Extending the Hoyle-State Paradigm to ^{12}C+^{12}C Fusion.

Carbon burning is a key step in the evolution of massive stars, Type 1a supernovae and superbursts in x-ray binary systems. Determining the ^{12}C+^{12}C fusion cross section at relevant energies by extrapolation of direct measurements is challenging due to resonances at and below the Coulomb barrier. A study of the ^{24}Mg(α,α^{'})^{24}Mg reaction has identified several 0^{+} states in ^{24}Mg, close to the ^{12}C+^{12}C threshold, which predominantly decay to ^{20}Ne(ground state)+α.

Evaluation of a dedicated brain metastases treatment planning optimization for radiosurgery: a new treatment paradigm?

Purpose: To investigate the feasibility of a novel dedicated treatment planning solution, to automatically target multiple brain metastases with a single isocenter and multiple inversely-optimized dynamic conformal arcs (DCA), and to benchmark it against the well-established multiple isocenter DCA (MIDCA) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) approaches.

Material And Methods: Ten previously treated patients were randomly selected, each representing a variable number of lesions ranging between 1 to 8. The original MIDCA treatments were replanned with both VMAT and the novel brain metastases tool.

Isospin Mixing in ^{80}Zr: From Finite to Zero Temperature.

The isospin mixing was deduced in the compound nucleus ^{80}Zr at an excitation energy of E^{*}=54  MeV from the γ decay of the giant dipole resonance. The reaction ^{40}Ca+^{40}Ca at E_{beam}=136  MeV was used to form the compound nucleus in the isospin I=0 channel, while the reaction ^{37}Cl+^{44}Ca at E_{beam}=95  MeV was used as the reference reaction. The γ rays were detected with the AGATA demonstrator array coupled with LaBr_{3}:Ce detectors.

Isospin character of low-lying pygmy dipole states in 208Pb via inelastic scattering of 17O ions.

The properties of pygmy dipole states in 208Pb were investigated using the 208Pb(17O, 17O'γ) reaction at 340 MeV and measuring the γ decay with high resolution with the AGATA demonstrator array. Cross sections and angular distributions of the emitted γ rays and of the scattered particles were measured. The results are compared with (γ, γ') and (p, p') data.