Mass measurements of high precision have been performed on sodium isotopes out to ${}^{30}\mathrm{Na}$ using a new technique of radio-frequency excitation of ion trajectories in a homogeneous magnetic field. This method, especially suited to very short-lived nuclides, has allowed us to significantly reduce the uncertainty in mass of the most exotic Na isotopes: a relative error of $5\times {10}^{-7}$ was achieved for ${}^{28}\mathrm{Na}$ having a half-life of only 30.5 ms and $9\times {10}^{-7}$ for the weakly produced ${}^{30}\mathrm{Na}.$ Verifying and minimizing binding energy uncertainties in this region of the nuclear chart is important for clarification of a long-standing problem concerning the strength of the $N=20\mathrm{}$ magic shell closure. These results are the fruit of the commissioning of the new experimental program MISTRAL.

Gamma rays in the ${}^{132}\mathrm{Sb}$ and ${}^{133}\mathrm{Te}N=81\mathrm{}$ isotones near doubly magic ${}^{132}\mathrm{Sn}$ have been studied at Gammasphere using a ${}^{248}\mathrm{Cm}$ fission source. Previously unknown yrast cascades in the two nuclei were identified in cross coincidence with known γ rays from complementary Rh and Ru fission fragments. The ${}^{132}\mathrm{Sb}$ levels are explained as proton-neutron hole states as well as core excited states of $2p-2h$ character, while the interpretation of the ${}^{133}\mathrm{Te}$ level scheme is mainly based on results of shell model calculations using empirical proton-proton interaction energies from ${}^{134}\mathrm{Te}$ together with estimated proton-neutron hole interactions.

Cross sections and analyzing powers were obtained for the reaction ${}^{208}\mathrm{Pb}\mathrm{}(p,t)\mathrm{}{\hspace{0.5em}}^{206}\mathrm{Pb}$ at $T_p=120\mathrm{}\mathrm{MeV},$ up to an excitation energy of 6.5 MeV, and with an energy resolution of 25–40 keV. Momentum matching considerations strongly favor the population of two-neutron-hole states with $J>~6.$ Making use of cross section and analyzing power angular distributions, 14 natural parity states were identified with $J=6\mathrm{}$ to 12, including all of the states with $J>~9$ expected in the $N=5\mathrm{}$ shell model space. The data were analyzed using the local zero-range distorted-wave Born approximation. Theory was normalized to experiment by making use of the sum rules for two-nucleon transfer reactions. Enhancement factors (ratio of experiment to normalized theory) were obtained, both for single, pure-configuration, and mixed configuration two-particle amplitudes from the shell model calculations of Kuo and Herling. Some of the details of the observed distribution of strengths were better accounted for by the shell model calculations, but, overall, the pure-configuration assumption accounted for the enhancement factors and energies about as well.

We have measured the double-differential cross sections for neutron production from C, Ne, and Ar projectiles at $E/A=290\mathrm{}–600\mathrm{MeV}$ on C, Cu, and Pb targets. Neutron energies were measured at laboratory angles between 5° and 80°. The measured neutron spectra have three components. At forward angles, a prominent peak originating from the projectile-fragmentation process was observed. The velocity of neutrons corresponding to the peak was about the same as that of the projectile. In addition to the peak, two components of Maxwellian-shape distributions corresponding to the preequilibrium and equilibrium processes were observed. By fitting with a moving-source model having three components, the neutron spectra were fairly well described. The parameters obtained for each component are consistent with a picture of the projectile fragmentation, preequilibrium, and equilibrium processes. By integrating the fitted functions with respect to the neutron energies and solid angles, the angular distributions and total cross sections for the neutron production were determined. The neutron spectra, angular distributions, and total cross sections were compared with those calculated by the quantum molecular dynamics and heavy-ion codes. We found that neither of the codes could reproduce the measured cross sections for all combinations of the projectiles and targets.

