Cluster phenomena in nuclear physics

A unifying approach of a large variety of nuclear and atomic phenomena, including asymmetric, super asymmetric, bimodal and cold fission, cluster radioactivity, giant and superheavy nuclei, is presented based on the general idea of molecular systems. By using the two-center shell model, one can describe not only the initial and final nuclei, but also the dynamical evolution of different processes. The first experimental signature of a molecular resonance has been observed in the scattering of 12C on 12C. During the collision, an intermediate metastable state has been formed, as a result of a local minimum in the potential energy surface. The role of the Nuclear Landau-Zener effect, enhancing transitions between molecular levels is exemplified on 17O + 12C system. The theory of fragmentation provides the ''tools'' for description of fission and fusion phenomena in a wide range of mass-asymmetry. Recently obtained theoretical results, in the field of cluster radioactivities, are reviewed. New regions of parent nuclei far from stability have been considered and new methods have been developed to study extremely asymmetric fission dynamics in a multidimensional space of nuclear deformations. The experiment determined half-lives for C, O, Ne, Mg, and Si radioactivities are in good agreement with theoretically predicted values within analytical super asymmetric fission model. 52 refs