An empirical fit is described to measurements of inclusive inelastic electron-proton cross sections in the kinematic range of four-momentum transfer $0⩽Q^2<8$ GeV${}^2$ and final-state invariant mass $1.1<W<3.1$ GeV. The fit is constrained by the recent high-precision longitudinal and transverse separated cross section measurements from Jefferson Lab Hall C, unseparated Hall C measurements up to $Q^2$ $\approx 7.5$ ${\mathrm{GeV}}^2$, and photoproduction data at $Q^2=0$. Compared to previous fits, the present fit covers a wider kinematic range, fits both transverse and longitudinal cross sections, and features smooth transitions to the photoproduction data at $Q^2=0$ and deep inelastic scattering data at high $Q^2$ and $W$.

We review the diffuse scattering and the loss coefficient in ultracold neutron reflection from slightly rough surfaces, report a surprising reduction in loss coefficient due to roughness, and discuss the possibility of transition from quantum treatment to ray optics. The results are used in a computer simulation of neutron storage in a recent neutron lifetime experiment that reported a large discrepancy of neutron lifetime with the current particle data value. Our partial reanalysis suggests the possibility of systematic effects that were not included in this publication.

The influence of the stellar plasma on the production and destruction of $K$ isomers is studied for the examples ${}^{176}\mathrm{Lu}$ and ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}$. Individual electromagnetic transitions are enhanced predominantly by nuclear excitation by electron capture, whereas the other mechanisms of electron scattering and nuclear excitation by electron transition give only minor contributions. It is found that individual transitions can be enhanced significantly for low transition energies below $100$ keV. Transitions with higher energies above $200$ keV are practically not affected. Although one low-energy transition in ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}$ is enhanced by up to a factor of $10$, the stellar transition rates from low-$K$ to high-$K$ states via so-called intermediate states in ${}^{176}\mathrm{Lu}$ and ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}$ do not change significantly under $s$-process conditions. The $s$-process nucleosynthesis of ${}^{176}\mathrm{Lu}$ and ${}^{180}\mathrm{Ta}$ remains essentially unchanged.

Potential-energy surfaces and pairing energy maps of nuclei with triaxial shapes are studied in the framework of the relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (RHB) model. The recently introduced separable pairing force, adjusted in nuclear matter to the pairing gap of the Gogny force, is employed in the pairing channel of the three-dimensional RHB model for triaxial shapes, and the density-dependent meson-exchange effective interaction (DD-ME2) is used in the particle-hole channel. Even-$A$ Pt isotopes with triaxial ground-state shapes and Sm nuclei with $\gamma$-soft potential-energy surfaces are analyzed.

Exotic ${}^8\mathrm{Be}$ and ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ decays from high-lying resonances in ${}^{24}\mathrm{Mg}$ are analyzed in terms of a cluster model. The calculated quantities agree well with the corresponding experimental data. It is found that the calculated decay widths are very sensitive to the angular momentum carried by the outgoing cluster. It is shown that this property makes cluster decay a powerful tool to determine the spin as well as the molecular structures of the resonances.

The known level scheme of ${}^{144}\mathrm{Dy}$ has been extended and lifetime measurements have been made with the recoil-distance Doppler-shift method. Reduced transition probabilities and deformations have been determined for four low-lying transitions. These states form part of the first observed band crossing, giving information on the change in nuclear deformation resulting from the rearrangement of $h_{11/2}$ protons in the nucleus. Two bands built upon excited ${10}^{+}$ states have been assigned $\pi (h_{11/2}){}^2$ prolate and $\nu (h_{11/2}){}^{-2}$ oblate configurations with $\tau =12(2)\text{ps}$ and $0.01<\tau \lesssim 16\text{ns}$, respectively. These long lifetimes are reasoned to be a result of shape coexistence at low energy and moderate spin. A known four-quasiparticle dipole band has been extended to higher spin and lifetime measurements suggest a long-lived bandhead state. In this case, the excited states in the band may be consistent with a shears model interpretation of a magnetic dipole rotor. However, the measured $B(M1)/B(E2)$ branching ratios reveal a larger than expected deformed rotational component compared with that in the analogous band in the lower mass isotone ${}^{142}\mathrm{Gd}$.

