The decay-out of superdeformed bands in theA=190 region: What have we learned?

One-step decay transitions linking the superdeformed (SD) bands 1 and 3 in¹⁹⁴Hg to yrast levels are discussed. Inter-band transitions between bands 1 and 3 have also been identified. For the first time, the spin, parity and excitation energy have been determined for two SD bands in the same nucleus. The low excitation energy of the excited band supports the view that it is based on an octupole excitation. It is believed that Porter-Thomas fluctuations play a major role in determining the strength of the one-step transitions as suggested by the fact that only one other SD band has been linked in theA=190 mass region (¹⁹⁴Pb) at the present time. When Porter-Thomas fluctuations prevent the observation of one-step or two-step linking transitions, as e.g. in the case of¹⁹²Hg, the analysis of the quasi-continuous part of the decay-out spectrum provides an alternative method for the determination of the excitation energy and spin of an SD band. This method is discussed in detail.     

Study for Superdeformed Bands in A～190 Region with Quantum Group Uqp(u2) Model

superdeformed bands in the A～190 region are systematically analyzed by using the twoparameter expansion of quantum group U_qp(u₂) Model. The calculated results of E2 transition γ ray energies are in agreement with experimental data. According to three different methods for the spin assignment of rotational bands, the spin values of the band head I₀ of the yrast SD bands in ¹⁹⁴Hg(1) and ¹⁹⁴Pb(1) are assigned. Furthermore, the physical meaning of the nuclear softness is discussed, and these nuclear softness values of a signature partner are almost equal.     

Superdeformation in142Eu

A rotational band with 15 transitions has been observed in¹⁴²Eu in an experiment with the GASP Ge detector array by the¹¹⁰Pd(³⁷Cl,5_n) reaction. The average energy spacing between the neighbouring transitions is 60 keV, which is similar to the energy spacings in the superdeformed bands in the mass 140 region. The band has a constant dynamic moment of inertia as suggested by Cranked Shell Model calculations.     

Observation of the single step links of the yrast superdeformed band in 194Pb

The EUROGAMarray has been used to investigate the decay out of the yrast superdeformed (SD) band in ¹⁹⁴Pb. Eigth single step decays from the lowest observed SD states to low-lying states at normal deformation (ND) have been identified. From this observation, the excitation energy (4877 ± 1.5 keV) and the spin (6⁺) of the lowest observed SD state in ¹⁹⁴Pb are established.     

Superdeformed bands in194Tl

Two superdeformed (SD) bands have been found in¹⁹⁴Tl using the reactions¹⁷⁶Yb(²³Na,5n) and¹⁸¹Ta(¹⁸O,5n). The mass assignments were made from excitation function data. These are the first SD bands found in the mass-190 region that are not in Hg nuclei. The energies of many of the transitions of one of these new SD bands are similar in energy to those in the SD band of¹⁹²Hg.     

Detailed spectroscopy in the superdeformed second minimum of 240Pu

Spectroscopic studies in the superdeformed shape isomer of ²⁴⁰Pu using γ-spectroscopy, conversion electron spectroscopy and transmission resonance spectroscopy have been performed. In a high-resolution and high-efficiency γ-spectroscopy experiment the out-of-band decays of several excited superdeformed rotational sequences with K=2^? and 1^? could be identified together with evidence for a weakly populated 0^? octupole band. Surprisingly, no low-lying collective quadrupole excitations could be observed. Complementary information could be obtained in conversion electron measurements in coincidence with isomeric fission, resulting in the first identification of the lowest ß-vibrational K=0⁺ band. For all rotational bands the variation of the moment of inertia with spin could be studied. A predominant population of negative parity states in the second well could be observed, which can be explained by the selective population and depopulation of the second minimum. Complementary transmission resonance measurements have been performed, yielding new information on the fine structure of high-lying (ß-)vibrational multi-phonon states. A new method could be established to determine the excitation energy of the fission isomer ground state from measured level densities.     

