The azimuthal anisotropy due to path-length-dependent jet energy loss is studied in a simple jet absorption model that includes event-by-event fluctuating Glauber geometry. Significant anisotropy coefficients $v_n$ are observed for $n=1$, 2, and 3, but they are very small for $n>3$. These coefficients are expected to result in a ridge for correlations between two independently produced jets. The correlations between the orientation of the $n\mathrm{th}$-order anisotropy induced by jet absorption (${\Phi }_n^{\mathrm{QP}}$) and the $n\mathrm{th}$-order participant plane (${\Phi }_n^{\mathrm{PP}}$) responsible for harmonic flow are studied. Tight correlations are observed for $n=2$ in mid-central collisions, but they weaken significantly for $n\ne 2$. The correlations are positive for $n⩽3$, but become negative in central collisions for $n>3$. The dispersion between ${\Phi }_n^{\mathrm{QP}}$ and ${\Phi }_n^{\mathrm{PP}}$ is expected to break the factorization of the Fourier coefficients from two-particle correlation $v_{n,n}$ into the single particle $v_n$, and has important implications for the high-$p_{\mathrm{T}}$ ridge phenomena.

The population of the high-spin isomers in ${}^{139}$Nd and ${}^{140}$Nd was investigated using the ${}^{96}$Zr(${}^{48}$Ca,$xn$) reaction and the JUROGAM + RITU + GREAT setup employing the recoil decay tagging technique. Three transitions feeding the 23/2${}^{+}$ isomer in ${}^{139}$Nd and two transitions feeding the 20${}^{+}$ isomer in ${}^{140}$Nd were identified. The newly observed transitions allowed the excitation energy of the isomer to be established in ${}^{139}$Nd and to assign configurations to the states and bands deexcited by the observed transitions in both nuclei.

Very neutron deficient francium isotopes have been produced in fusion evaporation reactions using ${}^{60}$Ni ions on ${}^{141}$Pr targets. The gas-filled recoil separator RITU was employed to collect the fusion products and to separate them from the scattered beam. The activities were implanted into a position sensitive silicon detector after passing through a gas-counter system. The isotopes were identified using spatial and time correlations between the implants and the decays. Two $\alpha$-particle activities, with $E_{\alpha }=7613\left(15\right)$ keV and $T_{1/2}$ $=$ (${15}_{-5}^{+12}$) ms and $E_{\alpha }=7684\left(15\right)$ keV and $T_{1/2}$ $=$ (${16}_{-5}^{+13}$) ms were identified in the new isotope ${}^{198}$Fr. In addition, the half-life and $\alpha$-particle energy of ${}^{199}$Fr were measured with improved precision. The measured decay properties deduced for ${}^{199}$Fr and ${}^{198}$Fr suggest that there is an onset of ground-state deformation at $N=112$ in the Fr isotopes.

A new version of the Barcelona-Catania-Paris energy functional is applied to a study of nuclear masses and other properties. The functional is largely based on calculated ab initio nuclear and neutron matter equations of state. Compared to typical Skyrme functionals having 10–12 parameters apart from spin-orbit and pairing terms, the new functional has only 2 or 3 adjusted parameters, fine tuning the nuclear matter binding energy and fixing the surface energy of finite nuclei. An energy rms value of 1.58 MeV is obtained from a fit of these three parameters to the 579 measured masses reported in the Audi and Wapstra [Nucl. Phys. A 729, 337 (2003)] compilation. This rms value compares favorably with the one obtained using other successful mean field theories, which range from 1.5 to 3.0 MeV for optimized Skyrme functionals and 0.7 to 3.0 for the Gogny functionals. The other properties that have been calculated and compared to experiment are nuclear radii, the giant monopole resonance, and spontaneous fission lifetimes.

With the recent inclusion of core orbitals to the radial-overlap component of the isospin-symmetry-breaking (ISB) corrections for superallowed Fermi $\beta$ decay, experimental data are needed to test the validity of the theoretical model. This work reports measurements of single-neutron pickup reaction spectroscopic factors into ${}^{63}$Zn, one neutron away from ${}^{62}$Zn, the superallowed daughter of ${}^{62}$Ga. The experiment was performed using a 22-MeV polarized deuteron beam, a Q3D magnetic spectrograph, and a cathode-strip focal-plane detector to analyze outgoing tritons at nine angles between ${10}^{\circ }$ and ${60}^{\circ }$. Angular distributions and vector analyzing powers were obtained for all 162 observed states in ${}^{63}$Zn, including 125 newly observed levels, up to an excitation energy of 4.8 MeV. Spectroscopic factors are extracted and compared to several shell-model predictions, and implications for the ISB calculations are discussed.

