Spin-dependent observables in intermediate-energy $\mathit{pd}$ elastic scattering within the framework of the refined Glauber model are considered. The improvements include an account of all ten $\mathit{pp}$ and $\mathit{pn}$ helicity amplitudes at respective energies constructed on the basis of modern phase-shift analysis, accurate deuteron wave functions taken from the modern $\mathit{NN}$ force model and account of charge-exchange effects. Predictions of the refined diffraction model for differential cross section and analyzing powers are compared with exact three-body Faddeev calculations and the recent experimental data. An amazingly good agreement between the results of both theoretical approaches as well as between the refined Glauber model and experiment in a wide angular range not only for differential cross section but also for vector and tensor analyzing powers has been found for the first time. Possible reasons for this agreement are discussed.

Decay paths, half-lives, and excitation energies of the $i_{13/2}$ bandheads of the neutron-deficient nuclei ${}^{171}\mathrm{Pt}$, ${}^{167}\mathrm{Os}$, and ${}^{163}\mathrm{W}$ have been established for the first time. Gamma-ray transitions, X-rays, and internal conversion electrons have been observed, allowing internal-conversion coefficients to be measured and $B(M2)$ reduced transition probabilities to be extracted. These results elucidate the low-lying single-quasiparticle structures and give the energy level spacings between the $\nu f_{7/2}$, $\nu h_{9/2}$, and $\nu i_{13/2}$ quasineutron states for all three nuclei. Moreover, ground-state spin assignments have been made for the first time, along with the measurement of the $\alpha$-decay branching ratio for ${}^{171}\mathrm{Pt}$. The decay paths of the $i_{13/2}$ bandheads were followed by favored $\alpha$ decays, indicating that all three nuclei have the same $I^{\pi }=7/2^{-}$ ground state.

Excited states in the neutron-deficient nuclide ${}^{163}\mathrm{W}$ were investigated using the ${}^{106}\mathrm{Cd}$(${}^{60}\mathrm{Ni}$,$2\mathit{pn}$)${}^{163}\mathrm{W}$ reaction at a beam energy of 270 MeV. The level scheme for ${}^{163}\mathrm{W}$ was extended significantly with the observation of five new band structures. The yrast band based on a $13/2^{+}$ isomeric state is extended up to $(57/2^{+})$. Two band structures were established on the $7/2^{-}$ ground state. Quasiparticle configuration assignments for the new band structures were made on the basis of cranked Woods-Saxon shell-model calculations. The results reported in this article suggest that the negative-parity $\nu (f_{7/2},h_{9/2})$ orbitals are responsible for the first rotational alignment in the yrast band.

Gamma-ray branches that connect high-$K$ states to low-$K$ states in the $s$-process nucleus ${}^{176}\mathrm{Lu}$ were observed, thus providing a link between the 58 Gyr, $7^{-}$ ground state and the 5.3 h, $1^{-}$ isomeric state. High sensitivity and unambiguous placement were achieved through the study of the decay of the 58 $\mu$s $K^{\pi }={14}^{+}$ isomer using $\gamma$-$\gamma$-coincidence measurements. The large number of decay paths from the isomer provides a means of populating a broad selection of states from above, resulting, paradoxically, in higher sensitivity than in cases where low-spin input reactions are used. The out-of band decay widths important for excitation processes in stars are quantified.

Hyperon-nucleons interactions constructed by two frameworks, the Kyoto-Niigata SU${}_6$ quark model and the chiral effective field theory, are compared by investigating equivalent interactions in a low-momentum space and, in addition, by calculating hyperon single-particle potentials in the lowest-order Brueckner theory in symmetric nuclear matter. Two descriptions are shown to give similar matrix elements in most channels after renormalizing high momentum components. Although the range of the $\Lambda N$ interaction is different in two potentials, the $\Lambda$ single-particle potential in nuclear matter is very similar. The $\Sigma$-nucleus and $\Xi$-nucleus potentials are also found to be similar. These predictions are to be confronted with forthcoming experimental data.