Shell effects on rotational damping in superdeformed nuclei

Damping of collective rotational motion in A ∼ 190 and A ∼ 150 superdeformed nuclei is studied by means of the cranked shell model with two-body residual force. Numerical calculations predict that in a typical A ∼ 190 superdeformed nucleus, ¹⁹²Hg, the rotational damping width is significantly small, Γ_rot ∼ 30 keV, and that the number of superdeformed bands in the offyrast region amounts up to 150 at a given rotational frequency. These features are quite different from the prediction for A ∼ 150 superdeformed nuclei and rare-earth normally deformed nuclei. It is shown that the single-particle alignments of the cranked Nilsson orbits have strong shell oscillation. It affects significantly the properties of rotational damping in superdeformed ¹⁹²Hg.     

Search for hyperdeformed structures populated in the <Superscript>37</Superscript>Cl+<Superscript>120</Superscript>Sn reaction by using EUROBALL III

The ridge structure with ΔE_γ=±30 keV, observed in the past in coincidence with protons emitted in the reaction 187 MeV ³⁷Cl +¹²⁰Sn and attributed to an hyperdeformed nuclear shape in ¹⁵²Dy, has been studied in a new experiment performed with the EUROBALL III array. The ridge is now observed in coincidence with transitions in the yrast superdeformed band of ¹⁵²Dy but no discrete rotational bands have been identified. Received: 7 February 2000     

Lifetime measurement of the ((11/2)−) isomer in 125Cs

A new rotational band has been observed in ¹⁶⁷Lu by ¹⁵²Sm (¹⁹F,4n)reaction at the HI-13 tandem accelerator of CIAE in Beijing. The high spin transition energies of the new band are almost identical to the triaxial superdeformed bands recently discovered in ¹⁶³Lu and ¹⁶⁵Lu. This new band is predicted as a triaxial superdeformed band by total routhian surface calculations. Received: 6 October 1997     

Band head spin assignment of superdeformed bands in 86Zr

Two parameter expressions for rotational spectra viz. variable moment of inertia (VMI), ab formula and three parameter Harris ω² expansion are used to assign the band head spins (I₀) of four rotational superdeformed bands in ⁸⁶Zr. The least-squares fitting method is employed to obtain the band head spins of these four bands in the A~80 mass region. Model parameters are extracted by fitting of intraband γ-ray energies, so as to obtain a minimum root-mean-square (rms) deviation between the calculated and the observed transition energies. The calculated transition energies are found to depend sensitively on the assigned spins. Whenever an accurate band head spin is assigned, the calculated transition energies are in agreement with the experimental transition energies. The dynamic moment of inertia is also extracted and its variation with rotational frequency is investigated. Since a better agreement of band head spin with experimental results is found using the VMI model, it is a more powerful tool than the ab formula and Harris ω² expansion.     

Octupole vibrations of the superdeformed196Pb nucleus

The study of the superdeformed (SD)¹⁹⁶Pb nucleus has been revisited using the Eurogam Phase 2 spectrometer. All of the three observed excited SD bands were found to decay to the yrast SD band through, presumably,E1 transitions, allowing relative spin and excitation energy assignments. Comparisons with calculations using the random-phase approximation suggest that all three excited bands can be interpreted as octupole vibrational structures.     

Observation of a superdeformed band in192Pb

A new superdeformed band, identified in data from the²⁴Mg+¹⁷³Yb reaction, is assigned to¹⁹²Pb on the basis of excitation function and coincidence results. Properties of this band are discussed briefly, and compared to the superdeformed bands known in other Pb nuclei.     

High-spin states and two-quasiparticle structure in 172Hf

Five rotational bands in ¹⁷²Hf have been observed to high spin following the ¹⁶⁰Gd(¹⁶O, 4n)¹⁷²Hf reaction, using γ-γ coincidence techniques. The ground-state band is extended to spin 20⁺ without backbending, in contrast to the neighbouring even-even isotones. The most strongly populated side-band, consisting of separated odd-spin and even-spin sequences, appears to result from the partial decoupling of an i_{$\text{13}\text{2}$} neutron. Three other bands are identified with the following band-heads: an 8^? state at 2006 keV with 163 ns half-life; a 6⁺ state at 1685 keV with a half-life < 16 ns; and a level at 1857 keV with spin 4, 5, 6 or 7 and a half-life < 16 ns. The differences between the bands are discussed in terms of the influence of Coriolis forces and the two-quasiparticle level structure.     

