Some aspects of heavy-ion reactions close to the Coulomb barrier are reviewed in experiment and theory. Fusion, complex reactions and quasi-elastic reactions are covered, both microscopic and macroscopic approaches to the theory are discussed. A brief outlook is given.

The use of an on-line mass spectrometer to make direct mass measurements of short-lived isotopes far from the stability line has been improved to yield more accurate mass measurements for ' ' Na, new mass measurements for "Li, ""Na, and to remove a discrepancy between existing mass measurements of "Na. The mass excesses (keV) measured are: "Lj

We provide an overview of collective flow phenomena observed in heavy ion collisions from the Fermi energy range up to CERN Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) energies. We summarize the experimental data in terms of the various observed aspects of flow, namely directed flow in the reaction plane, elliptic flow in-and out-of-plane, and azimuthally symmetric radial flow originating from the expansion of the hot and compressed reaction zone. Also reviewed are the theoretical concepts developed to simulate the complex reactions with the aim of extracting fundamental properties of hot and compressed nuclear matter.

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Using the large acceptance apparatus FOPI, we study central collisions in the reactions (energies in A GeV are given in parentheses): 40 Ca+ 40 ). The observables include cluster multiplicities, longitudinal and transverse rapidity distributions and stopping, and radial flow. The data are compared to earlier data where possible and to transport model simulations.