Excited states in the neutron-rich isotopes ${}^{57-60}\mathrm{Mn}$ have been studied with fusion-evaporation reactions induced by ${}^{48}\mathrm{Ca}$ beams at $130$ MeV on ${}^{13,14}\mathrm{C}$ targets. Level schemes have been deduced reaching spins of $~16\hslash$ and $~27\hslash /2$ in the odd-odd and odd-even isotopes, respectively. States with natural parity within an $\mathit{fp}$ model space are compared to the predictions of large-scale shell-model calculations using the recently developed GXPF1A effective interaction. Quasirotational structures are evident in all of the isotopes and are discussed in terms of the deformation-driving potential of the $\nu 1g_{9/2}$ intruder orbital. It is apparent that an enlarged model space, incorporating at least the $1g_{9/2}$ intruder state, is necessary to reproduce the observed experimental systematics in a more satisfactory manner.

Dihadron azimuth correlations can provide combinatoric access to jet structure in nuclear collisions. To isolate true jet yields a combinatoric background must be subtracted, including a constant offset and a contribution from “elliptic flow” (azimuth quadrupole measured by $v_2^2$). The principle of zero yield at minimum (ZYAM) has been introduced to determine the constant offset. Separate measurements determine $v_2^2$. This analysis suggests that the ZYAM offset is usually substantially overestimated, and $v_2^2$ is overestimated by conventional analysis methods. Therefore, jet yields may be substantially underestimated in more-central $A$-$A$ collisions, and the “away-side” azimuth peak (back-to-back jet correlations) may be distorted leading to questionable inferences of “Mach shocks.”

We investigate the $p(\gamma ,K^{+})\Lambda$ and $p(\gamma ,K^{+}){\Sigma }^0$ reactions within a coupled-channels effective-Lagrangian method that is based on the $\mathsf{K}$-matrix approach. The two-body final channels included are $\pi N$, $\eta N$, $\varphi N$, $\rho N$, $\gamma N$, $K\Lambda$, and $K\Sigma$. Nonresonant meson-baryon interactions are included in the model via nucleon intermediate states in the $s$ and $u$ channels and meson exchanges in the $t$-channel amplitude and the $u$-channel resonances. The nucleon resonances $S_{11}(1535)$, $S_{11}(1650)$, $S_{31}(1620)$, $P_{11}(1440)$, $P_{11}(1710)$, ${\mathrm{P}}_{13}(1720)$, $P_{33}(1232)$, $P_{33}(1600)$, ${\mathrm{D}}_{13}(1520)$, $D_{13}(1700)$, and $D_{33}(1700)$ are included explicitly in the calculations. With a single parameter set that was derived earlier from our analysis of $\eta$-meson photoproduction, the model describes all the available cross-section and polarization data of the SAPHIR Collaboration well for the two investigated channels. The description of the data from the CLAS Collaboration, however, is not of the same quality. In contrast to some previous studies, we do not find any compelling need to include a $D_{13}$ state with a mass of about $2.0$ GeV to reproduce the data for the $p(\gamma ,K^{+})\Lambda$ reaction at photon energies corresponding to the invariant mass around $1.9$ GeV.

A systematic study of low energy nuclear structure at normal deformation is carried out using the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov theory extended by the generator coordinate method and mapped onto a five-dimensional collective quadrupole Hamiltonian. Results obtained with the Gogny D1S interaction are presented from drip line to drip line for even-even nuclei with proton numbers $Z=10$ to $Z=110$ and neutron numbers $N⩽200$. The properties calculated for the ground states are their charge radii, two-particle separation energies, correlation energies, and the intrinsic quadrupole shape parameters. For the excited spectroscopy, the observables calculated are the excitation energies and quadrupole as well as monopole transition matrix elements. We examine in this work the yrast levels up to $J=6$, the lowest excited $0^{+}$ states, and the two next yrare $2^{+}$ states. The theory is applicable to more than $90\%$ of the nuclei that have tabulated measurements. We assess its accuracy by comparison with experiments on all applicable nuclei where the systematic tabulations of the data are available. We find that the predicted radii have an accuracy of $0.6\%$, much better than can be achieved with a smooth phenomenological description. The correlation energy obtained from the collective Hamiltonian gives a significant improvement to the accuracy of the two-particle separation energies and to their differences, the two-particle gaps. Many of the properties depend strongly on the intrinsic deformation and we find that the theory is especially reliable for strongly deformed nuclei. The distribution of values of the collective structure indicator $R_{42}=E(4_1^{+})/E(2_1^{+})$ has a very sharp peak at the value 10/3, in agreement with the existing data. On average, the predicted excitation energy and transition strength of the first $2^{+}$ excitation are $12\%$ and $22\%$ higher than experiment, respectively, with variances of the order of $40–50\%$. The theory gives a good qualitative account of the range of variation of the excitation energy of the first excited $0^{+}$ state, but the predicted energies are systematically $50\%$ high. The calculated yrare $2^{+}$ states show a clear separation between $\gamma$ and $\beta$ excitations, and the energies of the $2^{+}$ $\gamma$ vibrations accord well with experiment. The character of the $0_2^{+}$ state is interpreted as shape coexistence or $\beta$-vibrational excitations on the basis of relative quadrupole transition strengths. Bands are predicted with the properties of $\beta$ vibrations for many nuclei having $R_{42}$ values corresponding to axial rotors, but the shape coexistence phenomenon is more prevalent. The data set of the calculated properties of 1712 even-even nuclei, including spectroscopic properties for 1693 of them, are provided in CEA Web site and EPAPS repository with this article [1].

