[en] There has been a significant progress in ab initio approaches to the structure of light nuclei. Starting from realistic two- and three-nucleon interactions the ab initio no-core shell model (NCSM) predicts low-lying levels in p-shell nuclei. It is a challenging task to extend ab initio methods to describe nuclear reactions. We present here a brief overview of the first steps taken toward nuclear reaction applications. In particular, we discuss our calculation of the ⁷Be(p,γ)⁸B S-factor. They also present their first results of the ³He(α,γ)⁷Be S-factor and of the S-factor of the mirror reaction ³H(α,γ)⁷Li. The ⁷Be(p,γ)⁸B and ³He(α,γ)⁷Be reactions correspond to the most important uncertainties in solar model predictions of neutrino fluxes

[en] I investigate the elastic electron scattering off nuclei far from the stability line. The effects of the neutron and proton skins and halos on the differential cross sections are explored. Examples are given for the charge distribution in Sn isotopes and its relation to the neutron skin. The neutron halo in ¹¹Li and the proton halo in ⁸B are also investigated. Particular interest is paid to the inverse scattering problem and its dependence on the experimental precision. These studies are of particular interest for the upcoming electron ion colliders at the GSI and RIKEN facilities

[en] Meson production cross sections in ultraperipheral relativistic heavy ion collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider are revisited. The relevance of meson models and of exotic QCD states is discussed. This study includes states that have not been considered before in the literature.

[en] I describe in very simple terms the theoretical tools used to investigate ultra-peripheral nuclear reactions for nuclear astrophysics purposes. For a more detailed account, see ref. [1].

[en] I discuss the use of light as a collection of real and virtual photons to study some lingering questions in particle and nuclear physics

[en] We study in details the space-time dependence of the production of muonic, pionic, and other exotic atoms by the coherent photon exchange between nuclei at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. We show that a multipole expansion of the electromagnetic interaction yields an useful insight of the bound-free production mechanism which has not been explored in the literature. Predictions for the spatial, temporal, and angular distribution, as well as the total cross sections, for the production of exotic atoms are also included.

[en] We study the presence of entangled states of nucleon pairs from nuclear decays and in reactions with exotic nuclei, e.g., ¹¹Li, or ⁶He. It is shown that the fingerprints of entangled states in these subsystems are visible in correlation measurements and can be accessed with present experimental techniques. This shows that not only atomic and optical systems, but also nuclear systems serve as important tools to obtain dichotomic outcomes for tests of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox

[en] In light of a new experiment which claims a positive identification, we discuss the possible existence of the tetraneutron. We explore a model based on a dineutron-dineutron molecule. We show that this model is not able to explain the tetraneutron as a bound state, in agreement with other theoretical models already discussed in the literature

[en] The ν_e-⁵⁶Fe cross section is evaluated in the projected quasiparticle random phase approximation (PQRPA). This model solves the puzzle observed in RPA for nuclei with mass around ¹²C, because it is the only RPA model that treats the Pauli Principle correctly. The cross sections as a function of the incident neutrino energy are compared with recent theoretical calculations of similar models. The average cross section weighted with the flux spectrum yields a good agreement with the experimental data. The expected number of events in the detection of supernova neutrinos is calculated for the LVD detector, leading to an upper limit for the electron neutrino energy of particular importance in this experiment

[en] Deuteron induced quasi-free scattering and reactions have been extensively investigated in the past few decades as well as 6^Li, 3^H, 3^He and 9^Be induced ones. This was done not only for nuclear structure and reaction mechanisms investigation but also for important astrophysical implications (Trojan Horse Method)[1]. In particular the width and the shape of the spectator momentum distribution inside several nuclei which have been used as Trojan Horse ones have been obtained as a function of the transferred momentum for all these nuclei. The behaviour of the width of the spectator momentum distribution as a function of the transferred momentum will be discussed extensively. This work is the continuation of what has been done for Li⁶ in [2]. Moreover a complete study on Trojan Horse method applications will also be given because the momentum distribution of the spectator particle inside the Trojan horse nucleus is a necessary input for the application of this method. This will give hints on distortion effects at low energies as well as implications for nuclear astrophysics.(author)