The excitation spectra of ${}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^{27}\mathrm{Mg}$ as well as ${}^{26}\mathrm{Mg}$ are investigated within the framework of antisymmetrized molecular dynamics. In ${}^{26}\mathrm{Mg}$, it is found that the ground ($K^{\pi }=0^{+}$) and side ($K^{\pi }=2^{+}$) bands exhibit triaxial deformation. In addition to these bands, I also obtain three positive-parity bands with different nuclear quadrupole deformations in ${}^{26}\mathrm{Mg}$, whose energies and transition probabilities are consistent with observations. In ${}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^{27}\mathrm{Mg}$, five bands are predicted by the addition of a $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ particle in $s$ wave, corresponding to those in ${}^{26}\mathrm{Mg}$. In contrast, the coupling of a $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ particle in $p$ wave to the positive-parity states in ${}^{26}\mathrm{Mg}$ gives rise to a large number of excited states. These states can be classified into three groups having different spatial distributions of the $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ particle due to the triaxial deformation of the core nucleus ${}^{26}\mathrm{Mg}$.

We introduce a novel correlation formula, termed the CMO (correlation of mass and observables) formula, which links nuclear masses to 12 distinct categories of experimental observables beyond mass data itself. These observables comprise four separation energies ($S_n$, $S_p$, $S_{2n}$, $S_{2p}$), five reaction energies ($Q_{{\beta }^{-}n}$, $Q_{\epsilon p}$, $Q_{d\alpha }$, $Q_{p\alpha }$, $Q_{n\alpha }$), and three decay energies ($Q_{\alpha }$, $Q_{\beta }$, $Q_{2\beta }$). By integrating the CMO formula into an anisotropic kernel ridge regression (AKRR) algorithm, we predict the masses of 95 nuclei that are currently unmeasured across the nuclide chart. The predictive capability of this combined $\mathrm{AKRR}+\mathrm{CMO}$ framework was benchmarked against 121 nuclides whose masses are known in AME2020 but were listed as predicted values (marked $\#$) in AME2003. This validation achieved a significant reduction in the root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) from 305 keV (using the WS4 model) to 106 keV. Our approach uses constraints from multiple complementary observables to improve prediction reliability. By moving beyond exclusive reliance on known masses, the $\mathrm{AKRR}+\mathrm{CMO}$ framework demonstrates improved extrapolation capability into structurally unexplored regions of the nuclear landscape.

Background: After two decades of systematic optical model (OM) analyses [L. C. Chamon et al., Phys. Rev. C 66, 014610 (2002); M. A. G. Alvarez et al., Nucl. Phys. A 723, 93 (2003); M. A. G. Alvarez et al., Nucl. Phys. A 753, 83 (2005); M. A. G. Alvarez et al., Phys. Rev. C 100, 064602 (2019); L. Garrido-Gómez et al., Phys. Rev. C 109, 054608 (2024); M. A. G. Alvarez et al., Phys. Rev. C 103, 054614 (2021)], a protocol has been developed to establish a common framework for describing reactions involving both tightly and weakly bound stable nuclei. This protocol involves applying different variants of OM, based on the double-folding São Paulo potential, along with the corresponding optical potentials (OP), to predict and/or reproduce experimental nuclear reaction data.

Purpose: The present work provides new data and theoretical calculations on the angular distributions of elastic scattering of ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}+{}^{120}\mathrm{Sn}$ and the following nuclear reaction channels: inelastic excitations to the $2^{+}$ state at 1171.27(2) keV and to the $3^{-}$ state at 2400.30(5) keV of the ${}^{120}\mathrm{Sn}$ target, ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ one-proton stripping ${}^{120}\mathrm{Sn}({}^{12}\mathrm{C},{}^{11}\mathrm{B}){}^{121}\mathrm{Sb}$, and one-neutron pickup ${}^{120}\mathrm{Sn}({}^{12}\mathrm{C},{}^{13}\mathrm{C}){}^{119}\mathrm{Sn}$ transfer reactions. The data were obtained at two bombarding energies: one below ($E_{\text{lab}}\approx 39$ MeV) and one above ($E_{\text{lab}}\approx 47$ MeV) the Coulomb barrier ($V_B\approx 42$ MeV).

Method: We perform OM calculations and compare them with the experimental data. The corresponding OP, based on the SPP, is determined. The OP, obtained from the elastic scattering analysis, is applied to the nuclear reaction calculations. Theoretical coupled channels and coupled reaction channels calculations are compared with the data.

