Chong Qi: Shell and pairing properties of unstable nuclei- Are complex systems predictable

There are many phenomena induced by the complex nuclear forces that are not understood although a range of theories and models have been developed for that purpose. In addition, the advent of radioactive ion beam facilities has opened up new possibilities to investigate highly unstable nuclei at the edge of nuclear stability. A great challenge at present is that the study of those nuclei may require drastic changes in standard concepts in nuclear structure physics.

In this seminar I would like to review briefly recent progresses within the field of theoretical nuclear structure physics including both the ab initio and phenomenological families of nuclear models. In particular, I will discuss the description of the exotic shell structure and pairing correlations in dripline nuclei within the so-called nuclear configuration interaction approach and its indication on the limitations in our understanding of the nucleon-nucleon interaction and the many-body theory.