This proposal is a request for support of a three-year program of research in theoretical nuclear physics at the W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology for the period from July 1, 1997 to June 30, 2000. The research focuses on novel methods for treating diverse quantum many-body systems and on phenomenological and fundamental descriptions of nuclear phenomena in laboratory and astrophysical situations. This theoretical work is an integral part of the research in nuclear physics and nuclear astrophysics in the W. K. Kellogg Radiation Laboratory and enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with the group's experimental activities. The training of graduate students and postdoctoral researchers broadly in phenomenological and computational physics is an important element of this program.
