The goal of this workshop is to forge improved links between nuclear reactions and nuclear structure theory.

The understanding of the properties of nuclei and the reactions employed to study them is essential for a complete description of nuclei. Over the last decade important advances have been made in extending ab-initio and configuration interaction approaches all the way to medium-mass nuclei. New predictions have been forthcoming including the shell evolution in exotic nuclei closer to the drip lines that are being probed experimentally.

Similarly, the description of different nuclear reactions has been refined, and new avenues are being pursued in the reaction theory community as well as by structure theorists. A link between reactions and structure may for example be provided by nonlocal dispersive or microscopic folding optical potentials as well as extensions of structure models to the continuum.

The focus of this workshop is to explore, discuss and debate current state-of-the-art methods in understanding and describing nuclear structure and reactions as well as their inextricable links. Thus members of the nuclear structure and reaction communities are invited to identify challenges in extracting single-particle, collective and compound properties in stable as well as exotic nuclei. Attention will be given to constructing accurate and practical methods for analyzing current and future experiments, thus the attendance of interested experimentalists is also highly encouraged. The workshop will identify theoretical needs and benchmark calculations, as well as key experiments that will encourage a closer collaboration between all the communities involved.

The workshop will address several key topics such as:

• Systematics of single-particle properties along the isotopic chain.
• Reaction theory approaches and their regimes of validity, together with benchmark reactions
• Spectroscopic factors: definition, proper extraction from experiment, asymptotic normalization constants (ANC) and their connection to structure theory.
• Interplay of compound and direct-reaction mechanisms.
• Role of scattering experiments in inverse kinematics

The workshop consists of two distinctly different weeks:

In Week 1 (first 5 days) all relevant issues for forging improved links between reactions and structure should be identified in connection with experimental opportunities. Thus a workshop format will be adopted with series of talks (overview as well as specific) each day, with Wednesday afternoon open for discussions in smaller groups.

In Week 2 we anticipate a smaller group of participants to work on a summary of the first week. This smaller group will engage in organized discussions about the main thrusts emerging from the prior week. The goal is to produce a white paper for the arXiv, summarizing the main conclusions and recommendations.

There is a registration fee of $55 to attend the first week of this workshop.