[en] The paper discusses the features of the science education of Japan based on the international data on the science achievement test scores of the school children. Furthermore, the paper introduces the world inquiry surveys on the scientific knowledge of ordinary adults, which is shown by the National Science Foundation, USA. The author will give what the science education of Japan should be in future. The 14 years-age middle school pupils of Japan had gotten the higher scores of science and mathematics achievement tests among the world, i.e. they had been between the first and the third positions in the three time tests from 1964 to 1995. The Japanese showed the extremely narrow distribution of the score. On the other hand, the Singapore and the USA showed the wide spread distributions. Another point of the Japanese pupils was weak capability to put their knowledge to practical use. They knew well that carbon dioxide came out from burning of carbon. However, few knew why carbon dioxide extinguished the fires. The NSF of USA had done the inquiry survey for the ordinary adults' knowledge on molecule, DNA, radiation, radioactivity and so on. In this case the Japanese were almost in the worst group. It is recommended that the education in the real life practice in the natural world should give more emphasis in the science education rather than studies on the papers in Japan. (Y. Tanaka)

No abstract available

[en] The contributions of quasiparticle correlations and continuum coupling upon the superfluid properties of neutron-rich Ni isotopes are studied within the modified BCS approximation at finite temperature. The effect of quasiparticle correlations is included using a secondary Bogoliubov transformation explicitly involving the quasiparticle occupation numbers at temperature T. The effect of continuum coupling is taken in to account via the finite widths of the single-particle resonant states. It is shown that the combination of these effects washes out the sharp superfluid-normal phase transition given by the standard finite-temperature BCS calculations. It is also found that the two-neutron separation energy for ⁸⁴Ni drops to zero at T congruent with 0.8 MeV

[en] The isotopes of Sr(Z=38) and Zr(Z=40) rapidly change in nuclear shape from spherical to deformed at neutron number N=60. On the other hand, the isotopes of Ru(Z=44) and Pd (Z=46) show very slow transitions. A ''self-consistency plot'' of proton and neutron deformations, based on the variational principle, has revealed that these aspects of shape transitions are ascribed to the protons occupying the 0g_9/2 orbitals. (orig.)

[en] Several mechanisms for the quenching of Gamow-Teller and magnetic dipole transitions are discussed. It is pointed out that, contrary to common belief, the tensor correlation is much more important than the effect of Δ-hole states. The best evidence for this fact is the quenching of the expectation value of spin S, for which the Δ-hole states do not have any first order corrections at all. (author)

[en] Concluding remarks of the International Symposium on the Electromagnetic Properties of Atomic Nuclei are presented. In this paper, the topics presented at the symposium are summarized. Concerning the simple shell model picture, the hindered E2-transition, a new doubly closed shell nucleus, and a hindered beta transition were discussed. Because of the rapid development of computers, the matrices as large as 10⁴ x 10⁴ can be now diagonalized, and the shell model calculation with the mixing of many configuration became possible. The results of calculations are discussed. The results of the measurement of nuclear magnetic moment, magnetic excitation experiment, and the (p,n) reaction and the Gamow-Teller transition experiment were introduced and discussed. The theoretical implication of quenching in the M1 and G-T transitions was presented. Other topics included in this paper are the meson exchange current and core polarization, and hyper-nuclei. As the conclusion, it was said that the nuclear shell model has a broad range of application in the field of intermediate nuclear physics. (Kato, T.)

[en] To understand the importance for school teachers to have adequate concepts of world-wide energy situation, the author presents fundamental information: world population projection, the history of energy amount consumed by mankind, the trend and changes of energy consumption rate for different district, estimation of reserved energy resources on the earth, global warming and greenhouse effect, carbon dioxide emissions caused by fossil fuel consumption, and the prospect of renewable energies such as wind, solar, waste, and biomass energy. The author concludes that we inevitably employ nuclear power as a practicable energy source without causing climate change and for this reason there is the need for radiation and radioactivity education in school. Ethical problems of scientists and engineers are also mentioned. (S. Ohno)

[en] A systematic description of the evolution of the giant dipole resonance (GDR) at non-zero temperature T is given within the framework of two versions PDM-1 and PDM-2 of the Phonon Damping Model (PDM). The PDM interprets the damping of the GDR as a result of coupling to all ph, pp and hh configurations at T ≠ 0, where the coupling to pp and hh configurations is decisively important for an adequate description of the increase and saturation of the GDR width as a function of T. The numerical calculations have been performed for the GDR width, the strength function and the integrated yield of the γ rays in ¹²⁰Sn and ²⁰⁸Pb at 0 ≤ T ≤ 6 MeV. The results obtained are found in a reasonable agreement with the most recent experimental data for all these three characteristics including the saturation of the yields within the GDR region and in the region above it. Predictions have been made for the GDR shape in both nuclei at T up to 6 MeV and for the integrated yield of γ rays in ²⁰⁸Pb

[en] It is shown throughout all the long study from nuclear magnetic moments to giant resonances how simple models can be used to describe complex phenomena, and how the complexity expresses a simple truth. The concept of mixing with 2p1h configurations and core polarization with corrections due to mesons is crucial for an adequate description of the quenching phenomena in the nuclear magnetic moments and the Gamow-Teller β decays of odd A nuclei. For the giant resonances such as the Gamow-Teller resonances (GTR) and giant dipole resonances (GDR) the coupling of one-phonon to two-phonon states or the GDR phonon with the background of incoherent ph (at zero and nonzero temperature T) as well as pp and hh configurations (at nonzero T) is the main mechanism of their damping. The recently developed Phonon Damping Model (PDM), whose model Hamiltonian includes a coupling between the GDR phonon to all ph, pp, and hh configurations at T≠0, turns out to be very successful in reproducing not only the width but also the experimentally observed shapes of the hot GDR in ¹²⁰Sn and ²⁰⁸Pb. In the PDM, the strength function is calculated directly in the laboratory frame without any need for an explicit inclusion of thermal fluctuations of shapes or angular momentum effect. The PDM has also been applied to study multiphonon resonances (in stable nuclei) and the GDR in neutron-rich nuclei. (author)

[en] Magnetic form factors observed by electron scattering provide good evidence for core polarization and meson exchange currents. Their effects are discussed by taking ¹⁷O, ⁵¹V, ²⁰⁷Pb ²⁰⁸Pb, ²⁰⁹Bi and ¹²C. (author)