An accurate determination of the partial cross sections to four final states in the ${}^9\mathrm{Be}\left({}^{15}\mathrm{C},{}^{14}\mathrm{C}\right)X$ reaction has been carried out at $103\mathrm{MeV}∕\text{nucleon}$. The cross section of $101\left(5\right)\text{mb}$ to the ${}^{14}\mathrm{C}{0}^{+}$ ground state is of special interest. Relative to the theoretical cross section calculated on the basis of the spectroscopic factor from effective-interaction theory, this amounts to a quenching factor $R_s=0.90\left(4\right)\left(5\right)$. Here the first number in parentheses is the experimental error, and the second is the error on the theoretical unit (reaction) cross section. The result gives support to the idea that weakly bound halolike states have quenching factors that approach unity, in contrast to factors of $0.5–0.6$ characteristic of well-bound states in nuclei near stability.

The decay properties of ${}^{127}\mathrm{In}$ and ${}^{129}\mathrm{In}$ have been investigated using Isotope Separation On-Line (ISOL) produced samples. In both ${}^{127}\mathrm{In}$ and ${}^{129}\mathrm{In}$ new $\beta$-decaying isomeric states were observed, with half-lives of $1.04\pm 0.10$ and $0.67\pm 0.10\mathrm{s}$, respectively, in addition to the previously known isomers of single proton hole $p_{1∕2}$ and $g_{9∕2}$ character. ${\mathrm{Q}}_{\beta }$ measurements show that the new isomeric states are present at energies approaching $2\text{MeV}$ above the ground states. The level schemes of ${}^{127}\mathrm{Sn}$ and ${}^{129}\mathrm{Sn}$ have been considerably extended. The modes of feeding and decay of the two $\mu \mathrm{s}$ isomers in each of the Sn nuclei are fully elucidated, including new half-life determinations. Shell model calculations on ${}^{127}\mathrm{Sn}$ and ${}^{129}\mathrm{Sn}$ were performed, giving results in good agreement with the new data.

Using an isospin- and momentum-dependent transport model, we study the effects due to the momentum dependence of isoscalar nuclear potential as well as that of symmetry potential on two-nucleon correlation functions and light cluster production in intermediate energy heavy-ion collisions induced by neutron-rich nuclei. It is found that both observables are affected significantly by the momentum dependence of nuclear potential, leading to a reduction of their sensitivity to the stiffness of nuclear symmetry energy. However, the $t∕{}^3\mathrm{He}$ ratio remains a sensitive probe of the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy.

Half-lives $\left(T_{1∕2}\right)$ of several states which decay by delayed $\gamma$ transitions were determined from time-gated triple $\gamma$ coincidence method. We determined, for the first time, the half-life of $330.6+x$ state in ${}^{108}\mathrm{Tc}$ and the half-life of $19∕2^{-}$ state in ${}^{133}\mathrm{Te}$ based on the new level schemes. Three half-lives of ${}^{99}\mathrm{Zr}$, ${}^{134}\mathrm{Te}$, and ${}^{137}\mathrm{Xe}$ are consistent with the previously reported ones. These results indicate that this new method is useful for measuring the half-lives.

A previously defined short range nonlocal nucleon-nucleon ($NN$) interaction, which more closely matches common expectations and reproduces the ${}^3\mathrm{H}$ and ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ binding energies, is tested in elastic scattering. Nonlocal $P$-wave interactions with modified on-shell behavior were constructed in order to produce better low-energy $n-d$ analyzing powers. At low energies some of the changes are due to the correct $3N$ binding energy, however, there are effects due to the characteristic properties of the nonlocal interactions. There is an indication that $p-d$ calculations based on the present nonlocal $NN$ interactions (with or without the modified $P$-wave interactions) would produce the same quality or better agreement with the low- and medium-energy experimental data than the corresponding local $NN$ interaction plus $3N$ force model.

We discuss a quantum effect in the diffusion process by developing a theory, which takes the finite curvature of the potential field into account. The transport coefficients of our theory satisfy the well-known fluctuation-dissipation theorem in the limit of Markovian approximation in the cases of diffusion in a flat potential and in a potential well. For the diffusion along a potential barrier, the diffusion coefficient can be related to the friction coefficient by an analytic continuation of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem for the case of diffusion along a potential well in the asymptotic time, but contains strong non-Markovian effects at short times. By applying our theory to the case of realistic values of the temperature, the barrier curvature, and the friction coefficient, we show that the quantum effects will play significant roles in describing the synthesis of superheavy elements, i.e., the evolution from the fusion barrier to the conditional saddle, in terms of a diffusion process. We especially point out the importance of the memory effect, which increases at lower temperatures. It makes the net quantum effects enhance the probability of crossing the conditional saddle.