Double-Blocking Effects in Odd-odd Superdeformed Nucleus 194Tl

Six superdeformed bands of odd-odd nucleus ¹⁹⁴Tl in A～190 mass region are studied using the particle-number conserving method for treating the cranked shell model with pairing interactions. Calculated results agree with experiments very well. Based on our calculation the configurations of the six superdeformed bands are assigned and the influence of blocking effects of proton and neutron on moments of inertia is investigated in detail. The variation of moments of inertia with rotational frequency is mainly attributed to the intruder shells (neutron N=7 and proton N=6), whereas the contributions to moment of inertia from other shells remain almost unchanged with rotational frequency.     

Observation of superdeformed states in 88Mo

High-spin states in ⁸⁸Mo were studied using the Gammasphere germanium detector array in conjunction with the Microball CsI(Tl) charged-particle detector system. Three γ-ray cascades with dynamic moments of inertia showing similar characteristics to superdeformed rotational bands observed in the neighbouring A= 80 region have been identified and assigned to the nucleus ⁸⁸Mo. The quadrupole moment of the strongest band, deduced by the Residual Doppler Shift Method, corresponds to a quadrupole deformation of β₂≈ 0.6. This confirms the superdeformed nature of this band. The experimental data are interpreted in the framework of total routhian surface calculations. All three bands are assigned to two-quasi-particle proton configurations at superdeformed shape. Received: 20 May 1999 / Revised version: 25 August 1999     

Lifetime measurements and decay of superdeformed bands in Hg isotopes

The lifetimes of states in Superdeformed (SD) bands in ^192,194Hg have been measured using the Doppler shift attenuation method. Intrinsic quadrupole moments have been extracted for band 1 of ¹⁹²Hg and for bands 1, 2, and 3 of ¹⁹⁴Hg. It was found that the quadrupole moments for the “identical” SD bands in these nuclei are the same. In the same experiment, one-step transitions linking SD states to yrast and near yrast states for bands 1 and 3 of ¹⁹⁴Hg have been identified. From this observation, excitation energies, spins and probable parities have been assigned to SD states in these bands.     

Nuclear levels in228Th populated in the decay of228Pa

The electron-capture decay of²²⁸Pa to levels in²²⁸Th has been studied using mass-separated sources and high-resolutionγ-ray and conversion-electron spectroscopy. A level at 979.5 keV is assigned as 2⁺ member of a second excited K_π=0⁺ band, with the 0⁺ band head at 938.6 keV. The 2⁺ and 3⁺ members of a second excited K_π=2⁺ band at 1153.5 and 1200.5 keV, which decay by strongE0 transitions to the 969 keVγ-vibrational band, are confirmed. In addition we tentatively propose a K_π=1⁺ band at 944 keV. The K_π=0^?, 1^? and 2^? members of the octupole quadruplet are confirmed, and theγ decay of these levels is analysed in an approach, in which the mixing of the octupole bands by the Coriolis interaction is taken into account. It is suggested that octupole correlations might be important for theE1 transition moments. A total of 29 levels is observed between ～1.4 and ～2.0 MeV, for which the nuclear structure, and the possible assignment to rotational bands, is unclear.     

Criteria of the Spin Assignment of Rotational Band

Based on the very general properties of the rotational band of axially symmetric nucleus, some rules of the I variation of the kinematic and dynamic moments of inertia are obtained, which may serve as the effective criteria of the spin assignment of rotational band. Extensive analysis of large amount of ro tational bands (below bandcrossing) of normally deformed eveneven nuclei whose spins were established shows that these rules do hold without exception. The spins of the yrast superdeformed bands of even-even nuclei in the actinide region (fission isomeric bands), and in the A～190, 150 regions are analyzed also. The spin of the lowest observed level of the yrast superdeformed band in ¹⁵²Dy is determined to be I₀ = 26, rather than I₀ = 22 or 24.     

New Method for Spin Assignment of Superdeformed Rotational Bands

A new method for spin assignment of superdeformed rotational bands is proposed and it turns out to be more efficient than other methods used before. The application is made to superdeformed bands in A～190 and A～150 mass regions. By analyzing the standard deviation of the fixed gamma-ray energies of an SD band in different methods, the advantage of the present method over the other methods is presented. This method brings then a comprehensive interpretation of the methods used in spin assignment.