This volume documents an important event in the World Year of Physics 2005 and a continuation of the traditional international summer schools that have taken place in Romania regularly since 1964. On one hand, the study of exotic nuclei seeks answers about the structure and interaction of unique finite quantum mechanical many-body systems. On the other, it provides data that have an impact on the understanding of the origin of the elements in the Universe.The contributions, written by outstanding professors from prestigious research centers over the world, provide the reader with both comprehensive reviews and the most recent results in the field. Large experimental facilities are discussed together with future research projects. The book offers insights into how experiments in terrestrial nuclear physics laboratories may be combined with observations in outer space to enlarge our basic knowledge.

The interest in understanding the physical world that we live in, the origin of its formation and evolution, is reflected in the world-wide activities in Europe, the USA and Japan to set up powerful research facilities providing beams of radioactive nuclei of various kinds, and beams of extremely large energies. At the same time, complex and large detector arrays with improved technical capabilities are built either around these facilities or independently (dedicated to cosmic rays). Recently, spectacular progress has been made in superheavy nuclei, cold binary and ternary fission, nuclear shell structure and nuclear astrophysics, to mention only a few directions. The energy spectrum of cosmic rays exceeds the upper limits provided by artificial accelerators. An international collaboration has committed itself to the installation of an extremely large area detector array, AUGER, in order to study the highest particle energies in the Universe.

The Predeal International Summer School, held at the Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania, is a prestigious scientific event. The school first took place in 1969 and since then it has been held every two years.This year the lectures were given by more than 30 outstanding professors, covering timely subjects in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics. In addition, there were special sessions of contributed papers presenting the most recent results in these domains. The aim of the school was thus two-fold: to give basic information on some hot subjects of research in nuclear physics and to present them with the most recent achievements in these fields. This volume contains the proceedings of the school.

This volume documents an important event in the World Year of Physics 2005 and a continuation of the traditional international summer schools that have taken place in Romania regularly since 1964. On one hand, the study of exotic nuclei seeks answers about the structure and interaction of unique finite quantum mechanical many-body systems. On the other, it provides data that have an impact on the understanding of the origin of the elements in the Universe.The contributions, written by outstanding professors from prestigious research centers over the world, provide the reader with both comprehensive reviews and the most recent results in the field. Large experimental facilities are discussed together with future research projects. The book offers insights into how experiments in terrestrial nuclear physics laboratories may be combined with observations in outer space to enlarge our basic knowledge.

The interest in understanding the physical world that we live in, the origin of its formation and evolution, is reflected in the world-wide activities in Europe, the USA and Japan to set up powerful research facilities providing beams of radioactive nuclei of various kinds, and beams of extremely large energies. At the same time, complex and large detector arrays with improved technical capabilities are built either around these facilities or independently (dedicated to cosmic rays). Recently, spectacular progress has been made in superheavy nuclei, cold binary and ternary fission, nuclear shell structure and nuclear astrophysics, to mention only a few directions. The energy spectrum of cosmic rays exceeds the upper limits provided by artificial accelerators. An international collaboration has committed itself to the installation of an extremely large area detector array, AUGER, in order to study the highest particle energies in the Universe.

The Predeal International Summer School, held at the Institute for Physics and Nuclear Engineering, Bucharest, Romania, is a prestigious scientific event. The school first took place in 1969 and since then it has been held every two years.This year the lectures were given by more than 30 outstanding professors, covering timely subjects in theoretical and experimental nuclear physics. In addition, there were special sessions of contributed papers presenting the most recent results in these domains. The aim of the school was thus two-fold: to give basic information on some hot subjects of research in nuclear physics and to present them with the most recent achievements in these fields. This volume contains the proceedings of the school.