Strangeness nuclear physics bears a broad impact on contemporary physics. This set of extensive lectures presents a balanced theoretical and experimental introduction to, and survey of, the field. It addresses topics such as the production and spectroscopy of strange nuclear systems, modern approaches to the hyperon-nucleon interaction, and weak decays of hypernuclei. This burgeoning research field is well served by this tutorial primer.

The unique role of strangeness in nuclear physics has recently attracted much attention, from both the theoretical and experimental viewpoints. This is due not only to the broad spectrum of possible hadron many-body systems with strangeness, but also to the fact that strangeness gives us an opportunity to study fundamental baryon-baryon interactions in a new perspective. Our knowledge of this subject has widened as the scope of hypernuclear experiments has expanded from strangeness exchange and the associated production reactions to hypernuclear weak decays, ? decays, cascade hypernuclei, double-? events, electroproduction of strangeness, etc. This trend will be accelerated by the full operation of new laboratories such as TJLab, COSY, DAèNE, JHF, MAMI, and others. Various aspects of those important and exciting topics are discussed in this book in order to get a perspective of this fast developing area of nuclear physics.

Strangeness nuclear physics bears a broad impact on contemporary physics. This set of extensive lectures presents a balanced theoretical and experimental introduction to, and survey of, the field. It addresses topics such as the production and spectroscopy of strange nuclear systems, modern approaches to the hyperon-nucleon interaction, and weak decays of hypernuclei. This burgeoning research field is well served by this tutorial primer.

Dramatic progress has been made in all branches of physics since the National Research Council's 1986 decadal survey of the field. The Physics in a New Era series explores these advances and looks ahead to future goals. The series includes assessments of the major subfields and reports on several smaller subfields, and preparation has begun on an overview volume on the unity of physics, its relationships to other fields, and its contributions to national needs. Nuclear Physics is the latest volume of the series. The book describes current activity in understanding nuclear structure and symmetries, the behavior of matter at extreme densities, the role of nuclear physics in astrophysics and cosmology, and the instrumentation and facilities used by the field. It makes recommendations on the resources needed for experimental and theoretical advances in the coming decade.

Strangeness and Spin in Fundamental Physics is dedicated to the discussion of the role played by two subtle and somehow puzzling quantum numbers, the strangeness and the spin, in fundamental physics. They both relate to basic properties of the fundamental quantum field theories describing strong and electro-weak interactions and to their phenomenological applications. In some instances, like the partonic spin structure of the proton, they are deeply correlated. The many puzzling results recently obtained by measuring several spin asymmetries have stimulated gigantic progresses in the study of the spin structure of protons and neutrons. Intense theoretical activity has discovered new features of non-perturbative QCD, like strong correlations between the spin and the intrinsic motions of quarks inside the nucleons. The purpose of this publication is that of providing a complete, updated and critical account of the most recent and relevant discoveries in the above fields, both from the experimental and theoretical sides.

Importance of strange quarks in hadrons, nuclei and dense matter / A.W. Thomas -- Overview of strangeness nuclear physics / A. Gal -- Experimental overview and challenge in strangeness nuclear physics / K. Imai -- Recent QCD results on the strange hadron systems / M. Oka -- Strangeness physics with CLAS / V.D. Burkert -- Progress and issues in the electromagnetic production of kaon on the nucleon / T. Mart -- Neutral kaon photoproduction at LNS, Tohoku University / M. Kaneta et al. for the NKS/NKS2 collaboration -- Photoproduction of the [symbol] resonance from the neutron / K.H. Hicks and D. Keller for the LEPS collaboration -- Photo- and electroproduction of kaons / P. Bydz̮ouský -- Strangeness pproduction at ELSA / V. Kleber for the CBELSA/TAB collaboration -- Low Q[symbol] kaon electroproduction / P. Markowitz and A. Acha for the JLab E94-107 and Hall A collaborations -- Results on strangeness production from HADES / A. Schmah for the HADES collaboration -- [symbol] photo-production on the deuteron at LNS, Tohoku University / T. Ishikawa -- Current status of the GO parity violation experiment carried out at Jefferson Laboratory / L. Bimbot for the GO collaboration -- Production and searches for cascade baryons with CLAS / E.S. Smith for the CLAS collaboration -- Nijmegen Baryon-Baryon interactions S = -1,-2 systems / Th. A. Rijken, M.M. Nagels and Y. Yamamoto -- Hyperon-nucleus systems in G-matrix approach / Y. Yamamoto -- [symbol]C(O[symbol]) and [symbol]O potentials derived from the SU[symbol] quark-model Baryon-Baryon interaction / Y. Fujiwara, M. Kohno and Y. Suzuki

Nuclear Physics in a Nutshell provides a clear, concise, and up-to-date overview of the atomic nucleus and the theories that seek to explain it. Bringing together a systematic explanation of hadrons, nuclei, and stars for the first time in one volume, Carlos A. Bertulani provides the core material needed by graduate and advanced undergraduate students of physics to acquire a solid understanding of nuclear and particle science. Nuclear Physics in a Nutshell is the definitive new resource for anyone considering a career in this dynamic field. The book opens by setting nuclear physics in the context of elementary particle physics and then shows how simple models can provide an understanding of the properties of nuclei, both in their ground states and excited states, and also of the nature of nuclear reactions. It then describes: nuclear constituents and their characteristics; nuclear interactions; nuclear structure, including the liquid-drop model approach, and the nuclear shell model; and recent developments such as the nuclear mean-field and the nuclear physics of very light nuclei, nuclear reactions with unstable nuclear beams, and the role of nuclear physics in energy production and nucleosynthesis in stars. Throughout, discussions of theory are reinforced with examples that provide applications, thus aiding students in their reading and analysis of current literature. Each chapter closes with problems, and appendixes address supporting technical topics.