Yrast feeding and multiplicity of gamma transitions in the reaction 124Sn(28Si, 5n) 147Gd at 139, 146 and 152 MeV

The population of high-spin yrast and near yrast states of ¹³⁴⁷Gd and the associated multiplicity of feeding transitions have been studied in the ¹²⁴Sn (²⁸Si, 5n) reaction at 139, 146 and 152 MeV. The yrast feeding is found to be independent of the initial angular momentum distribution and very weak for states of spin greater than 30 ħ. The average multiplicity of γ-transitions is found to increase with increasing beam energy. The experimental results are interpreted in terms of collective excitations within rotational bands that channel the γ- decay towards the known oblate single-particle yrast states below ~30 ħ.     

Level structure of 148Gd up to I=44

The level scheme of ¹⁴⁸Gd has been extended to I=44 by use of a Compton-suppressed Ge spectrometer array. Up to I=38 the observed level spectrum consists of spherical and oblate states of aligned-particle type. A change in structure along the yrast line is indicated at higher spins, where fast E2 transitions suggest the onset of collectivity.     

Yrast excitations in A = 126–131 Te nuclei from deep inelastic 130Te+64Ni reactions

Thick target γγ coincidence measurements for the system ¹³⁰Te + 275 MeV ⁶⁴Ni have been performed using the GASP Ge detector array at Legnaro. For the isotopic assignments of previously unknown γ-ray cascades, prompt γγ coincidences observed between Te and Ni partner products were of vital importance. The results yield much new information about excited states of moderate spins in A = 126–131 tellurium nuclei, especially about yrast excitations of the little studied odd-A isotopes ¹²⁷Te, ¹²⁹Te, and ¹³¹Te. Level systematics of tellurium nuclei are presented, and both single-particle and collective aspects of the level spectra are discussed.     

M1 Character of unresolved continuum transitions from X-ray multiplicity measurements

We have measured the X-ray multiplicities of the transitions deexciting the quasi-continuum region as a function of the input spin for deformed and transitional erbium isotopes obtained in (⁴⁰Ar,xn) reactions. Combined withγ-ray angular distribution studies, these measurements clearly show the occurrence of a magnetic dipole component in the energy region 300–800keV. The spin dependence of this “bump” is quite different in deformed and transitional nuclei. In the latter case, a sudden increase in the quasi-continuumK electron multiplicity arises for spins higher than 35? and is strongly correlated to the occurrence of collective modes in these nuclei at the same spins. It is suggested to correspond to collective behavior of bands built on yrast states of single particle nature.     

High-spin spectroscopy of168Hf

The nucleus¹⁶⁸Hf was studied up to spin (38⁺) in the yrast band and to spins (41^?) and (38^?) in the lowest two negative-parity bands. The onset of a proton alignment (h_9/2 or i_13/2 quasiparticles) is observed in these three bands for the highest transitions. A new band with even spins and negative parity was found. The interaction strength between the ground-state band and theAB band is measured.     

The breaking of intrinsic reflection symmetry in nuclear ground states

Negative-parity excited states of doubly even nuclei have earlier been attributed to vibrational excitations. This paper shows that an interpretation starting from a reflection asymmetric intrinsic state is more appropriate for certain nuclei in the radium region. Theoretical evidence for stable octupole deformation comes from a deformed shell-model calculation in which we use a single-particle potential with a realistic radial shape and a finite-range interaction for the surface energy. The octupole effect systematically improves the agreement between theoretical and experimental masses. The low-lying O⁺ excitations observed in experiment are compatible with the calculated collective octupole potentials. The possibility of obtaining further evidence from the spectroscopy of odd-mass nuclei is considered in an exactly solvable model, which shows that the smaller energy splitting observed in odd-A parity doublets mainly reflects single-particle fragmentation of the collective mode. The systematics of theoretical shell structure and experimental spectroscopy suggests the presence of other regions of octupole collectivity near the limits of stability.     

A study of the low-lying states in 178Hf through the (n, γ) reaction

The nucleus ¹⁷⁸Hf was studied through thermal neutron and averaged resonance neutron capture reactions. The γ-ray and conversion electrons were measured with high resolution spectrometers. A level scheme up to an excitation energy of ∼2.1 MeV was constructed. It includes ∼65 levels, most of which are ordered into 18 rotational bands. The level scheme is complete up to about 1800keV for spins between 2 and 5. The neutron binding energy was established to be at 7626.3 (3) keV. The consistent Q form of the IBA-1 (CQF) was used to describe the low-lying collective γ and K^π = 0⁺ bands. The agreement with the data was found to be excellent for the energies and B(E2) ratios of the ground and γ bands, whereas the agreement was poor for the K^π = 0⁺ bands.     

