the generalized Baldin integral for the proton in the $Q^2$ range of 0.3 to $4.0{\mathrm{GeV}}^2$.

In the context of the n_TOF Collaboration, the measurement of the cross section of the reaction ${}^{241}\mathrm{Am}$$(n,2n)$${}^{240}\mathrm{Am}$, has been performed, for the first time at neutron energies from 8.8 to 11.4 MeV, by the activation method, relative to the ${}^{27}\mathrm{Al}$$(n,a)$${}^{24}\mathrm{Na}$ reaction reference cross section. The monoenergetic neutron beam was produced at the 5.5 MV TANDEM accelerator of NCSR “Demokritos,” by means of the ${}^2\mathrm{H}$$(d,n)$${}^3\mathrm{He}$ reaction, using a deuterium filled gas cell. The radioactive target consisted of a 37 GBq ${}^{241}\mathrm{Am}$ source enclosed in a Pb container. After the end of the irradiation, the activity induced by the neutron beam at the target and reference, was measured off-line by a 56% relative efficiency, HPGe detector.

Fusion excitation functions are measured for the $\alpha ,p$, and $n$ evaporation channels in the fusion of the ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}+{}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ system at center-of-mass energies between 4.42 and 6.48 MeV, with energy steps of 75 keV. The γ-ray technique is used with a new absolute normalization method which is independent of charge collection, allowing one to monitor at the same time the carbon buildup at the target. Discrepancies between previous works are discussed and a simple unification is proposed. Barrier penetration model (BPM) calculations are consistent with a belly-to-belly orientation of the oblate deformed ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ nuclei at the touching point. As in previous works, much structure is seen in the excitation function which is nearly consistent with the positions of resonances reported in the literature for this system. Using BPM predictions for the background excitation function and doing a simultaneous fit of the relevant Breit-Wigner terms in the measured energy region produced a modified set of resonance parameters. The extrapolation of the astrophysical $S$ factor to lower energies is discussed on the basis of the unified data.

The phase diagram of models with configuration mixing is investigated in mean-field approximation. The configurations correspond to different limits of a dynamical algebra U($n$), such as U($n-1$) and SO($n$), and are allowed to mix. It is shown that this diagram has unusual properties not present in models with a single configuration. Applications to nuclear and molecular physics are discussed.