https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/s10050-022-00867-8
Editorial
Topical collection on light clusters in nuclei and nuclear matter: nuclear structure and decay, heavy-ion collisions, and astrophysics
1
Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Wrocław, 50-204, Wrocław, Poland
2
Research Center for Nuclear Physics (RCNP), Osaka University, 567-0047, Osaka, Japan
3
Department of Physics, Hokkaido University, 060-0810, Sapporo, Japan
4
Nuclear Reaction Data Centre, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, 060-0810, Sapporo, Japan
5
Institut für Physik, Universität Rostock, 18051, Rostock, Germany
6
Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS-IN2P3, IJCLab, 91405, Orsay, France
7
Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, LPMMC, 38000, Grenoble, France
Recent progress to treat clustering in nuclear systems has an impact to different branches of nuclear theory. Numerical methods as well as many-body theory (Green-function methods) have been worked out to describe few-body clusters in a nuclear environment where medium effects, in particular the antisymmetrization of the wave function (Pauli blocking) are of relevance. Nuclear structure (Hoyle – like states), nuclear reactions, and consequences for astrophysics (neutron stars, supernova explosions) are emerging applications. The main topics were (1) Cluster models, structure of light nuclei, cluster quantum phase transition; (2) Reaction theory, 
-decay of heavy and superheavy nuclei; (3) Clustering in nuclear matter and consequences for thermodynamic properties (4) Heavy-ion collisions and clustering in nonequilibrium systems, transport codes; (5) Astrophysical consequences of clustering.
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2022