Description of high-spin isomers in theN=82 region

The high spin states and of those especially the yrast isomers are studied in the region near the rare earth nuclei. The deformation energy surface is calculated with a method modelled in principle according to a shape constrained cranked HF theory (CHF). In practice, the expectation value of the many-body Hamiltonian is calculated with cranked Nilsson functions. One finds rotation around a slightly deformed oblate or prolate symmetry axis in front or behind the rare earth region, respectively. Near the Hf isotopes strongly prolate deformed nuclei rotating around the symmetry axis are found in agreement with the knownK isomers in this region. These results are explained also qualitatively with the help of the MONA (Maximisation of theOverlap ofNucleonic wave functions byAlignment of single particle angular momenta) effect. In the second part high spin states and yrast isomers in theN=82 region are caluclated in the cranked Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach with four and six quasi-particle excitations. For the excitation energies in¹⁴⁶Gd and¹⁵²Dy and a measuredg factor one finds satisfactory agreement.     

Description of high-spin isomers in theN=82 region

The high spin states and of those especially the yrast isomers are studied in the region near the rare earth nuclei. The deformation energy surface is calculated with a method modelled in principle according to a shape constrained cranked HF theory (CHF). In practice, the expectation value of the many-body Hamiltonian is calculated with cranked Nilsson functions. One finds rotation around a slightly deformed oblate or prolate symmetry axis in front or behind the rare earth region, respectively. Near the Hf isotopes strongly prolate deformed nuclei rotating around the symmetry axis are found in agreement with the knownK isomers in this region. These results are explained also qualitatively with the help of the MONA (Maximisation of theOverlap ofNucleonic wave functions byAlignment of single particle angular momenta) effect. In the second part high spin states and yrast isomers in theN=82 region are calculated in the cranked Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov approach with four and six quasi-particle excitations. For the excitation energies in¹⁴⁶Gd and¹⁵²Dy and a measuredg factor one finds satisfactory agreement.     

MICROSTRUCTURE ON COLLECTIVITY IN EVEN 116-122Xe ISOTOPES

Using microscopic interacting boson-fermion model formalism, the ground-band, β-band, γ-band and high spins states in even ^116-122Xe isotopes are successfully described. It can explain the recent experimental result that collective structures may coexist with the single-particle states and subshell feature. It predictes the energies of 1⁺ states.     

High-spin states of 26Mg populated in the 12C(18O, α) reaction

The structure of ²⁶Mg has been investigated by means of the ¹²C(¹⁸O, α) reaction. Several previously unknown states were populated between excitation energies of 0 to 16 MeV. Excitation functions were measured for 126 states for bombarding energies between 43.2 and 45.9 MeV in 300 keV steps at a lab angle of 7°. The experimental energy averaged differential cross sections were compared with statistical model calculations and good agreement was obtained for the states whose spins and parities were previously established. The statistical model calculations were used to suggest the spins and parities for the rest of the states. In particular, candidates for 6⁺ and 8⁺ states were interpreted as members of three rotational bands in ²⁶Mg: the ground-state band, the K = 2⁺ band based on the 2.938 MeV 2⁺ state, and a K = 0⁺ band based on the 3.588 MeV 0⁺ state. Back bending of the yrast band is observed and it is suggested that it may be due to band crossing of the ground-state and first excited K = 0⁺ bands.     

Double crossing in 174Hf: A deformation jump?

At I^π=22⁺, the yrast band of ¹⁷⁴Hf is observed to have a second rotational anomaly, which may be linked with the high-spin extension of the K^π=0⁺ “β-band”. A possible explanation of the anomaly is that the nucleus is more deformed in the excited band than in the yrast band.     

Two-body propagators with dynamic effective interactions in a many-fermion medium: II. s-Channel

In open-shell nuclear structure calculations collective excitations of the closed-shell core play an important role. When the energies of these excitations are comparable to the spread of energies in the model space a dynamic treatment of the core states is essential. In a Green function formulation dynamic core states, represented by particle-hole phonons, are included in the effective interaction of the s-channel integral equation for the fourfermion vertex function Γ. The solution of the equation is obtained analytically and from it the s-channel two-body propagator K is calculated. The structure of the propagator K reveals that, in addition to poles corresponding to the normal shell model states, many new poles of K are obtained. These correspond to two-particle-n-phonon configurations. Furthermore, it is shown that, due to the phonons, correlations of the ground state are induced in the calculation of the propagator K. The difference between these correlations and the well-known particle-particle-RPA correlations also included in the formalism is pointed out. The expressions derived can easily be handled numerically. In the calculations the physical states of single-particle and single-hole nuclei can be incorporated by an appropriate dressing of the single-fermion Green function.     

