Mass measurements of fission and projectile fragments, produced via 238 U and 124 Xe primary beams, have been performed with the multiple-reflection time-of-flight mass spectrometer (MR-TOF-MS) of the Fragment Separator (FRS) Ion Catcher with a mass resolving power (FWHM) of up to 410 000 and an uncertainty of down to 6 × 10 −8. The nuclides were produced and separated in flight with the fragment separator FRS at 300 to 1000 MeV/u and thermalized in a cryogenic stopping cell. The data-analysis procedure was developed to determine with highest accuracy the mass values and the corresponding uncertainties for the most challenging conditions: down to a few events in a spectrum and overlapping distributions, which can be distinguished from a single peak only by a broader peak shape. With this procedure, the resolution of low-lying isomers is increased by a factor of up to 3 compared to standard data analysis. The ground-state masses of 31 short-lived nuclides of 15 different elements with half-lives of down to 17.9 ms and count rates as low as 11 events per nuclide were determined. This is the first direct mass measurement for seven nuclides. The excitation energies and the isomer-to-groundstate ratios of six isomeric states with excitation energies of as little as 280 keV were measured. For nuclides with known mass values, the average relative deviation from the literature values is (4.5 ± 5.3) × 10 −8. The measured two-neutron separation energies and their slopes near and at the N = 126 and Z = 82 shell closures indicate a strong element-dependent binding energy of the first neutron above the closed proton shell Z = 82. The experimental results deviate strongly from the theoretical predictions, especially for N = 126 and N = 127.

We calculate the free energy of finite droplets of quark-gluon plasma, and of finite hadronic bubbles in the bulk plasma, near the confinement phase transition. We sum over free quark and gluon energy levels in the presence of MIT bag boundary conditions. We find that the curvature term in the free energy, proportional to the radius of the droplet or bubble, is far more important than the contribution of the surface tension, proportional to the radius squared. This affects the critical radius for nucleation of plasma droplets in the superheated hadron gas, and seems to lead to instability of the plasma (even when not supercooled) against nucleation of hadron gas bubbles.

We measured simultaneously pp elastic and quasielastic ͑ p, 2p͒ scattering in hydrogen, deuterium, and carbon for momentum transfers of 4.8 to 6.2 ͑GeV͞c͒ 2 at incoming momenta of 5.9 and 7.5 GeV͞c and center-of-mass scattering angles in the range u c.m. 83.7 ± 90 ± . The nuclear transparency is defined as the ratio of the quasielastic cross section to the free pp cross section. At incoming momentum of 5.9 GeV͞c, the transparency of carbon decreases by a factor of 2 from u c.m. Ӎ 85 ± to u c.m. Ӎ 89 ± . At the largest angle the transparency of carbon increases from 5.9 to 7.5 GeV͞c by more than 50%. The transparency in deuterium does not depend on incoming momentum nor on u c.m. . [S0031-9007 (98)07818-1] PACS numbers: 24.85. + p, 25.40. -h, 24.10. -iNuclear transparency is a measure of the initial and final state interactions that the incoming and outgoing protons undergo before and after the main ͑p, 2p͒ reaction. Conventional theoretical calculations of the nuclear transparency within the Glauber picture [1,2] predict that above an incident momentum of approximately 5 GeV͞c the nuclear transparency does not depend on the incoming momentum nor on the pp c.m. scattering angle, u c.m. . The expectation from QCD based models of proton dynamics in hard exclusive interactions is that the initial and final state scattering may be smaller than the Glauber theory would predict. It is also expected that nuclear transparency should increase with incoming momentum reaching an asymptotic value of 1. These QCD phenomena have been referred to as color transparency [3].

The Soreq Applied Research Accelerator Facility (SARAF) is under construction in the Soreq Nuclear Research Center at Yavne, Israel. When completed at the beginning of the next decade, SARAF will be a user facility for basic and applied nuclear physics, based on a 40 MeV, 5 mA CW proton/deuteron superconducting linear accelerator. Phase I of SARAF (SARAF-I, 4 MeV, 2mA CW protons, 5 MeV 1mA CW deuterons) is already in operation, generating scientific results in several fields of interest. The main ongoing program at SARAF-I is the production of 30 keV neutrons and measurement of Maxwellian Averaged Cross Sections (MACS), important for the astrophysical s-process. The world leading Maxwellian epithermal neutron yield at SARAF-I (5×10 10 epithermal neutrons/sec), generated by a novel Liquid-Lithium Target (LiLiT), enables improved precision of known MACSs, and new measurements of lowabundance and radioactive isotopes. Research plans for SARAF-II span several disciplines: Precision studies of beyond-Standard-Model effects by trapping light exotic radioisotopes, such as 6 He, 8 Li and 18,19,23 Ne, in unprecedented amounts (including meaningful studies already at SARAF-I); extended nuclear astrophysics research with higher energy neutrons, including generation and studies of exotic neutron-rich isotopes relevant to the rapid (r-) process; nuclear structure of exotic isotopes; high energy neutron cross sections for basic nuclear physics and material science research, including neutron induced radiation damage; neutron based imaging and therapy; and novel radiopharmaceuticals development and production.

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