  Recently, new low-energy modes of excitation called pygmy resonances have
been observed. Their distinct feature is the close connection to nuclear skin
oscillations. A successful description of the pygmy resonances could be
achieved in a microscopic theoretical approach which incorporates the density
functional theory and QRPA formalism extended with multi-phonon degrees of
freedom. The latter is found of crucial importance for the understanding of the
fine structure of nuclear electric and magnetic excitations at low energies.
Corresponding microscopic multi-phonon response functions are implemented in
the studies of s-process of nucleosynthesis.
