The symmetry energy contribution to the nuclear equation of state impacts various phenomena in nuclear astrophysics, nuclear structure, and nuclear reactions. Its determination is a key objective of contemporary nuclear physics, with consequences for the understanding of dense matter within neutron stars. We examine the results of laboratory experiments that have provided initial constraints on the nuclear symmetry energy and on its density dependence at and somewhat below normal nuclear matter density. Even though some of these constraints have been derived from properties of nuclei while others have been derived from the nuclear response to electroweak and hadronic probes, within experimental uncertainties-they are consistent with each other. We also examine the most frequently used theoretical models that predict the symmetry energy and its slope parameter. By comparing existing constraints on the symmetry pressure to theories, we demonstrate how contributions of three-body forces, which are essential ingredients in neutron matter models, can be determined.

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Inelastic scattering from12 C has been measured at the extremely forward angles including 0• using 386 MeV α particles to study the α-cluster states around Ex ∼ 10 MeV, especially the 2 + state predicted by the α-cluster model. We have analyzed the (α,α ′ ) cross-section data using both the peak-fitting and the multipole decomposition techniques. A 2 + state at Ex = 9.84 ± 0.06 MeV with a width of 1.01 ± 0.15 MeV is found to be submerged in the broad 0 + state at Ex = 9.93 ± 0.03 MeV with a width of 2.71 ± 0.08 MeV. This 2 + state may be interpreted as the 2 + excitation of the Hoyle state and the α-condensate state.

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The strength distributions of the giant monopole resonance (GMR) have been measured in the even-A Sn isotopes (A=112-124) with inelastic scattering of 400-MeV alpha particles in the angular range 0 degrees -8.5 degrees . We find that the experimentally observed GMR energies of the Sn isotopes are lower than the values predicted by theoretical calculations that reproduce the GMR energies in 208Pb and 90Zr very well. From the GMR data, a value of Ktau = -550 +/- 100 MeV is obtained for the asymmetry term in the nuclear incompressibility.

We have measured invariant mass spectra of electron-positron pairs in the target rapidity region of 12GeV p+A reactions. We have observed a significant difference in the mass spectra below the ω meson between p+C and p+Cu interactions. The difference is interpreted as a signature of the ρ/ω * Present Address: Center for Nuclear Study, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan, email: ozawa@cns.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp † Present Address: ICEPP, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan ‡ Present Address: Physics Department, Graduate School of Science, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan § Present Address: Fujitsu Corporation, 4-1-1, Kamikodanaka, Nakahara, Kawasaki, Kanagawa 211-8588, Japan * * Present Address: RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan † † Present Address: Xaxon Corporation,1-3-19, Tanimachi, Chu-ou, Osaka, Japan ‡ ‡ Present Address: Department of Physics, Osaka University, 1-1 Machikaneyama, Toyonaka, Osaka 560-0043 , Japan 1 modification at normal nuclear-matter density. 24.85.+p,25.30.-c Typeset using REVT E X 2 Recently, chiral property of QCD in hot(T = 0) or dense(ρ = 0) matter attracts wide interests in the field of hadron physics. The dynamical breaking of chiral symmetry in the QCD vacuum induces an effective mass of quarks, known as constituent quark mass. In hot and/or dense matter this broken symmetry is subject to restore partially or completely, and hence the properties of hadrons can be modified. To observe such an effect, measurements of in-medium decay of vector mesons, especially in the lepton-pair channel, are highly desirable to obtain directly the meson properties in matter [1].Although many heavy-ion experiments were carried out in CERN-SPS and BNL-AGS to study hot and dense matter, there was only an experiment which could address the mass modification of vector mesons. The CERES/NA45 collaboration measured low-mass electron pair productions in Pb-Au collisions at 158 A GeV [2], and observed an enhancement of e + e − pair yield in the mass range 0.3 < m ee < 0.7 GeV/c 2 over the expected yield from the known hadronic sources in pp collisions. This striking effect could be understood as a consequence of the mass modification of the ρ and ω meson in hot matter.In QCD the mass of vector mesons, mainly determined by the effective mass of quarks, is closely related toqq condensates ( qq ) which is an order parameter of the chiral symmetry of the QCD vacuum. In this framework a significant decrease of qq is expected not only at high temperature but also at normal nuclear density [3]. Using the QCD sum rule, Hatsuda and Lee theoretically predicted in-medium modification of the vector mesons [4]. According to this model, mass decrease at normal nuclear density is 120 ∼ 180 MeV/c 2 for the ω and ρ mesons and 20 ∼ 40 MeV/c 2 for the φ meson. Thus the measurements of such mesons, which are produced and decayed in a nucleus, are of great interest. The present experiment is one of the several experimental efforts [1...

Multipole strength distributions for isoscalar L ≤ 2 transitions in 28 Si have been extracted using 386-MeV inelastic α scattering at extremely forward angles, including 0• . Observed strength distributions are in good agreement with microscopic calculations for an oblate-deformed ground-state. In particular, a large peak at an excitation energy of 17.7 MeV in the isoscalar giant monopole resonance (ISGMR) strength is consistent with the calculations.