The extreme back-angle evaporation spectra of alpha, lithium, beryllium, boron and carbon from different compound nuclei near $A$ ≈ 100 ($E_X$ = 76–210 MeV) have been compared with the predictions of standard statistical model codes such as cascade and gemini. It was found that the shapes of the alpha spectra agree well with the predictions of the statistical models. However, the spectra of lithium, beryllium, boron, and carbon show significantly gentler slopes implying higher temperature of the residual nuclei, even though the spectra satisfy all other empirical criteria of statistical emissions. The observed slope anomaly was found to be largest for lithium and decreases at higher excitation energy. These results could not be understood by adjusting the parameters of the statistical models or from reaction dynamics and might require examining the statistical model from a quantum mechanical perspective.

Subthreshold kaon (K${}^0$ and K${}^{+}$) production in neutron-rich nuclear reactions to probe the kaon-nucleon interaction in nuclear medium and to extract the isospin-dependent part of the nuclear equation of state at high-baryon densities is investigated within an isospin- and momentum-dependent transport model. A repulsive kaon-nucleon potential is implemented in the model through fitting the flow data and inclusive spectra in heavy-ion collisions, which enhances the energetic kaon emission squeezed out in the reaction zone and leads to a variation of the high-momentum spectrum of the K${}^0$/K${}^{+}$ yields. It is found that the stiffness of nuclear symmetry energy plays a significant role on the isospin ratio with decreasing the incident energy and a hard symmetry energy has a larger value of the K${}^0$/K${}^{+}$ ratio in the domain of subthreshold energies.

We investigate the MiniBooNE recent data on the antineutrino-nucleus interaction, using the same theoretical description with the same parameters as in our previous work on neutrino interactions. The double differential quasielastic cross section, which is free from the energy reconstruction problem, is well reproduced by our model once the multinucleon excitations are incorporated. A similar agreement is achieved for the $Q^2$ distribution.

The density-dependent lepton fractions approach that is used to describe the properties of matter with neutrino trapping is systematically studied. It is found that two sets of the ratio of trapped neutrinos to leptons parameters—i.e., one for a relativistic mean field parameter set with stiff equation of state and one for a parameter set with soft equation of state—yield particle composition profiles at high densities similar to those predicted by the standard fixed lepton fraction approach. However, these sets of parameters produce significantly different behavior at low densities compared to those of standard approach. The consequences of applying the density-dependent lepton fractions approach to some properties of PNS, such as the particle composition, equation of state, the onset of low-density instability, the mass-radius relation, and the mean free path of electron neutrino, are investigated. By comparing the results with those of the standard approach, we obtain the result that the PNS equation of state is not significantly influenced by the low-density behavior difference between the two approaches. However, the density-dependent lepton fractions approach yields a smaller onset of low-density instability matter and core-crust transition density but a slightly larger maximum mass as well as a larger radius of canonical mass than those predicted by the standard approach. The estimated minimum PNS mass and its radius are apparently also sensitive to the parameter used for the ratio of trapped neutrinos to leptons. For electron neutrino transport in PNSs, matter with density-dependent lepton fractions is more transparent than matter with fixed lepton fractions.

Background: The uncertainty in the ${}^{29}$P($p,\gamma$)${}^{30}$S reaction rate over 0.1 $\le$ $T$ $\le$ 1.3 GK was previously determined to span approximately four orders of magnitude due to the uncertain location of two previously unobserved 3${}^{+}$ and 2${}^{+}$ resonances in the $E_x=4.7$–4.8 MeV region in ${}^{30}$S. Therefore, the abundances of silicon isotopes synthesized in novae, which are relevant for the identification of presolar grains of putative nova origin, were uncertain by a factor of 3.