In the present paper, we discuss the differences that underlie a topic of current intensive research and debate, e.g., the appearance of phase transitions and shape coexistence in atomic nuclei. Besides a formulation of the basic differences, we discuss on one hand some typical examples of shape coexistence (near the Sn and Pb closed shell regions) and, on the other hand, of phase transitions. The present discussion should allow a more transparent way to analyze nuclear structure changes in particular mass regions.

An event generator, HIPSE (heavy-ion phase-space exploration), dedicated to the description of nuclear collisions in the intermediate energy range is presented. Based on the sudden approximation and on geometrical hypothesis, it can conveniently simulate heavy-ion interactions at all impact parameters and thus can constitute a valuable tool for the understanding of processes such as neck emission or multifragmentation in peripheral or∕and central collisions. After a detailed description of the ingredients of the model, first comparisons with experimental data collected by the INDRA Collaboration are shown. Special emphasis is put on the kinematical characteristics of fragments and light particles observed at all impact parameters for $\text{Xe}+\text{Sn}$ reactions at 25 and $50\text{MeV}∕\mathrm{nucleon}$ and $\text{Ni}+\text{Ni}$ at $82\text{MeV}∕\mathrm{nucleon}$.

Neutrino emission drives neutron star cooling for the first several hundreds of years after its birth. Given the low-energy $\left(\sim \text{keV}\right)$ nature of this process, one expects very few nonstandard particle-physics contributions which could affect this rate. Requiring that any new physics contributions involve light degrees of freedom, one of the likely candidates which can affect the cooling process would be a nonzero magnetic moment for the neutrino. To illustrate, we compute the emission rate for neutrino pair bremsstrahlung in neutron-neutron scattering through photon-neutrino magnetic moment coupling. We also present analogous differential rates for neutrino scattering off nucleons and electrons that determine neutrino opacities in supernovae. Employing current upper bounds from collider experiments on the $\tau$ magnetic moment, we find that the neutrino emission rate can exceed the rate through neutral current electroweak interaction by a factor 2, signaling the importance of new particle physics input to a standard calculation of relevance to neutron star cooling. However, astrophysical bounds on the neutrino magnetic moment imply smaller effects.

The neutron capture cross section of ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ has been measured at energies between $10\text{keV}$ and $100\text{keV}$ in a time-of-flight experiment at the Karlsruhe $3.7\text{MV}$ Van de Graaff accelerator. Neutrons were produced via the ${}^7\mathrm{Li}\left(p,n\right){}^7\mathrm{Be}$ reaction by bombarding metallic Li targets with a pulsed proton beam, and gold was used as a cross section standard. Though the world supply of enriched ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ was available for this experiment, the sample consisted of only $150\text{mg}$ ${\text{Ta}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_5$ with a ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ content of only $5.5\%$. The difficult separation of the comparably few capture events in ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ from the much larger background due to captures in ${}^{181}\mathrm{Ta}$ could be achieved by means of the Karlsruhe $4\pi$ barium fluoride detector, taking advantage of its combination of high efficiency, good energy resolution, and high granularity. The cross section was determined with an overall uncertainty of better than $10\%$ in the energy range from $30\text{keV}$ to $100\text{keV}$ and could be used for renormalizing statistical model calculations in the entire energy range of astrophysical interest, which had predicted about two times larger values. Based on these first experimental data, Maxwellian averaged neutron capture cross sections were calculated for thermal energies between $kT=8\text{keV}$ and $100\text{keV}$.

The contribution of the slow neutron capture process ($s$ process) to the solar ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ abundance has been investigated on the basis of new experimental information. Measured neutron capture cross sections of ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ and the corresponding Maxwellian averaged $\left(n,\gamma \right)$ rates were important for defining the $s$ abundance of ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$, and the result of a recent photoactivation experiment was providing an estimate of its half-life at the temperatures of the $s$-process site. Following the $s$-process network with stellar evolutionary models from the premain sequence through the asymptotic giant branch phase, it was found that the produced ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ survives the high temperatures during He shell flashes because of the fast convective mixing, which provides an efficient means for transporting freshly synthesized matter into cooler, outer zones. Accordingly, ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}^m$ appears to be predominantly of $s$-process origin.

