Nuclear structure research. Annual progress report

The most significant development this year has been the realization that EO transition strength is a fundamental manifestation of nuclear mean-square charge radius differences. Thus, EO transitions provide a fundamental signature for shape coexistence in nuclei. In this sense, EO transitions are second only to E2 transitions for signaling (quadrupole) shapes in nuclei and do so when shape differences occur. A major effort has been devoted to the review of EO transitions in nuclei. Experiments have been carried out or are scheduled at: ATLAS/FMA ({alpha} decay of very neutron-deficient Bi isotopes); MSU/NSCL ({beta} decay of {sup 56}Cu); and HRIBF/RMS (commissioning of tape collector, internal conversion/internal-pair spectrometer; {beta} decay of {sup 58}Cu). A considerable effort has been devoted to planning the nuclear structure physics that will be pursued using HRIBF. Theoretical investigations have continued in collaboration with Prof. K. Heyde, Prof. D.J. Rowe, Prof. J.O. Rasmussen, and Prof. P.B. Semmes. These studies focus on shape coexistence and particle-core coupling