FAIR opportunities for nuclear structure physics
Prof. Norbert Pietralla (TU Darmstadt)

The developing understanding of the nucleon-nucleon forces as the infrared limit of QCD nutures the long-standing hope for putting nuclear structure physics quantitatively on microscopic fundaments.
Success in reaching this goal is mandatory for the understanding of nuclear astrophysics and the origin of the elements in our world.
The relevant nuclear degrees of freedom arise from the essential features of atomic nuclei as strongly interacting, two-fluid, many-body quantum systems.
Modern nuclear structure physics focuses on the investigation of the generic consequences of these essential features and their competing impact on the evolution of nuclear structure along the nuclear chart. The future FAIR facility will include a world-leading factory for the production of neutron-rich radioactive heavy-ion beams with unprecedented intensities that open up new experimental opportunities . A selected outlook will be given.