A general framework for applying radiative corrections to ${(e,e}^{\prime }p)$ coincidence reactions at GeV energies is presented, with special emphasis to higher-order bremsstrahlung effects, radiation from the scattered hadron, and the validity of peaking approximations. The sensitivity to the assumptions made in practically applying radiative corrections to ${(e,e}^{\prime }p)$ data is extensively discussed. The general framework is tested against experimental data of the ${}^1\mathrm{H}{(e,e}^{\prime }p)$ reaction at momentum transfer values larger than $1.0\hspace{0.5em}(\mathrm{GeV}{/c)}^2,$ where radiative processes become a dominant source of uncertainty. The formulas presented here can easily be modified for any other electron-induced coincidence reaction.

The enhanced suppression of $J/\psi$ production at large $x_F$ in $\mathrm{pA}$ collisions is studied in the framework of gluon depletion at large $x_1.$ The nonperturbative process that modifies the gluon distribution as the gluons propagate in nuclear matter is described by an evolution equation with a kernal to be determined by phenomenology. With nuclear shadowing and antishadowing taken into account, the effect on the gluon distribution is shown to be a depletion in excess of $40\%$ at $x_1\approx 0.8$ for $A>\mathrm{}100.\mathrm{}$ There is a small amount of enhancement of the gluon distribution at small $x_1,$ but it does not lead to any contradiction with the existing data on $J/\psi$ suppression in the central region. Extentions to ${\psi }^{\prime }$ suppression and $\mathrm{AB}$ collisions are also investigated in the framework of gluon redistribution.

The event-by-event $p_T$ fluctuations in proton-proton and central Pb-Pb collisions, which have been experimentally studied by means of the so-called $\Phi$ measure, are analyzed. The contribution due to the correlation that couples the average $p_T$ to the event multiplicity is computed. The correlation appears to be far too weak to explain the preliminary experimental value of $\Phi {(p}_T)$ in $p-p$ interactions. The significance of the result is discussed.

The neutron-rich isotopes ${}^{68–74}\mathrm{Ni}$ have been produced at the LISOL facility in the fission of ${}^{238}\mathrm{U}$ induced by a 30-MeV proton beam. They have been extracted selectively through resonant laser ionization and electromagnetic mass separation. Production rates have been deduced and deviate from theoretical predictions. The $\beta$ decay of the isotopes has been investigated by means of $\beta -\gamma$ and $\gamma -\gamma$ spectroscopy. Half-lives have been determined for ${}^{68–74}\mathrm{Ni},$ and the level scheme has been extended for ${}^{69}\mathrm{Cu}$ and newly established for ${}^{71,73}\mathrm{Cu}.$ The constructed schemes show an unexpected and sharp lowering of the $\pi f_{5/2}$ orbital with respect to the $\pi p_{3/2}$ ground state. This feature is ascribed to the monopole term of the residual proton-neutron interaction and is well reproduced by realistic shell-model calculations.

New high-$K$ orbitals have been identified in the neutron-rich ${}^{181}\mathrm{Hf}$ nucleus via one-neutron transfer from a pulsed ${}^{238}\mathrm{U}$ beam onto a stable ${}^{180}\mathrm{Hf}$ target. Yrast three-quasiparticle high-$K$ isomers, with half-lives as long as 1.5 ms, have been populated. The decay scheme of ${}^{181}\mathrm{Hf}$ has been extended to ${(25/2\mathrm{}}^{-}).\mathrm{}$ Blocked BCS calculations, including residual interactions, compare well with the experimental results.