The low-lying excited states in ${}^{132,134}\mathrm{Ba}$ isotopes have been studied with high-resolution ($p,t$) reactions. The experiments were performed at the Munich Q3D spectrograph with a 25-MeV proton beam and the 1.5-m-long focal plane detector. The high-resolution triton spectra allowed the observation of levels up to $~4$ MeV. The experimental results revealed 75 excited states in ${}^{134}\mathrm{Ba}$ and 79 in ${}^{132}\mathrm{Ba}$, many of them observed for the first time. The measured angular distributions compared with distorted-wave Born approximation calculations allowed spin assignments for these levels in most cases. The systematics of the monopole and quadrupole two-neutron transfer strengths is compared with the prediction of the interacting boson approximation model. The results indicate a transitional structure in ${}^{132}\mathrm{Ba}$ and ${}^{134}\mathrm{Ba}$ and contribute additional evidence in favor of a description between the U(5) and O(6) symmetries of the model.

The effects of meson-exchange currents (MEC) are computed for the one-particle one-hole transverse response function for finite nuclei at high momentum transfers $q$ in the region of the quasi-elastic peak. A semirelativistic shell model is used for the one-particle-emission $(e,e^{\text{'}})$ reaction. Relativistic effects are included using relativistic kinematics, performing a semirelativistic expansion of the current operators, and using the Dirac-equation-based (DEB) form of the relativistic mean-field potential for the final states. It is found that final-state interactions (FSI) produce an important enhancement of the MEC in the high-energy tail of the response function for $q⩾1$ GeV/$c$. The combined effect of MEC and FSI goes away when other models of the FSI, not based on the DEB potential, are employed.

We investigate nuclear matter at a finite temperature and density, including the formation of light clusters up to the $\alpha$ particle ($1⩽A⩽4$). The novel feature of this work is to include the formation of clusters as well as their dissolution due to medium effects in a systematic way using two many-body theories: a microscopic quantum statistical (QS) approach and a generalized relativistic mean-field (RMF) model. Nucleons and clusters are modified by medium effects. While the nucleon quasiparticle properties are determined within the RMF model from the scalar and vector self-energies, the cluster binding energies are reduced because of Pauli blocking shifts calculated in the QS approach. Both approaches reproduce the limiting cases of nuclear statistical equilibrium (NSE) at low densities and cluster-free nuclear matter at high densities. The treatment of the cluster dissociation is based on the Mott effect due to Pauli blocking, implemented in slightly different ways in the QS and the generalized RMF approaches. This leads to somewhat different results in the intermediate density range of about ${10}^{-3}$ to ${10}^{-1}\hspace{0.5em}{\mathrm{fm}}^{-3}$, which gives an estimate of the present accuracy of the theoretical predictions. We compare the numerical results of these models for cluster abundances and thermodynamics in the region of medium excitation energies with temperatures $T⩽20$ MeV and baryon number densities from zero to a few times saturation density. The effects of cluster formation on the liquid-gas phase transition and on the density dependence of the symmetry energy are studied. It is demonstrated that the parabolic approximation for the asymmetry dependence of the nuclear equation of state breaks down at low temperatures and at subsaturation densities because of cluster formation. Comparison is made with other theoretical approaches, in particular, those that are commonly used in astrophysical calculations. The results are relevant for heavy-ion collisions and astrophysical applications.