Oblique-basis shell-model calculations

A one-dimensional harmonic oscillator in a box is used to introduce the oblique-basis concept. The method is extended to the nuclear shell model by combining traditional spherical shell model states, which yield a diagonal representation of the usual single-particle interaction, with SU(3) shell model collective configurations that track deformation. An application to ²⁴Mg, using the realistic two-body interaction of Wildenthal, is used to explore the validity of this mixed-mode shell-model scheme. The theory is also applied to lower pf-shell nuclei, ^44–48Ti and ⁴⁸Cr, using the Kuo-Brown-3 interaction. These nuclei show strong SU(3) symmetry breaking due mainly to the single-particle spin-orbit splitting. Nevertheless, the results also show that yrast band B(E2) values are insensitive to fragmentation of SU(3) symmetry. Specifically, the quadrupole collectivity as measured by B(E2) strengths remains high even though the SU(3) symmetry is rather badly broken. The results suggest that an oblique-basis mixed-mode shell-model theory may be useful in situations where competing degrees of freedom dominate the dynamics.     

Odd nuclei in the “Wild west”

Much has been learned recently concerning the structure of odd-odd nuclei in thef-p-g shell. Regular rotational bands appear above a complex of low-lying levels. The yrast π=+ bands have the most consistent structure because of their uniqueπg _9/2?νg _9/2 structure. Their moments of inertia and signature splittings show a sharp change atI≈9h, indicating a change from single-particle to collective behavior. Large alternations arising from the single-particle-core coupling characterize theB(M ₁) strengths. There is more variation in the π=? bands due to the variety of possible structures.     

Backbending in 167Hf and 168Hf and the band-crossing picture

Using two Compton-suppression spectrometers in an E_γ?E_γ coincidence experiment, the yrast bands in ^167,168Hf were extended up to $\text{49}\text{2}$ and 28 ?, respectively. The i ${}_{\mathrm{<mtext>13</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ positive parity band in ¹⁶⁷Hf experiences backbending at a higher frequency than the first backbending in ¹⁶⁸Hf, and no second backbending is obseerved in ¹⁶⁸Hf. New information is threby obtained on the nature and interaction strength of the crossing bands in the vicinity of N = 96.     

Contrasting high-spin yrast bands in 172Os and 174Os and an unexpected low-frequency anomaly in 172Os

The yrast bands of the neutron deficient isotopes ¹⁷²Os and ¹⁷⁴Os have been identified to spins of about 24. The yrast band in ¹⁷⁴Os shows no bandcrossing anomalies, confirming the shell effect observed in other N = 98 nuclei. In contrast, a strong backbend observed at a frequency of about 0.26 MeV in ¹⁷²Os is attributed to the s-band crossing. A weaker band-crossing is also observed at a lower frequency, about 0.24 MeV, in ¹⁷²Os. This unexpected anomaly may be due to either a deformation effect, or to a change in the s-band structure.     

Contact density and number of 5s electrons inβ-Sn

Lifetimes and feeding times of high spin states in ¹⁵⁶ Er have been measured employing the recoil distance method in the reaction ¹²³ Sb(³⁷ Cl,4n) at bombarding energies of 158 and 166 MeV. The yrast states up to spin 20 ? were found to be collective. These levels are fed, however, from long-lived high spin states, causing time delays up to ～ 100 ps, the existence of which is interpreted as a signature for an oblate shape at high spin.     

Temperature dependence of quantal and thermal dampings of the hot giant dipole resonance

A systematic study of the damping of the giant dipole resonance (GDR) in ⁹⁰Zr, ¹²⁰Sn and ²⁰⁸Pb as a function of temperature T is performed. The double-time Green function technique is employed to determine the single-particle and GDR dampings. The single-particle energies, obtained in the Woods-Saxon potential for these nuclei, are used in the calculations. The results show that the coupling of collective vibration to the pp and hh excitations, which causes the thermal damping width, is responsible for the enlargement of the total width with increasing temperature up to T ≈ 3MeV and its saturation at higher temperatures. The quantal width, which arises from the coupling of the collective mode to the ph excitations decreases slowly with increasing temperature. The effect of single-particle damping on the GDR width is small. The results are found in an overall agreement with the experimental data for the GDR width, obtained in the inelastic α scattering and heavy-ion fusion reactions at excitation energies E^* ⩽ 450 MeV. At high excitation energies (E^* > 400 MeV) a behavior similar to the transition from zero to ordinary sounds is observed.     

Rotational co-existence in selenium isotopes

High spin states of ^72,73,74Se nuclei are discussed using calculations from the cranked Nilsson Strutinsky method with tuning to fixed spins. The low spin anomaly in the yrast bands of these nuclei is interpreted in a rotational co-existence picture. High K rotational isomers are proposed for I ^π =4⁺ in ⁷²Se and 6⁺ in ⁷⁴Se.