In preparation for recent experiments on the synthesis of superheavy nuclei with $Z=114\mathrm{}$ in the reaction ${}^{244}\mathrm{Pu}{+}^{48}\mathrm{Ca},$ we modified the Dubna gas-filled recoil separator and its detection system and carried out bombardments of lead targets with ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ projectiles. We studied excitation functions of the reactions ${}^{206}\mathrm{Pb}{(}^{48}\mathrm{Ca},1\mathrm{}-4n)$ and ${}^{204,207,208}\mathrm{Pb}{(}^{48}\mathrm{Ca},2n).\mathrm{}$ Maximum cross sections for the evaporation of 1–4 neutrons in the complete fusion reaction ${}^{206}\mathrm{Pb}{+}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ were measured to be ${\sigma }_{1n}=60\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{nb},$ ${\sigma }_{2n}=500\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{nb},$ ${\sigma }_{3n}=30\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{nb},$ and ${\sigma }_{4n}=0.3\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{nb}.$ In the bombardment of an enriched ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$ target, we simultaneously obtained excitation functions of the ${}^{204,206,207,208}\mathrm{Pb}{(}^{48}\mathrm{Ca},2n)$ reactions induced on the isotopic admixtures present in the target material. The maximum cross sections for the evaporation of two neutrons from the compound nuclei ${}^{256}\mathrm{No},$ ${}^{255}\mathrm{No},$ and ${}^{252}\mathrm{No}$ were measured to be 2.1 $\mu \mathrm{b},$ 1.3 $\mu \mathrm{b},$ and 10 nb, respectively. The spontaneously fissioning even-even isotope ${}^{250}\mathrm{No},$ with a half-life $T_{1/2}=36\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mu \mathrm{s},$ was identified for the first time in this experiment. In the reaction ${}^{207}\mathrm{Pb}{+}^{34}\mathrm{S},$ we measured the excitation function for the production of the 21-ms spontaneously fissioning isotope ${}^{238}\mathrm{Cf},$ confirming our preliminary identification of this nuclide based on the results of cross bombardments.

We introduce a new coupling potential to explain the experimental data for the ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}{+}^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$ system at numerous energies in a laboratory system from 16.0 MeV to 24.0 MeV. This new coupled-channels based approach involves replacing the usual first derivative coupling potential by a new, second-derivative coupling potential. This paper first shows and discusses the limitation of the standard coupled-channels theory in the case where one of the nuclei in the reaction is strongly deformed. Then, this new approach is shown to improve consistently the agreement with the experimental data and has made major improvement on all the previous coupled-channels calculations for this system.

The possibility of a reliable extraction of the neutron deep inelastic structure function, $F_2^n\mathrm{}\left(x\right),$ for $x<\mathrm{}0.85\mathrm{}$ from joint measurements of deep inelastic structure functions of deuteron, ${}^3\mathrm{He},$ and ${}^3\mathrm{H}$ is investigated. The model dependence in this extraction, linked to the possible different interactions between nucleons in nuclei, is shown to be weak, if the nuclear structure effects are properly taken into account. A combined analysis of the deep inelastic structure functions of these nuclei is proposed to study effects beyond the impulse approximation.

A study of the neutral current reactions of neutrinos with the dense matter existing in the late cooling stages of protoneutron stars is carried out. The zero-temperature approximation is assumed at this stage and nondegenerate neutrinos are considered. The matter consists of neutrons, protons, electrons, and muons. The fraction of each component is determined once the charge neutrality and beta equilibrated neutrino-free matter conditions are fulfilled. Several nuclear models are used, all inside a Dirac-Hartree or Dirac-Hartree-Fock approximations. These are a σ-ω model and three σ-ω-π-ρ models that differ in the coupling forms used for the $\pi N$ and $\sigma N$ interactions. The neutrino mean free path is decreased in the Dirac-Hartree-Fock approximation from that obtained in the Dirac-Hartree approach by about 2–3 times at high densities. Some kind of consensus is found for the various models considered in the Dirac-Hartree-Fock approach in spite of their different foundations. Neutrino propagation is quite sensitive to the behavior of the relativistic nucleon effective mass. The dependence on the compression modulus and symmetry energy is also investigated.

We have investigated the effect of viscosity on the gluonic dissociation of $J/\psi$ in an equilibrating plasma. Suppression of $J/\psi$ due to gluonic dissociation depend on the temperature and also on the chemical equilibration rate. In an equilibrating plasma, viscosity affects the temperature evolution and also the chemical equilibration rate, requiring both of them to evolve slowly, compared to their ideal counter part. For Au+Au collisions at RHIC and LHC energies, gluonic dissociation of $J/\psi$ increases for a viscous plasma. Low $P_T$ $J/\psi ’\mathrm{s}$ are found to be more suppressed due to viscosity than the high $P_T$ ones. Also the effect is more at LHC energy than at RHIC energy.

