We have observed the two-proton radioactivity of the previously unknown ${}^{19}\mathrm{Mg}$ ground state by tracking the decay products in-flight. For the first time, the trajectories of the $2p$-decay products, ${}^{17}\mathrm{Ne}+p+p$, have been measured by using tracking microstrip detectors which allowed us to reconstruct the $2p$-decay vertices and fragment correlations. The half-life of ${}^{19}\mathrm{Mg}$ deduced from the measured vertex distribution is 4.0(15) ps in the system of ${}^{19}\mathrm{Mg}$. The $Q$ value of the $2p$ decay of the ${}^{19}\mathrm{Mg}$ ground state inferred from the measured $p-p-{}^{17}\mathrm{Ne}$ correlations is 0.75(5) MeV.

The $\gamma$ decay of excited states in the waiting-point nucleus ${}^{130}\mathrm{Cd}_{82}$ has been observed for the first time. An $8^{+}$ two-quasiparticle isomer has been populated both in the fragmentation of a ${}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$ beam as well as in projectile fission of ${}^{238}\mathrm{U}$, making ${}^{130}\mathrm{Cd}$ the most neutron-rich $N=82$ isotone for which information about excited states is available. The results, interpreted using state-of-the-art nuclear shell-model calculations, show no evidence of an $N=82$ shell quenching at $Z=48$. They allow us to follow nuclear isomerism throughout a full major neutron shell from ${}^{98}\mathrm{Cd}_{50}$ to ${}^{130}\mathrm{Cd}_{82}$ and reveal, in comparison with ${}^{76}\mathrm{Ni}_{48}$ one major proton shell below, an apparently abnormal scaling of nuclear two-body interactions.

The 10.15 MeV resonance in ${}^{10}\mathrm{Be}$ has been probed via resonant ${}^6\mathrm{He}+{}^4\mathrm{He}$ elastic scattering. It is demonstrated that it is the $J^{\pi }=4^{+}$ member of a rotational band built on the 6.18 MeV $0^{+}$ state. A ${\Gamma }_{\alpha }$ of 0.10–0.13 MeV and ${\Gamma }_{\alpha }/\Gamma =0.35–0.46$ were deduced. The corresponding reduced $\alpha$ width, ${\gamma }_{\alpha }^2$, indicates one of the largest $\alpha$-cluster spectroscopic factors known. The deformation of the band, including the 7.54 MeV, $2^{+}$ member, is large (${\hslash }^2/2I=200\mathrm{keV}$). Such a deformation and the significant degree of clusterization signals a well-developed $\alpha :2n:\alpha$ molecular structure.

The production of heavy neutron-rich nuclei has been investigated using cold-fragmentation reactions of U238 projectiles at relativistic energies. The experiment performed at the high-resolving-power magnetic spectrometer Fragment Separator at GSI made it possible to identify 40 new heavy neutron-rich nuclei: Pt205, Au207-210, Hg211-216, Tl214-217, Pb215-220, Bi219-224, Po223-227, At225-229, Rn230,231, and Fr233. The production cross sections of these nuclei were also determined and used to benchmark reaction codes that predict the production of nuclei far from stability.

Experimental results of the elastic scattering of 6He on 208Pb at ELAB=22 MeV, measured at the CRC facility (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), are presented, including results on the 4He production channel. These data were taken with full angular coverage and high angular resolution. Both experimental cross sections are compared with continuum discretized coupled channels and distorted-wave Born approximation calculations, where direct breakup and transfer to the continuum processes are considered. The elastic data confirm the absence of the Coulomb rainbow, while the distribution of $\alpha${} particles indicates that such production is mostly generated by transfer to the continuum.