Results: The analysis using the so-called São Paulo optical model protocol (SP-OMP) provides a better understanding of the dynamics of nuclear reactions as a function of bombarding energy and nuclear density models of ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$. The SP-OMP effectively describes the elastic scattering cross sections of ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}+{}^{120}\mathrm{Sn}$, with results consistent with previous systematic studies [M. A. G. Alvarez et al., Nucl. Phys. A 723, 93 (2003); M. A. G. Alvarez et al., Phys. Rev. C 100, 064602 (2019)]. The angular distributions related to the ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}+{}^{120}\mathrm{Sn}$ inelastic excitations and nucleon transfer reactions are very well described by the coupling scheme of the theoretical calculations. Thus, we verified the contribution of each individual inelastic channel to reproduce the elastic scattering angular distributions. Comparisons of ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}{+}^{119,120}\mathrm{Sn}$ are proposed.

Conclusion: The determined OP applied to microscopic nuclear reaction coupled-channel calculations represents a powerful tool for a consistent analysis of nuclear reactions.

We solve the Schrödinger equation for few-body systems to obtain the wave function for light nuclear clusters and hypernuclei from $d$ to ${}^5\mathrm{He}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}$ $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ employing realistic nucleon-nucleon and nucleon-$\mathrm{\Lambda }$ potentials. We project the solution to the hyperspherical harmonic basis states to obtain the corresponding density matrices and the Wigner densities. The experimental root mean square radii and binding energies of the different clusters are well reproduced. The Wigner densities obtained will allow to improve the present coalescence approaches for identifying clusters, created in heavy-ion collisions.

In the present work, we examine the production of $\mathrm{\Xi }\left(1530\right)$ in the $K^{-}p\to K^{+}\mathrm{\Xi }{\left(1530\right)}^{-}$ and $K^{-}p\to K^0\mathrm{\Xi }{\left(1530\right)}^0$ reactions utilizing an effective Lagrangian approach. To accurately fit the cross sections for both processes, we include nine $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ and $\mathrm{\Sigma }$ hyperons and their resonances in both $s$- and $u$-channel processes. Considering the discrepancy of the measured cross sections for $K^{-}p\to K^{+}\mathrm{\Xi }{\left(1530\right)}^{-}$ within the range $\sqrt{s}=[2.087,2.168]\mathrm{GeV}$, we employ two distinct fitting strategies: a uniform weighting scheme (Model A) and a different weighting approach (Model B). A comparative analysis suggests that Model A yields a superior global agreement with experimental data compared to Model B. Beyond fitting the cross sections, we also estimate the individual contributions from various intermediate states. Our results reveal that the cross section arising from the $\mathrm{\Sigma }\left(1193\right)$ intermediate process is dominant. Furthermore, we predict different cross sections for $K^{-}p\to K^{+}\mathrm{\Xi }{\left(1530\right)}^{-}$ and $K^{-}p\to K^0\mathrm{\Xi }{\left(1530\right)}^0$ at several representative center-of-mass energies, providing testable predictions for forthcoming J-PARC experiments.

We explore the effect of the $\sigma$-cut potential on the properties of neutron stars with and without a hyperon core. The analysis involves two sets of nuclear interactions, QMC-RMF3 and QMC-RMF4, which are constructed from a relativistic mean-field model based on chiral effective field theory. The $\sigma$-cut potential plays a significant role in reducing the impact of the $\sigma$ field at high densities, leading to a stiffer equation of state while preserving nuclear matter properties at saturation density. The parameter $f_s$ regulates the influence of the $\sigma$-cut potential at high densities, with values determined by observational data. We also investigate the influence of the $\sigma$-cut potential on symmetric nuclear matter and symmetry energy. Our results align well with other theoretical and observational data.

Potential-energy surfaces of nine even-even isotopes of Pt, Hg, and Pb around ${}^{186}\mathrm{Pt}$ are evaluated within a macroscopic-microscopic model based on the Lublin-Strasbourg-Drop macroscopic energy and the microscopic energy obtained using the Yukawa-folded mean-field potential to establish the Strutinski shell corrections and the pairing-correlation energy through the BCS approach with a monopole pairing force. The rapidly converging Fourier-over-Spheroid shape parametrization is used to describe nuclear deformations. The stability of the identified shape-isomeric states with respect to nonaxial and higher-order deformations is investigated. It is also found that in the description of nonaxial deformations special attention needs to be devoted to the orientation of the triaxial shape. For the example of the ${}^{186}\mathrm{Hg}$ nucleus, where three prolate shape-isomeric states are found, it is shown that the potential-energy surface obtained in our model is close to the one obtained in the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory with the Gogny energy-density fuctional.

