The research proposed encompasses a broad range of topics in nuclear structure theory with applications to nuclear astrophysics and with extensions to other mesoscopic systems. The research projects will have impact on developments in the field of nuclear theory, nuclear astrophysics and the general field of mesoscopic physics. Many of the projects are coupled to the experimental program at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) and with those at other laboratories. Projects are also coupled with the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA). In a broader context, successful progress in the program is important for our understanding of the basic constituents of matter and nucleosynthesis in the Universe. The studies of many-body properties, chaos and collectivity in nuclear structure, have a strong interdisciplinary aspect since the nucleus is an exemplary case of a self-sustaining finite Fermi-system with strong interactions. The proposed research is expected to help studies in physics of Bose- and Fermi-condensates, complex molecules, solid state microdevices and quantum computing. The proposal has a considerable educational component being part of the highly ranked nuclear physics program at NSCL/MSU.
The proposed research relates to broad questions in science including: What are the limits of nuclear stability?, How did the chemical evolution of the Universe proceed?, What are the ways of self-organization in interacting many-body systems? and How does order coexist with chaos and complexity in mesoscopic systems? Specific topics include: (i) development of new analytical and computational tools for the description of nuclear structure, especially for the nuclei far from stability; (ii) detailed consideration of specific nuclear phenomena and nuclear processes that shed light on the new features encountered with the experimental advances into virgin territory of unstable nuclei; (iii) calculations and modeling of structural and dynamical aspects of nuclear processes of astrophysical interest; (iv) studies of many-body quantum chaos, its coexistence with collective and regular features in nuclear structure, and properties of the nucleus as a mesoscopic system.