A benchmark experiment on (208)Pb shows that polarized proton inelastic scattering at very forward angles including 0° is a powerful tool for high-resolution studies of electric dipole (E1) and spin magnetic dipole (M1) modes in nuclei over a broad excitation energy range to test up-to-date nuclear models. The extracted E1 polarizability leads to a neutron skin thickness r(skin) = 0.156(-0.021)(+0.025) fm in (208)Pb derived within a mean-field model [Phys. Rev. C 81, 051303 (2010)], thereby constraining the symmetry energy and its density dependence relevant to the description of neutron stars.

A high-resolution (gamma,gamma') study of the electric dipole response in 208Pb at the S-DALINAC reveals a resonance structure centered around the neutron emission threshold. Microscopic quasiparticle phonon model calculations in realistic model spaces including the coupling to complex configurations are able to describe the data in great detail. The resonance is shown to result from surface density oscillations of the neutron skin relative to an approximately isospin-saturated core. It also forms an integral part of a toroidal E1 mode representing an example of vortex collective motion in nuclei.

Scattering of protons of several hundred MeV is a promising new spectroscopic tool for the study of electric dipole strength in nuclei. A case study of 208 Pb shows that at very forward angles J π = 1 − states are strongly populated via Coulomb excitation. A separation from nuclear excitation of other modes is achieved by a multipole decomposition analysis of the experimental cross sections based on theoretical angular distributions calculated within the quasiparticle-phonon model. The B(E1) transition strength distribution is extracted for excitation energies up to 9 MeV, i.e., in the region of the so-called pygmy dipole resonance (PDR). The Coulomb-nuclear interference shows sensitivity to the underlying structure of the E1 transitions, which allows for the first time an experimental extraction of the electromagnetic transition strength and the energy centroid of the PDR.

Level densities of J pi=2+ and 2- states extracted from high-resolution studies of E2 and M2 giant resonances in 58Ni and 90Zr are used to test recent predictions of a possible parity dependence. The experimental results are compared to a combinatorial approach based on the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov model and to shell-model Monte Carlo calculations including both spin and parity projection. No parity dependence is observed experimentally, which is in agreement for 90Zr but in contrast with the model predictions for 58Ni.

A search for the J π = 1/2 − spin-orbit partner of the J π = 3/2 − ground state in 7 He has been performed with the 7 Li(d, 2 He) chargeexchange reaction. The experimental results are incompatible with recent claims of such a state at very low excitation energy [M. Meister, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002) 102501]. A decomposition of the spectrum is performed taking into account known resonances and quasifree charge-exchange reactions on 7 Li as well as on triton and 4 He clusters in the 7 Li ground state. A possible resonance at an excitation energy E x ≈ 1.45 MeV with a width Γ ≈ 2.0 MeV is suggested when the quasifree charge-exchange process on 7 Li is constrained by a measurement of the 6 Li(d, 2 He) reaction. Gamow-Teller strengths for transitions to the lowest states in 7 He deduced from the differential cross sections are in remarkable agreement with results from ab initio quantum Monte Carlo calculations.

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Fine structure in the region of the isoscalar giant quadrupole resonance (ISGQR) in 58Ni, 89Y, 90Zr, 120Sn, 166Er, and 208Pb has been observed in high-energy-resolution ( E1/2 35–50 keV) inelastic proton scattering measurements at E0 = 200 MeV at iThemba LABS. Calculations of the corresponding quadrupole excitation strength functions performed within models based on the random-phase approximation (RPA) reveal similar fine structure when the mixing of one-particle one-hole states with two-particle two-hole states is taken into account. A detailed comparison of the experimental data is made with results from the quasiparticle-phonon model (QPM) and the extended time-dependent Hartree-Fock (ETDHF) method. For 208Pb, additional theoretical results from second RPA and the extended theory of finite Fermi systems (ETFFS) are discussed. A continuous wavelet analysis of the experimental and the calculated spectra is used to extract dominant scales characterizing the fine structure. Although the calculations agree with qualitative features of these scales, considerable differences are found between the model and experimental results and amongst different models. Within the framework of the QPM and ETDHF calculations it is possible to decompose the model spaces into subspaces approximately corresponding to different damping mechanisms. It is demonstrated that characteristic scales mainly arise from the collective coupling of the ISGQR to low-energy surface vibrations

The Gamow-Teller strength distributions below the particle threshold in 138La and 180Ta, deduced from high-resolution measurements of the (3He,t) reaction at 0 degrees, allow us to evaluate the role of charged-current reactions for the production of these extremely rare nuclides in neutrino-nucleosynthesis models. The analysis suggests that essentially all 138La in the Universe can be made that way. Neutrino nucleosynthesis also contributes significantly to the abundance of 180Ta but the magnitude depends on the unknown branching ratio for population of the long-lived isomer.