The masses of neutron-rich ${}^{104–106}\mathrm{Tc}$ isotopes were measured using the JYFLTRAP double Penning trap and found to deviate from the Atomic Mass Evaluation 2020 by $-79\left(25\right)$, 40(12), and 94(41) keV, respectively. In the case of ${}^{105,106}\mathrm{Tc}$, the updated $Q_{\beta }$ values are in agreement with a previous JYFLTRAP measurement, disagreeing with the values from the mass evaluation. The new mass values result in a more linear trend in two-neutron separation energies indicating that technetium ($Z=43$) isotopes around $N\approx 60$ are not a part of the island of shape coexistence around ${}^{100}\mathrm{Zr}_{60}$.

The Coulomb energy difference of mirror nuclei is parametrized in terms of charge radii with further consideration of deformation and shell effects, in addition to the odd-even effect originated from the pairing phenomenon between the last two protons. With only three parameters, we arrive at a very simple mass relations of mirror nuclei, with the root-mean-square deviation of only 63 keV for nuclei with proton number $Z>10$, without resorting to any statistical correlations. Predicted mass values of proton-rich nuclei (including some of the unbound systems) are tabulated as Supplemental Material of this paper.

The differential cross sections of ${}^7\mathrm{Li}_{\mathrm{g}.\mathrm{s}.}, {}^6\mathrm{Li}_{\mathrm{g}.\mathrm{s}.}, {}^6\mathrm{Li}_{3.56}, {}^6\mathrm{He}_{\mathrm{g}.\mathrm{s}.}$ reaction products emitted in the ${}^7\mathrm{Li}+{}^{10}\mathrm{B}$ collision are presented, measured for the first time in a single experiment under the same conditions. The measurements were performed using a ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$ beam at $E_{\text{LAB}}=58$ MeV from the U400 cyclotron at the FLNR, JINR, Dubna. The differential cross sections of ${}^7\mathrm{Li}_{\mathrm{g}.\mathrm{s}.}, {}^6\mathrm{Li}_{\mathrm{g}.\mathrm{s}.}, {}^6\mathrm{Li}_{3.56}$, and ${}^6\mathrm{He}_{\mathrm{g}.\mathrm{s}.}$ were measured in the angular range ${11}^{\circ }<{\mathrm{\Theta }}_{\text{CM}}<{84}^{\circ }$. The angular distributions of the measured differential cross sections were analyzed using the finite-range-coupled reaction-channel approach. The theoretical analysis provides a fair description of the measured ${}^6\mathrm{Li}\left(0_1^{+}\right)+{}^{11}\mathrm{B}_{\mathrm{g}.\mathrm{s}.}$ channel cross section, when the breakup process of the ${}^6\mathrm{Li}(0_1^{+}$) excited state is explicitly included in the coupling scheme. It is demonstrated that the halo structure of ${}^6\mathrm{He}$ and its connection to the narrow resonance (the $2^{+}$ isobaric excited state of ${}^6\mathrm{He}$ formed in the one-proton stripping reaction) play a decisive role in describing the measured angular distribution for the population of the ${{}^6\mathrm{He}}_{g.s.}\left(0^{+}\right)+{{}^{11}\mathrm{C}}_{g.s.}(3/2^{-})$ channel.

We study the impact of self-generated electromagnetic fields (EMF) on the momentum evolution of charm quarks in the partonic and hadronic medium created in heavy-ion collisions at energies available at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collier (RHIC), using the parton-hadron-string dynamics (PHSD) off-shell transport approach. In the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) phase, the charm quark interacts with the off-shell partons, whose mass and widths are given by the dynamical quasiparticle model (DQPM), which can reproduce the lattice QCD thermodynamics. The background electromagnetic fields are computed dynamically within the PHSD considering both the spectators and participants protons as well as newly produced charged hadrons, quarks, and antiquarks, which reflects naturally the electric conductivity ${\sigma }_{\mathrm{el}}$ of the medium. We study the directed and elliptic flow of $D$ mesons in the presence of electromagnetic fields. We find that electromagnetically induced $v_1$ splitting in the $D$ meson through $D^0$ and ${\overline{D}}^0$ mesons is consistent with the experimental data. Furthermore, we notice that the $v_1$ splitting in the heavy quark as a function of $p_T$ is more prominent as a probe of the produced electromagnetic fields. However, we find only a small impact of electromagnetic fields on the heavy quark elliptic flow $v_2$.