Purpose: (a) To investigate the level structure of ${}^{30}$S above the proton threshold [4394.9(7) keV] via charged-particle spectroscopy using the ${}^{32}$S($p,t$)${}^{30}$S reaction and in-beam $\gamma$-ray spectroscopy using the ${}^{28}$Si(${}^3$He, $n\gamma$)${}^{30}$S reaction to calculate the ${}^{29}$P($p,\gamma$)${}^{30}$S reaction rate. (b) To explore the impact of this rate on the abundances of silicon isotopes synthesized in novae.

Methods: Differential cross sections of the ${}^{32}$S($p,t$)${}^{30}$S reaction were measured at 34.5 MeV. Distorted-wave Born approximation calculations were performed to constrain the spin-parity assignments of the observed levels, including the two astrophysically important levels. An energy-level scheme was deduced from $\gamma$-$\gamma$ coincidence measurements using the ${}^{28}$Si(${}^3$He, $n\gamma$)${}^{30}$S reaction. Spin-parity assignments based on measurements of $\gamma$-ray angular distributions and $\gamma$-$\gamma$ directional correlation from oriented nuclei were made for most of the observed levels of ${}^{30}$S.

Results: The resonance energies corresponding to the states with 4.5 MeV $\lesssim$ $E_x$ $\lesssim$ 6 MeV, including the two astrophysically important states predicted previously, are measured with significantly better precision than before. The spin-parity assignments of both astrophysically important resonances are confirmed. The uncertainty in the rate of the ${}^{29}$P($p,\gamma$)${}^{30}$S reaction is substantially reduced over the temperature range of interest. Finally, the influence of this rate on the abundance ratios of silicon isotopes synthesized in novae are obtained via 1D hydrodynamic nova simulations.

Conclusions: The uncertainty in the ${}^{29}$P($p,\gamma$)${}^{30}$S reaction rate is reduced to the point that it no longer affects the silicon isotopic abundance ratios significantly, and, thus, the results of our nova hydrodynamic simulation for the nucleosynthesis in the Si-Ca mass region are more reliable than before.

This Brief Report reports on the first observation of the ${\beta }^{-}$-delayed $\gamma$ decay of ${}^{215}$Pb, feeding states in ${}^{215}$Bi. The ${}^{215}$Pb beam was produced using resonant laser ionization and mass separated at the ISOLDE-CERN on-line mass separator. This ensured clean identification of the $\gamma$ rays as belonging to the decay of ${}^{215}$Pb or its $\beta$-decay daughters. A half-life of 147(12) s was measured for the ${}^{215}$Pb $\beta$ decay and a level scheme for the daughter nucleus ${}^{215}$Bi is proposed, resulting in an extended systematics of the excited states of the neutron-rich Bi isotopes.

We use the axially deformed Skyrme quasiparticle random-phase approximation (QRPA) together with the ${\mathrm{SkM}}^{*}$ energy-density functional, both as originally presented and with the time-odd part adjusted to reproduce the Gamow-Teller resonance energy in ${}^{208}\mathrm{Pb}$, to calculate the matrix elements that govern the neutrinoless double-$\beta$ decay of ${}^{76}\mathrm{Ge},{}^{130}\mathrm{Te},{}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$, and ${}^{150}\mathrm{Nd}$. Our matrix elements in ${}^{130}\mathrm{Te}$ and ${}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$ are significantly smaller than those of previous QRPA calculations, primarily because of the difference in pairing or deformation between the initial and the final nuclei. In ${}^{76}\mathrm{Ge}$ and ${}^{150}\mathrm{Nd}$, our results are similar to those of less computationally intensive QRPA calculations. We suspect the ${}^{76}\mathrm{Ge}$ result, however, because we are forced to use a spherical ground state, even though our mean-field theory indicates a deformed minimum.

A composite symmetry of the nuclear structure, called multichannel dynamical symmetry, is established. It can describe different cluster configurations (defined by different reaction channels) in a unified framework; thus, it has a considerable predictive power. The two-channel case is presented in detail, and its conceptual similarity to the dynamical supersymmetry is discussed.

