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Nuclear structure concerns the states and internal organization of an atomic nucleus, including nuclear energy levels, nuclear spin, spatial distributions and the interactions among nucleons. It connects the nucleus's constituents to observable excitation and decay patterns.
A nuclear level scheme organizes measured transition energies and assignments. Gamma decay constrains differences between levels, while reaction and scattering measurements provide complementary information about allowed transitions and spatial distributions. Several models can describe different aspects of the same nucleus; matching one transition energy alone does not establish a unique microscopic arrangement.