The Conference OC Bologna 2000: Structure of the Nucleus at the Dawn of the CenturyOCO was devoted to a discipline which has seen a strong revival of research activities in the last decade. New experimental results and theoretical developments in nuclear physics will certainly make important contributions to our knowledge and understanding of Nature's fundamental building blocks. The interest aroused by the Conference among the scientific community was clearly reflected in the large number of participants. These represented the most important nuclear physics laboratories in the world. The Conference covered five major topics of modern nuclear physics: nuclear structure, nucleusOConucleus collisions, hadron dynamics, nuclear astrophysics, and transdisciplinary and peaceful applications of nuclear science. It reviewed recent progress in the field and provided a forum for the discussion of current and future research projects. Contents: Quark and GluonOCoPlasma Phase Transition and Relativistic Heavy-Ion Reactions; LiquidOCoGas Phase Transitions in Nuclear Matter; Nuclear Caloric Curve and Thermodynamics of Heavy Ion Collisions; Statistical and Dynamics Aspects of Fragmentation; Intermediate Energy Heavy-Ion Reactions; Reaction Mechanisms around the Barrier. Fusion and Fission in Heavy-Ion Reactions. Readership: Nuclear physicists."

The scope of the international meeting covered a broad range of the recent developments in nuclear physics, from heavy-ion collisions from Coulomb barrier through relativisitc energies (using stable and radioactive beams), to some applications of nuclear physics and other research fields. The lectures given at the meeting range from the most recent progress to future prospects in nuclear physics research.This volume focuses on recent developments in nuclear physics, with emphasis on the investigation of processes connected with large-amplitude collective motion in nuclei, such as heavy-ion fusion, giant multipole resonances, and nuclear fission and fragmentation.

The Conference “Bologna 2000: Structure of the Nucleus at the Dawn of the Century” was devoted to a discipline which has seen a strong revival of research activities in the last decade. New experimental results and theoretical developments in nuclear physics will certainly make important contributions to our knowledge and understanding of Nature's fundamental building blocks.The interest aroused by the Conference among the scientific community was clearly reflected in the large number of participants. These represented the most important nuclear physics laboratories in the world.The Conference covered five major topics of modern nuclear physics: nuclear structure, nucleus-nucleus collisions, hadron dynamics, nuclear astrophysics, and transdisciplinary and peaceful applications of nuclear science. It reviewed recent progress in the field and provided a forum for the discussion of current and future research projects.

This book of proceedings contains contributions of about 30 prominent scientists who were or are associated with the awardee, Prof J B Natowitz, and are working in the field of heavy-ion reactions.The papers contained in this book represent an up-to-date overview of the most interesting topics related to the formation and decay of hot nuclei and to nuclear dynamics.