Calculations are performed for energies of isobaric analog states with isospins $T=2$ and $T=3$ in regions where they have been found experimentally, e.g., the $pf$ shell, and regions where they have not yet been found, e.g., $g_{9/2}$ near $Z=50$, $N=50$. We consider two approaches: one using binding energy formulas and Coulomb energies contained therein, and the other using shell-model calculations. It is noted that some (but not all) calculations yield very low excitation energies for the $J=0^{+}$, $T=2$ isobaric analog state in ${}^{96}$Ag.

Total fission cross sections induced by deuterons with energy of 1.6, 2.5, and 4.0 GeV on ${}^{232}$Th targets and by protons on ${}^{\mathrm{nat}}$Pb targets at energy of 2.0 GeV were measured during irradiations at the Nuclotron accelerator, JINR, Dubna. The fission cross sections induced by deuterons on ${}^{232}$Th were determined by using solid-state nuclear track detectors as 1277±216, 1232±207, and 1153±198 mb, which corresponded to the energies mentioned above. The total fission cross section of protons on ${}^{\mathrm{nat}}$Pb was estimated by the same method as 131±30 mb. These results were compared to the previous systematic parametrization of proton-induced fission, and new values for the parameters of deuteron-induced fission on actinides ${}^{232}$Th and ${}^{238}$U as well as of proton-induced fission on ${}^{\mathrm{nat}}$Pb were deduced. Fitting results obtained for deuterons on actinides are discussed and are compared to the results for protons.

We derive relations for baryon photo-decay amplitudes both for the Breit-Wigner and the pole positions. With an updated SAID partial wave analysis, technically similar to the earliest Virginia Tech analysis of photoproduction data, we compare photo-decay amplitudes at both resonance positions for a few selected nucleon resonances. Comparisons are made and a qualitative similarity, seen between the pole and Breit-Wigner values extracted by the Bonn-Gatchina group, is confirmed in the present study.

The onset of the superfluid phase in high-density neutron matter is studied within the BCS framework with two- and three-body forces. When including the strong correlation effects in the gap equation, the pairing gap turns out to be nonvanishing in a range of densities about $0.1–0.4{\text{fm}}^{-3}$ with a peak value a bit less than 0.05 MeV. These results could limit the role of the ${}^3{\mathit{PF}}_2$ superfluidity in the interpretation of phenomena occurring in the neutron-star core.

Background: Obtaining reaction rates for nuclear astrophysics applications is often limited by the availability of radioactive beams. Indirect techniques to establish reaction rates often rely heavily on the properties of excited states inferred from mirror symmetry arguments. Mirror energy differences can depend sensitively on nuclear structure effects.

Purpose: The present work sets out to establish a detailed comparison of mirror symmetry in the $A=23$, $T=1/2$ mirror nuclei ${}^{23}$Na and ${}^{23}$Mg both to high spin, and high excitation energy, including beyond the proton threshold. These data can be used to benchmark state-of-the-art shell-model calculations of these nuclei.

Methods: Excited states in ${}^{23}$Na and ${}^{23}$Mg were populated using the ${}^{12}$C(${}^{12}$C,$p$) and ${}^{12}$C(${}^{12}$C,$n$) reactions at beam energies of 16 and 22 MeV, and their resulting $\gamma$ decay was measured with Gammasphere.

Results: Level schemes for ${}^{23}$Na and ${}^{23}$Mg have been considerably extended; highly excited structures have been found in ${}^{23}$Na, as well as their counterparts in ${}^{23}$Mg for previously known rotational structures in ${}^{23}$Na. Mirror symmetry has been investigated up to an excitation energy of 8 MeV and spin-parity of 13/2${}^{+}$. Excited states in the region above the proton threshold have been studied in both nuclei.

Conclusions: A detailed exploration of mirror symmetry has been performed which heavily constrains expectations as to how mirror energy differences should evolve for different structures. Agreement with shell-model calculations provides confidence in using such estimations where real data are absent.

The elastic scattering and inclusive $\alpha$-particle yield for the ${}^6\mathrm{He}+{}^{206}\mathrm{Pb}$ system at an incident energy of 18 MeV, just below the nominal Coulomb barrier, have been measured. The $\alpha$-particle yield at forward angles is also reported. The data are analyzed by means of continuum-discretized coupled-channels, distorted wave Born approximation, and coupled reaction channels calculations. Couplings to the one-neutron- and two-neutron-transfer reactions are found to be able to account for most of the absorption in the entrance channel.