In a recent paper by Link, it was pointed out that the standard picture of the neutron star core, composed of a mixture of a neutron superfluid and a proton type-II superconductor, is inconsistent with observations of long period precession in isolated pulsars. In the following we will show that intervortex force between the magnetic flux tubes may be attractive, resulting in a type-I (rather than type-II) superconductor. In this case the magnetic field cannot exist in the form of magnetic flux tubes, supporting Link’s observation. This behavior of the system is due to the strong interaction between the proton-neutron Cooper pairs, which was previously ignored. We also calculate the critical magnetic fields $H_c$ and $H_{c2}$ for type-I∕II superconductors. These results also support our claim of type-I superconductivity in the cores of neutron stars.

The total photoabsorption cross sections of the six-body nuclei are calculated including a complete final state interaction via the Lorentz integral transform method. The effect of nucleon-nucleon central P-wave forces is investigated. Comparing to results with central potentials containing S-wave forces only, one finds considerable more strength in the low-energy cross sections and a rather strong improvement in comparison with experimental data, in particular for ${}^6\mathrm{Li}$.

High-spin states in ${}^{138}\mathrm{Nd}$ have been investigated with the reaction ${}^{94}\mathrm{Zr}\left({}^{48}\mathrm{Ca,4}n\right)$, using the GASP array. A new rotational band has been identified, which has close similarities with the well known highly deformed bands of the lighter Nd isotopes, and is therefore interpreted as built on the second minimum of the nuclear potential energy surface. From comparison with calculations a configuration is suggested which involves two neutrons in the $i_{13∕2}$ deformation driving orbital.

The proton-neutron relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (PN-RQRPA) is formulated in the canonical single-nucleon basis of the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov model, for an effective Lagrangian characterized by density-dependent meson-nucleon couplings. The model includes both the $T=1$ and $T=0$ pairing channels. Pair configurations formed from the fully or partially occupied states of positive energy in the Fermi sea, and the empty negative-energy states from the Dirac sea, are included in PN-RQRPA configuration space. The model is applied to the analysis of charge-exchange modes: isobaric analog resonances and Gamow-Teller resonances.

One of the main open problems in the physics of $\Lambda$ hypernuclei is the lack of a sound theoretical interpretation of the large experimental values for the ratio ${\Gamma }_n∕{\Gamma }_p\equiv \Gamma (\Lambda n\to nn)∕\Gamma (\Lambda p\to np)$. To approach the problem, we have incorporated a one-meson-exchange model for the $\Lambda N\to nN$ transition in finite nuclei in an intranuclear cascade code for the calculation of single- and double-coincidence nucleon distributions corresponding to the nonmesonic weak decay of ${}_{\Lambda }{}^5\mathrm{He}$ and ${}_{\Lambda }{}^{12}\mathrm{C}$. Due to the reduction of interferences, two-nucleon coincidences are expected to give a cleaner determination of ${\Gamma }_n∕{\Gamma }_p$ than single-nucleon observables. Single-nucleon distributions are found to be less sensitive to variations of ${\Gamma }_n∕{\Gamma }_p$ than double-coincidence spectra. The comparison of our results with preliminary KEK coincidence data allows us to extract a ${\Gamma }_n∕{\Gamma }_p$ ratio for ${}_{\Lambda }{}^5\mathrm{He}$ of $0.39\pm 0.11$ when multinucleon induced channels are omitted.

Interaction distances were estimated for the weakly bound systems ${}^6\mathrm{Li}$ and ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$, from elastic scattering data, as a function of energy in the vicinity of the barrier and as a function of target mass number. For comparison purposes, such distances were also estimated for some stable systems. It was found that interaction distances vary appreciably between stable and weakly bound projectiles while depending strongly on target mass number. The implications to calculations of the potential in the vicinity of the barrier are discussed.

A new experimental investigation of the level scheme of the $N=Z+1$ nucleus ${}^{81}\mathrm{Zr}$ is reported. An additional band assigned to the $\left[431\right]1∕2^{+}$ orbital has been observed and the known $\left[422\right]5∕2^{+}$ and $\left[301\right]3∕2^{-}$ bands have been extended to higher spins. The behavior of these bands is compared to that of the bands in the isotonic nucleus ${}^{79}\mathrm{Sr}$, for which some new experimental data are presented. Comparison is also made to the even-even $N=Z$ and $N=Z+2$ neighbors. The band structures are discussed in the framework of the projected shell model.

The capture cross sections and barrier distributions are investigated for reactions with ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ projectiles leading to some of the most recently discovered superheavy nuclei. The Wong’s formula and the coupled-channel method (which takes into account the excitation of rotational states of the ground state band of the target nucleus) are used to assess the role of the hexadecupole deformations of the target on the capture cross sections of fusion reactions leading to the recently discovered superheavy nuclei ${}^{286}112$, ${}^{292}114$, and ${}^{296}116$. The contribution of orientations other than the pole-pole one in the cross sections is substantiated for increasing bombarding energy.