Eur. Phys. J. A (2018) 54: 51
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2018-12489-2

Review

Structure of exotic light nuclei: Z = 2, 3, 4

Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pennsylvania, 19104, Philadelphia, PA, USA

^* e-mail: fortune@physics.upenn.edu

Received: 4 December 2017
Accepted: 23 February 2018
Published online: 28 March 2018

Abstract

I examine the history and current state of knowledge of the structure of so-called “exotic” light nuclei with Z=2-4, from ⁷He to ¹⁶Be . I review the available experimental information and the models that have been applied to these nuclei. I pay particular attention to the interplay among energies, widths (or strengths), and microscopic structure. Throughout the presentation, I focus on a unified description of these nuclei. I point out contradictions within the data, and I suggest experiments that are still needed.