In this paper, we present a unified microscopic description of low-lying collective states in even-even rare-earth nuclei using the angular-momentum-projected number-conserved BCS (PNBCS) method within a shell-model space. Systematic calculations for seven isotopic chains from Xe to Dy naturally generate both vibrational and rotational band structures, reproduce level energies, $B\left(E2\right)$ transition strengths, gradual shape evolution, sharp shape-phase transitions, and produce results consistent with the empirical $N_p{N}_n$ systematics as well as the $Z=64$ subshell effects. The analysis highlights the importance of the interplay between pairing correlations and proton-neutron quadrupole-quadrupole correlations. Pairing correlations are crucial for reproducing spectra and the observed moments of inertia, but have little influence on nuclear shapes or $B\left(E2\right)$ strengths. Proton-neutron quadrupole-quadrupole correlations, together with the $Z=64$ subshell closure and orbital occupations, govern the evolution or transition of collectivity and explain the saturation of the $B\left(E2\right)$ strengths in well-deformed nuclei relative to the pseudo- and quasi-SU(3) schemes. Discrepancies in seniority-like nuclei indicate the importance of broken-pair configurations, which are beyond the present framework. Predictions have been made for neutron-rich isotopes with levels or $B\left(E2\right)$ strengths that have yet to be measured.

At finite temperatures, nuclear excitations are significantly modified, most notably through the emergence of additional low-energy dipole strength, which can critically impact astrophysical reaction rates. Ongoing fusion-evaporation experiments on Ni isotopes provide a unique opportunity to investigate the hot pygmy dipole strength (HPDS), underscoring the need for reliable theoretical predictions and a comprehensive understanding of this emerging phenomenon. In this work, the HPDS is investigated in Ni isotopes from $N=Z$ to neutron-rich systems (${}^{56–70}\mathrm{Ni}$) over a temperature range of $T=0\text{–}2$ MeV using the finite-temperature relativistic quasiparticle random-phase approximation (FT-RQRPA). In neutron-rich Ni isotopes, the pygmy dipole strength at higher temperatures exceeds by up to 2.5 times its value observed at zero temperature. In contrast, near $N\approx Z$, isotopes show negligible low-energy dipole strength at $T=0$ MeV but develop a pronounced HPDS as the temperature increases. Predicted $E1$ energy-weighted strength ($S_{\text{EWS}}$) and cumulative $B\left(\mathrm{E}1\right)$ values for HPDS are presented across the Ni isotopic chain for various low-energy intervals and temperatures, providing essential benchmarks to support and guide experimental studies.

The in-medium nucleon-nucleon scattering cross section is a pivotal quantity for studying the medium effects of strong interaction, and its precise knowledge is critical for understanding the equation of state for dense matter, intermediate-energy heavy-ion collision dynamics, and related phenomena. In this work, we perform a microscopic investigation of in-medium nucleon-nucleon scattering cross sections, by utilizing the relativistic Brueckner-Hartree-Fock (RBHF) theory with the Bonn potential. The fully incorporation of both positive- and negative-energy states in the RBHF solutions allows us to determine the single-particle potentials, the effective $G$ matrix, and the scattering cross section uniquely. The momentum, density, and isospin dependence of the cross section for $pp$, $nn$, and $np$ scattering are studied in detail. Our results provide a solid foundation for future parametrization studies of multiparameter dependency of total scattering cross sections.

The production of light nuclei in heavy-ion collisions is an excellent probe for studying the phase diagram of quantum chromodynamics and for the search for a critical end point. In this work we apply a hybrid approach in which we study the light nuclei production in the afterburner stage of central $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=7.7$, 14.5, and 19.6 GeV. In this stage, light nuclei are produced dynamically in $4\leftrightarrow 2$ catalysis reactions. A comparison of the dynamic production and a coalescence approach is presented for transverse momentum spectra of deuterons, tritons, ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ nuclei, and hypertritons and ratios of light nuclei yields. A good agreement with the experimentally measured yield of nuclei is found and we proceed to further investigate the production mechanisms of light nuclei by calculating the rates of the important channels for the formation and disintegration. We find that the afterburner stage is essential for the description of light nuclei formation in heavy-ion collisions, as light nuclei undergo a large number of interactions.