We propose a new method to calculate stellar weak-interaction rates. It is based on the thermofield dynamics formalism and allows calculation of the weak-interaction response of nuclei at finite temperatures. The thermal evolution of the ${\mathrm{GT}}_{+}$ distributions is presented for the sample nuclei ${}^{54,56}\mathrm{Fe}$ and ${}^{76,78,80}\mathrm{Ge}$. For Ge we also calculate the strength distribution of first-forbidden transitions. We show that thermal effects shift the ${\mathrm{GT}}_{+}$ centroid to lower excitation energies and make possible negative- and low-energy transitions. In our model we demonstrate that the unblocking effect for ${\mathrm{GT}}_{+}$ transitions in neutron-rich nuclei is sensitive to increasing temperature. The results are used to calculate electron capture rates and are compared to those obtained from the shell model.

A logarithmic mesonic potential is proposed for determining nucleon properties that have been recently calculated in the mean-field approximation. The field equations have been solved in the coherent-pair approximation in which the variational method is used. The obtained nucleon properties have been compared with previous calculations and other models. The results indicate that the use of the logarithmic mesonic potential in the coherent-pair approximation provides good agreement with data for the axial-vector coupling constant $g_A(0),$ pion-nucleon coupling constant $g_{\pi \mathit{NN}}(0),$ and sigma commutator $\sigma (\pi N).$

We systematically investigate the vacuum stability and nuclear properties in the effective chiral model with higher-order terms in $\sigma$. We evaluate the model parameters by considering the saturation properties of nuclear matter as well as the normal vacuum to be globally stable at zero and finite baryon densities. We find parameter sets giving moderate equations of state and apply these models to finite nuclei.

We have investigated the influence of different nonlinear relativistic mean-field models (NL, NL$\rho$, and NL$\rho \delta$) on spallation neutrons for $p+\mathrm{Fe}$ and $p+\mathrm{Pb}$ reactions at $0.8,1.2$, and $1.6$ GeV by means of a relativistic Boltzmann Uehling Uhlenbeck (RBUU) approach plus a statistical multifragmentation (SM) decay model. We find that the “evaporation shoulder,” that is, the neutron energy spectrum from 3 to 30 MeV, almost for any emission angle is quite sensitive to the isospin part of the mean field. For the more neutron-rich Pb target the evaporation component can be directly related to the low-density behavior on the symmetry energy in the thermal expansion phase of the excited compound system. It turns out that the spallation data for the reactions under study are shown to be more consistent with $\mathrm{RBUU}+\mathrm{SM}$ employing the NL$\rho$ effective Lagrangian.

The strange contribution to the proton magnetic moment is investigated assuming a uuds$\overline{s}$ configuration for the proton in the context of a quasiparticle diquark model. The magnetic moment and mass of octet pentaquark baryons are also investigated considering the diquark-diquark-antiquark scheme. The results are found to be in agreement with the existing theoretical and experimental predictions.

We have studied the neutron-transfer reactions ${}^{11,12}\mathrm{B}$($d,p$)${}^{12,13}\mathrm{B}$ in inverse kinematics to obtain information about the neutron-capture reactions ${}^{11,12}\mathrm{B}$($n,\gamma$). These capture reactions are suggested to play a role in seeding $r$-process nucleosynthesis through the production of light, neutron-rich nuclei. The neutron spectroscopic factors of the states in ${}^{12,13}\mathrm{B}$ were deduced and the branching ratio of the neutron-unbound state at $E_X=3.389$ MeV in ${}^{12}\mathrm{B}$ was obtained to provide the ratio of partial widths, ${\Gamma }_n/{\Gamma }_{\gamma }$. The reaction rates for ${}^{11,12}\mathrm{B}$($n,\gamma$) are estimated for direct captures and resonant captures and compared with previous compilations. The astrophysical implications, especially for neutrino-driven wind models in core-collapse supernovae, are discussed in the $r$-process network framework using our updated reaction rates.

Compact algebraic equations are derived that connect the binding energy and the asymptotic normalization constant (ANC) of a subthreshold bound state with the effective-range expansion of the corresponding partial wave. These relations are established for positively charged and neutral particles, using the analytic continuation of the scattering (S) matrix in the complex wave-number plane. Their accuracy is checked on simple local potential models for the ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}+n$, ${}^{16}\mathrm{O}+p$, and ${}^{12}\mathrm{C}+\alpha$ nuclear systems, with exotic nuclei and nuclear astrophysics applications in mind.