The induced momentum spectrum of soft gluons radiated from a high energy quark produced in and propagating through a QCD medium is reexamined in the BDMPS formalism. A mistake in our published work [Phys. Rev. C 60, 064902 (1999)] is corrected. The correct dependence of the fractional induced loss $R\left({\theta }_{\mathrm{cone}}\right)$ as a universal function of the variable ${\theta }_{\mathrm{cone}}^2{L}^3\mathrm{q̂},$ where L is the size of the medium and $\mathrm{q̂}$ the transport coefficient is presented. We add the proof that the radiated gluon momentum spectrum derived in our formalism is equivalent with the one derived in the Zakharov-Wiedemann approach.

Excitation functions for ${}^{18}\mathrm{O}+\alpha$ elastic scattering were measured by a method using inverse kinematics and a thick gas target. An analysis of the data corresponding to the excitation energy regions of 11.8–13.7 MeV and 19.0–22.0 MeV in ${}^{22}\mathrm{Ne}$ was carried out. A surprising splitting of $1^{-},$ $3^{-},$ $7^{-},$ and $9^{-}$ $\alpha$-cluster levels into doublets was found in ${}^{22}\mathrm{Ne}.$

Production of $\phi$ mesons is considered in the course of heavy-ion collisions at SPS energies. We investigate the possible difference in momentum distributions of $\phi$ mesons measured via their leptonic $\left({\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}\right)$ and hadronic ${(K}^{+}{K}^{-})$ decays. Rescattering of secondary kaons in the dense hadron gas together with the influence of in-medium kaon potential can lead to a relative decrease of the $\phi$ yield observed in the hadronic channel. We analyze how the in-medium modifications of meson properties affect apparent, reconstructed momentum distributions of $\phi$ mesons. Quantitative results are presented for central Pb+Pb collisions at $E_{\mathrm{beam}}=158\mathrm{}\hspace{0.5em}\mathrm{G}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{V}/\mathrm{n}\mathrm{u}\mathrm{c}\mathrm{l}\mathrm{e}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{n}.$

We propose a novel quasiparticle interpretation of the equation of state of deconfined QCD at finite temperature. Using appropriate thermal masses, we introduce a phenomenological parametrization of the onset of confinement in the vicinity of the predicted phase transition. Lattice results of the energy density, the pressure, and the interaction measure of pure SU(3) gauge theory are excellently reproduced. We find a relationship between the thermal energy density of the Yang-Mills vacuum and the chromomagnetic condensate $〈{\mathbf{B}}^2{〉}_T.$ Finally, an extension to QCD with dynamical quarks is discussed. Good agreement with lattice data for 2, 2+1, and 3 flavor QCD is obtained. We also present the QCD equation of state for realistic quark masses.

Except for the vibrational excitations of K and $K^{*}$ mesons, the main features of spectra of mesons composed of quarks u, d, and s can be quite well described by a semirelativistic potential model including instanton induced forces. The spectra of baryons composed of the same quarks is studied using the same model. The results and the limitations of this approach are described. Some possible improvements are suggested.

The measures for SU(4) symmetry and the Wigner energy, in terms of double binding energy differences, for even-even and odd-odd nuclei in $A=56\mathrm{}–100$ mass region are studied using the infinite nuclear matter (INM) mass model of atomic nuclei. The INM model predicts that the SU(4) symmetry is broken in even-even nuclei but remnants of this symmetry should be present in $N=Z$ odd-odd nuclei in this region. Similarly, the estimates of the Wigner energy indicate that the $T=0\mathrm{}$ states in these nuclei should start appearing around 0.5 MeV above the ground states that are $T=1\mathrm{}$ in nature.