The two most important developments in nuclear physics were the shell model and the collective model. The former gives the formal framework for a description of nuclei in terms of interacting neutrons and protons. The latter provides a very physical but phenomenological framework for interpreting the observed properties of nuclei. A third approach, based on variational and mean-field methods, brings these two perspectives together in terms of the so-called unified models. Together, these three approaches provide the foundations on which nuclear physics is based. They need to be understood by everyone practicing or teaching nuclear physics, and all those who wish to gain an understanding of the foundations of the models and their relationships to microscopic theory as given by recent developments in terms of dynamical symmetries. This book provides a simple presentation of the models and theory of nuclear collective structure, with an emphasis on the physical content and the ways they are used to interpret data. Part 1 presents the basic phenomenological collective vibrational and rotational models as introduced by Bohr and Mottelson and their many colleagues. It also describes the extensions of these models to parallel unified models in which neutrons and protons move in a mean-field with collective degrees of freedom. Part 2 presents the predominant theories used to describe the collective properties of nuclei in terms of interacting nucleons. These theories, which are shared with other many-body systems, are shown to emerge naturally from the unified models of Part 1.

Annotation The two most important developments in nuclear physics were the shell model and the collective model. The former gives the formal framework for a description of nuclei in terms of interacting neutrons and protons. The latter provides a very physical but phenomenological framework for interpreting the observed properties of nuclei. A third approach, based on variational and mean-field methods, brings these two perspectives together in terms of the so-called unified models. Together, these three approaches provide the foundations on which nuclear physics is based. They need to be understood by everyone practicing or teaching nuclear physics, and all those who wish to gain an understanding of the foundations of the models and their relationships to microscopic theory as given by recent developments in terms of dynamical symmetries. This book provides a simple presentation of the models and theory of nuclear collective structure, with an emphasis on the physical content and the ways they are used to interpret data. Part 1 presents the basic phenomenological collective vibrational and rotational models as introduced by Bohr and Mottelson and their many colleagues. It also describes the extensions of these models to parallel unified models in which neutrons and protons move in a mean-field with collective degrees of freedom. Part 2 presents the predominant theories used to describe the collective properties of nuclei in terms of interacting nucleons. These theories, which are shared with other many-body systems, are shown to emerge naturally from the unified models of Part 1.

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.

These proceedings contain selected topics covering various fields of collective motion and nuclear dynamics, ranging from low to high energies, from nuclear structure to reaction mechanisms, from regular stable to chaotic systems, and from fragmentation to fusion. Several ways of investigating the nuclear systems are presented: electron scattering radioactive beams, fragmenting projectiles, beta and double beta decays, and cluster emission. Their behaviour, under some extreme situations such as superdeformation, high spin states, high temperature, and relativisitic energy, is described within various theoretical formalisms.

1. General trends and coupling schemes. 1.1. Introduction. 1.2. The aligned coupling scheme. 1.3. The pair coupling scheme. 1.4. Competition between aligned and pair coupling. 1.5. Quasi-particles -- 2. The collective vibrational model. 2.1. Vibrations in quantum mechanics. 2.2. The energy spectrum for shape oscillations. 2.3. Electromagnetic transition strengths. 2.4. The hydrodynamic collective parameters. 2.5. Comparison with experiment. 2.6. Sum rules -- 3. The unified model for vibrations. 3.1. Even-even nuclei. 3.2. Odd-mass nuciei - weak coupling. 3.3. Excitation of vibrational states in inelastic scattering -- 4. The vibrating potential model (VPM). 4.1. The adiabatic approximation. 4.2. The possibility of going to higher order. 4.3. The vibrating potential model (VPM). 4.4. Discussion -- 5. The E1 photoresonance. 5.1. The collective model. 5.2. The independent particle model (IPM). 5.3. The compatibility of the two approaches. 5.4. The unified model. 5.5. The structure of the photoresonance -- 6. The collective rotational model. 6.1. The two-particle rotor. 6.2. The asymmetric rotor model. 6.3. The symmetric rotor model. 6.4. K = 0 bands. 6.5. The symmetric core model. 6.6. K = 1/2 bands. 6.7. Electromagnetic moments and transitions. 6.8. Band mixing -- 7. The unified model for rotations. 7.1. The aligned wave-function. 7.2. The Nilsson model. 7.3. Intrinsic structure. 7.4. Even-even nuclei. 7.5. Odd-mass nuclei - strong coupling. 7.6. Excitation of rotational states in inelastic scattering -- 8. The moment of inertia. 8.1. The irrotational flow model. 8.2. The rotational flow model. 8.3. The two-fluid model. 8.4. The cranking model. 8.5. The pushing model -- 9. Hartree-Fock seH-consistent field theory : spherical nuclei. 9.1. Hartree theory. 9.2. Hartree-Fock (HF) theory. 9.3. Realistic and effective interactions. 9.4. Hartree-Fock calculations for closed-shell nuclei. 9.5. The shell model.