The collective expansion of the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) created in heavy-ion collisions suggests that geometry-inspired approaches can be useful in extracting information about the QGP. In this work, a systematic study of observables based on topological data analysis is provided for simulations of heavy-ion collisions. Specifically, we implement persistent homology observables for metric-based complexes in the heavy-ion model trajectum and provide predictions for Pb-Pb and O-O collisions, where the tunable model parameters are taken from a Bayesian analysis performed in Pb-Pb collisions. This, in particular, allows us to compute systematic uncertainties on our observables from the uncertainties in the model parameters. To bridge between new and already established observables, we build a dictionary linking the topological observables to traditional ones, such as particle multiplicities, momentum distributions, and the elliptic flow coefficient. While the persistent homology observables largely reflect known phenomenology and do not show enhanced sensitivity to the model's tunable parameters compared to conventional observables, this study demonstrates the viability and robustness of topological techniques in the context of heavy-ion physics. They may offer alternative perspectives and potential applications in heavy-ion physics.

The detection of the chiral magnetic effect (CME) in relativistic heavy-ion collisions remains challenging due to substantial background contributions that obscure the expected signal. In this Letter, we present a novel machine learning approach for constructing optimized observables that significantly enhance CME detection capabilities. By parametrizing generic observables constructed from flow harmonics and optimizing them to maximize the signal-to-background ratio, we systematically develop CME-sensitive measures that outperform conventional methods. Using simulated data from the anomalous viscous fluid dynamics framework, our machine learning observables demonstrate up to 90% higher sensitivity to CME signals compared to traditional $\gamma$ and $\delta$ correlators, while maintaining minimal background contamination. The constructed observables provide physical insight into optimal CME detection strategies and offer a promising path forward for experimental searches of the CME at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider and the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

This work investigates Kolmogorov-Arnold network-based (KAN) wave-function Ansätz as viable representations for quantum Monte Carlo simulations. Through systematic analysis of one-dimensional model systems, we evaluate their computational efficiency and representational power against established methods. Our numerical experiments suggest some efficient training methods and we explore how the computational cost scales with desired precision, particle number, and system parameters. Roughly speaking, KANs seem to be 10 times cheaper computationally than other neural-network-based Ansätz. We also introduce a novel approach for handling strong short-range potentials—a persistent challenge for many numerical techniques—which generalizes efficiently to higher-dimensional, physically relevant systems with short-ranged strong potentials common in atomic and nuclear physics.

The magnetic dipole strength $B(M1\uparrow )$ of ${}^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$ was measured in the excitation energy range between 9.3 and 10.3 MeV. The nuclear resonance fluorescence technique was used with monoenergetic, linearly polarized incident photon beams. The new data increase the known $B(M1\uparrow )$ strength in this important excitation energy range by a factor of 2, resulting in an equivalent increase of the calculated neutral current neutrino cross section of ${}^{40}\mathrm{Ar}$. This observation is of special interest for liquid-argon (LAr)-based neutrino detectors. $B(M1\uparrow )$ strength has not been found between 10.3 and 11.7 MeV excitation energy. With the new data, a more reliable detection capability of the large Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment LAr detectors can be derived for potential core-collapse supernova neutrinos via the neutral current interaction.

The present investigation focuses on the improvement of the accuracy of the description of binding energies within a moderately sized fermionic basis. Using the solutions corresponding to infinite fermionic basis, it was shown that in the case of meson exchange (ME) covariant energy density functionals (CEDFs) the global accuracy of the description of binding energies in the finite $N_F=16-20$ bases can be drastically (by a factor ranging from $\approx 3$ up to $\approx 9$ dependent on the functional and $N_F$) improved by a global optimization of the oscillator frequency of the basis. This is a consequence of the unique feature of the ME functionals in which, with increasing fermionic basis size, fermionic and mesonic energies approach the exact (infinite basis) solution from above and below, respectively. As a consequence, an optimal oscillator frequency $\hslash {\omega }_0$ of the basis can be defined that provides an accurate reproduction of exact total binding energies by those calculated in truncated basis. This leads to a very high accuracy of the calculations in moderately sized $N_F=20$ basis when mass-dependent oscillator frequency is used: global rms differences $\delta B_{\mathrm{rms}}$ between the binding energies calculated in infinite and truncated bases are only 0.025 MeV and 0.031 MeV for the NL5(Z) and DD-MEZ functionals, respectively. Optimized values of the oscillator frequency $\hslash {\omega }_0$ are provided for three major classes of CEDFs, i.e., for density-dependent meson exchange functionals, nonlinear meson exchange ones, and point coupling functionals.