EPJ A Topical Issue: Heavy and Super-Heavy Nuclei and Elements: Production and Properties
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- Published on 24 September 2020
An important achievement of the refined shell model for the nucleus was the prediction of new shell closures at proton number 114 and neutron number 184. In addition, the model predicted decay properties, which led to the expectation that an “island of stability” would be located near these proton and neutron numbers. Experiments confirmed the predicted properties of part of these super-heavy nuclei during the last 20 years. Already in the 1980s, experimentally confirmed was a region of deformed super-heavy nuclei near proton and neutron numbers 108 and 162, respectively. Whereas only a few isotopes could be produced in the discovery experiments, the increase of the experimental sensitivity makes now and in future a more detailed study of these super-heavy systems possible. For this reason, the editors of the European Physical Journal A, N. Alamanos and M.J.G. Borge, suggested that a special edition be devoted to research on super-heavy nuclei and elements.
EPJ A Topical Issue: The QCD Phase Diagram in Strong Magnetic Fields
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- Published on 21 August 2020
In recent years, the impact of strong magnetic fields on the strongly interacting matter phase diagram has been a very active field of research with important developments. The presence of these strong magnetic fields modifies the dynamics of quarks, gluons and hadrons and is expected to have an enormous influence over all regions of the phase diagram: from the first stages of the Universe to the physics of neutron stars and the quark gluon plasma. As for the phase diagram in itself, one expects an impact on the chiral transition (and the respective Critical End Point location) as well as on the deconfinement transition.
EPJ A Topical Issue: Light clusters in nuclei and nuclear matter: Nuclear structure and decay, heavy ion collisions, and astrophysics
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- Published on 04 September 2019
Nuclear systems are important examples for strongly interacting quantum liquids. New experiments in nuclear physics and observations of compact astrophysical objects require an adequate description of correlations, in particular the formation of clusters and the occurrence of quantum condensates in low-density nuclear systems.
EPJ A Topical Issue: First joint gravitational wave and electromagnetic observations: Implications for nuclear and particle physics
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- Published on 23 May 2018
Observation of gravitational waves (GWs), gamma-rays, x-rays, optical, infrared and radio waves from a neutron star (NS) merger event, now called GW170817, has the potential to revolutionize nuclear astrophysics. Data from this event has already provided strong hints that heavy elements are produced in NS mergers, and that these elements directly influence the observed optical and infra-red light curves. Properties of dense matter which was expected to play a key role also appear to be essential in interpreting the GW data.