The interacting boson approximation (IBA) is employed in the present article to follow the structural evolution of the neutron-deficient nuclei from the $Z=52–62$ region. The IBA model parameters are determined to reproduce the properties of the low-lying positive parity excitations for a wide range of even-even collective nuclei. The parameters aim to describe simultaneously the existing electromagnetic data (energy levels, transition matrix elements, etc.) and hadronic ones (two-nucleon transfer intensities). It is shown that a simple Hamiltonian with only two terms is not adequate to describe the properties across this region. It is found that the octupole term plays an important role in reproducing the properties of the $2_{\gamma }^{+}$ and $0_2^{+}$ states, as well as in the description of the two-neutron transfer intensities patterns. A mapping of these parameters in the IBA symmetry triangle allows the comparison of representative trajectories for different isotopic chains.

Using a one-dimensional Langevin model, we study the effects of deformation on the multiplicities of postsaddle neutrons, protons, $\alpha$ particles, and giant dipole resonance (GDR) $\gamma$ rays of a heavy fissioning system ${}^{240}\mathrm{Cf}$ as probes of postsaddle nuclear dissipation ($\beta$). It is shown that postsaddle dissipation effects on these light particles have a significant deformation dependence. Furthermore, we find that the role of deformation depends on the type of the particle. It reduces the sensitive influence of $\beta$ on protons, $\alpha$ particles, and GDR $\gamma$ rays substantially, whereas it enhances the sensitivity of neutrons to $\beta$. The results suggest that to accurately extract the postsaddle friction strength by comparing measured prescission particle multiplicities of heavy nuclei with calculations based on statistical models or stochastic equations like Langevin equations, it is important to take into account the deformation effects. The influence of model dimensionality is discussed.

We report new results on identified (anti)proton and charged pion spectra at large transverse momenta ($3<p_T<10$ GeV$/c$) from $\mathrm{Cu}+\mathrm{Cu}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathit{NN}}}=200$ GeV using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC). This study explores the system size dependence of two novel features observed at RHIC with heavy ions: the hadron suppression at high-$p_T$ and the anomalous baryon to meson enhancement at intermediate transverse momenta. Both phenomena could be attributed to the creation of a new form of QCD matter. The results presented here bridge the system size gap between the available $\mathit{pp}$ and $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ data, and allow for a detailed exploration of the onset of the novel features. Comparative analysis of all available 200 GeV data indicates that the system size is a major factor determining both the magnitude of the hadron spectra suppression at large transverse momenta and the relative baryon to meson enhancement.

Analysis of the measured value of the integrated $\mathrm{d̄}$-$\mathrm{ū}$ asymmetry ($I_{\mathrm{fas}}$ $=$ 0.147 $\pm$ 0.027) in the nucleon show it to arise from nucleon fluctuations into baryon plus pion. Requiring angular momentum conservation in these fluctuations shows the associated orbital angular momentum is equal to the value of the flavor asymmetry.

