Intro -- Supervisor's Foreword -- Abstract -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- 1 Introduction -- References -- 2 Nuclear Isomers -- 2.1 Classification and Nature of Isomers -- 2.1.1 Spin Traps -- 2.1.2 K-Isomers -- 2.1.3 Shape Isomers -- 2.2 Essence and Significance of Nuclear Isomers as Long Duration … -- References -- 3 Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture -- 3.1 From the Origins to the Present Day: A Recipe for the Future -- References -- 4 Nuclear Excitation by Free Muon Capture -- 4.1 Why Muons? -- References -- 5 Nuclear Excitations in Optical-Laser Generated Plasma -- 5.1 Search of Suitable Isotopes -- 5.2 Design of the Experimental Setup -- 5.3 Alignment Procedure -- 5.4 Plasma Hydrodynamic Model: Properties and Evolution … -- 5.5 Nuclear Excitation Rates in Plasma Environment -- 5.6 Experimental Prototyping -- 5.7 Experimental Results -- References -- 6 Beyond Dichotomies: Reflections and Takeaways -- References -- Appendix Appendix -- A.1 I=0Superscript plus minus+ - Isomeric States -- A.2 0 right arrow 00rightarrow0 E0 Isomeric Transitions -- A.3 Recoupling coefficients for NEEC-EXI -- A.3.1 bold upper N Subscript e l e Baseline bold equals bold 0 right arrow bold upper N Subscript e l e Baseline bold equals bold 1Nele=0 rightarrowNele=1 -- A.3.2 bold upper N Subscript normal e normal l normal e Baseline equals bold 1 right arrow bold upper N Subscript normal e normal l normal e Baseline equals bold 2Nele=1 rightarrowNele=2 -- A.3.3 bold upper N Subscript normal e normal l normal e Baseline equals bold 2 right arrow
bold upper N Subscript normal e normal l normal e Baseline equals bold 3Nele=2 rightarrowNele=3 -- A.3.4 bold upper N Subscript e l e Baseline bold equals bold 3 right arrow bold upper N Subscript e l e Baseline bold equals bold 4Nele=3 rightarrowNele=4 -- A.4 Additional Figures -- Appendix Curriculum Vitae.