Results are reported from a joint analysis of Phase I and Phase II data from the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory. The effective electron kinetic energy threshold used is $T_{\mathrm{eff}}=3.5$ MeV, the lowest analysis threshold yet achieved with water Cherenkov detector data. In units of ${10}^6$ cm${}^{-2}$ ${\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$, the total flux of active-flavor neutrinos from ${}^8\mathrm{B}$ decay in the Sun measured using the neutral current (NC) reaction of neutrinos on deuterons, with no constraint on the ${}^8\mathrm{B}$ neutrino energy spectrum, is found to be ${\Phi }_{\mathrm{NC}}=5.{140}_{-0.158}^{+0.160}{\text{(stat)}}_{-0.117}^{+0.132}\text{(syst)}.$ These uncertainties are more than a factor of 2 smaller than previously published results. Also presented are the spectra of recoil electrons from the charged current reaction of neutrinos on deuterons and the elastic scattering of electrons. A fit to the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory data in which the free parameters directly describe the total ${}^8\mathrm{B}$ neutrino flux and the energy-dependent ${\nu }_e$ survival probability provides a measure of the total ${}^8\mathrm{B}$ neutrino flux ${\Phi }_{{}^8\mathrm{B}}=5.{046}_{-0.152}^{+0.159}{\text{(stat)}}_{-0.123}^{+0.107}\text{(syst)}$. Combining these new results with results of all other solar experiments and the KamLAND reactor experiment yields best-fit values of the mixing parameters of ${\theta }_{12}=34.{06}_{-0.84}^{+1.16}$ degrees and $\Delta m_{21}^2=7.{59}_{-0.21}^{+0.20}\times {10}^{-5}$ eV${}^2$. The global value of ${\Phi }_{{}^8\mathrm{B}}$ is extracted to a precision of ${}_{-2.95}^{+2.38}\%$. In a three-flavor analysis the best fit value of $\sin {}^2{\theta }_{13}$ is $2.{00}_{-1.63}^{+2.09}\times {10}^{-2}$. This implies an upper bound of $\sin {}^2{\theta }_{13}<0.057$ ($95\%$ C.L.).

The ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$($p,\gamma$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$ reaction is the slowest reaction of the carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle of hydrogen burning in stars. As a consequence, it determines the rate of the cycle. The ${}^{15}\mathrm{N}$($p,\alpha \gamma$)${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ reaction is frequently used in inverse kinematics for hydrogen depth profiling in materials. The ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$($p,\gamma$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$ and ${}^{15}\mathrm{N}$($p,\alpha \gamma$)${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ reactions have been studied simultaneously, using titanium nitride targets of natural isotopic composition and a proton beam. The strengths of the resonances at $E_p$ $=$ $1058$ keV in ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$($p$,$\gamma$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$ and at $E_p$ $=$ $897$ and $430$ keV in ${}^{15}\mathrm{N}$($p$,$\alpha \gamma$)${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ have been determined with improved precision, relative to the well-known resonance at $E_p$ $=$ $278$ keV in ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$($p$,$\gamma$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$. The new recommended values are $\omega \gamma =0.353\pm 0.018$, $362\pm 20$, and $21.9\pm 1.0$ eV for their respective strengths. In addition, the branching ratios for the decay of the $E_p$ $=$ $1058$ keV resonance in ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$($p$,$\gamma$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$ have been redetermined. The data reported here should facilitate future studies of off-resonant capture in the ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$($p$,$\gamma$)${}^{15}\mathrm{O}$ reaction that are needed for an improved $R$-matrix extrapolation of the cross section. In addition, the data on the $430$ keV resonance in ${}^{15}\mathrm{N}$($p$,$\alpha \gamma$)${}^{12}\mathrm{C}$ may be useful for hydrogen depth profiling.

High-spin states in the neutron-rich nucleus ${}^{142}\mathrm{Cs}$ are reinvestigated from a study of the spontaneous fission of ${}^{252}\mathrm{Cf}$ with the Gammasphere detector array. A new level scheme is built and spin-parities are assigned to levels based on angular correlation measurements and systematics. The new structure of ${}^{142}\mathrm{Cs}$ is proposed to be related to octupole correlations. The electric dipole moment of ${}^{142}\mathrm{Cs}$ is measured and a dramatic decrease of the dipole moments with increasing neutron numbers in the Cs isotopic chain is found.

The production cross sections of new neutron-rich isotopes of nuclei with charge numbers $Z=64$–80 are estimated for future experiments in the multinucleon transfer reaction ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}+{}^{238}\mathrm{U}$ at bombarding energy $E_{\mathrm{c}.\mathrm{m}.}=189$ MeV close to the Coulomb barrier.

Fission fragment mass ratio distributions have been measured for the reactions ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}+{}^{194}\mathrm{Pt}$ and ${}^{24}\mathrm{Mg}+{}^{186}\mathrm{W}$, both leading to the same compound nucleus, ${}^{210}\mathrm{Rn}$, at near-barrier energies. The measured fission fragment mass ratio variances for ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}+{}^{194}\mathrm{Pt}$ and ${}^{24}\mathrm{Mg}+{}^{186}\mathrm{W}$ are compared with the calculations assuming compound nucleus formation. Mass variances of fragments from the ${}^{24}\mathrm{Mg}+{}^{186}\mathrm{W}$ reaction show a dramatic deviation from the compound nucleus behavior. This suggests strong evidence for onset of the quasifission process in this reaction.

Photoactivation measurements on ${}^{144}\mathrm{Sm}$ have been performed with bremsstrahlung endpoint energies from 10.0 to 15.5 MeV at the bremsstrahlung facility of the superconducting electron accelerator ELBE of Forschungszentrum Dresden-Rossendorf. The measured activation yield for the ${}^{144}\mathrm{Sm}$($\gamma ,n$) reaction is compared with the calculated yield using cross sections from previous photoneutron experiments. The activation yields measured for all disintegration channels ${}^{144}\mathrm{Sm}$($\gamma ,n$), ($\gamma ,p$), and ($\gamma ,\alpha$) are compared to the yield calculated by using Hauser-Feshbach statistical models. A new parametrization of the photon strength function is presented and the yield simulated by using the modified photon strength parameters is compared to the experimental data.

Shell structure in the neutron-rich Ca and Ni nuclei is investigated by the spherical Hartree-Fock calculations with semi-realistic $\mathit{NN}$ interactions. Specific ingredients of the effective interaction, particularly the tensor force, often play a key role in the $Z$ dependence of the neutron shell structure. Such examples are found in $N=32$ and $N=40$; $N=32$ becomes magic or submagic in ${}^{52}\mathrm{Ca}$ while its magicity is broken in ${}^{60}\mathrm{Ni}$, and $N=40$ is submagic (though not magic) in ${}^{68}\mathrm{Ni}$ but not in ${}^{60}\mathrm{Ca}$. Comments are given on the doubly magic nature of ${}^{78}\mathrm{Ni}$. We point out that the loose binding can lead to a submagic number $N=58$ in ${}^{86}\mathrm{Ni}$, assisted by the weak pair coupling.

Multiphoton resonance transitions between ground hyperfine states are used for time modulation of the electron capture decay of hydrogen-like ions with the Gamow-Teller transition $1^{+}\to 0^{+}$. The proposed mechanism offers a time oscillating decay with a frequency of up to $0.1$ Hz. An experiment to observe the modulation is proposed for ions stored in a Penning trap. An attempt to understand the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung mbH (GSI) anomaly with multiple photon transitions is made.

The nuclear breathing-mode giant monopole resonance is studied within an improved relativistic Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (BUU) transport approach. As a new feature, the numerical treatment of ground-state nuclei and their phase-space evolution is realized with the same semiclassical energy-density functional. With this new method a very good stability of ground-state nuclei in BUU simulations is achieved. This is important in extracting clear breathing-mode signals for the excitation energy and, in particular, for the lifetime from transport theoretical studies including mean-field and collisional effects.

An experiment to study exotic two-proton emission from excited levels of the odd-$Z$ nucleus ${}^{28}\mathrm{P}$ was performed at the National Laboratory of Heavy Ion Research-Radioactive Ion Beam Line (HIRFL-RIBLL) facility. The projectile ${}^{28}\mathrm{P}$ at the energy of $46.5$ MeV/$u$ was bombarding a ${}^{197}\mathrm{Au}$ target to populate the excited states via Coulomb excitation. Complete-kinematics measurements were realized by the array of silicon strip detectors and the $\mathrm{CsI}+\mathrm{PIN}$ telescope. Two-proton events were selected and the relativistic-kinematics reconstruction was carried out. The spectrum of relative momentum and opening angle between two protons was deduced from Monte Carlo simulations. Experimental results show that two-proton emission from ${}^{28}\mathrm{P}$ excited states less than $17.0$ MeV is mainly two-body sequential emission or three-body simultaneous decay in phase space. The present simulations cannot distinguish these two decay modes. No obvious diproton emission was found.