Multiple Coulomb excitation of198Hg and200Hg

Multiple Coulomb excitation measurements on^{198, 200}Hg have been performed with 5MeV/amu²⁰⁸Pb projectiles andB(E2)-values are determined for transitions between states up to spin 8⁺. In¹⁹⁸Hg a reduction of theB(E2)-value for the yrast transition 8⁺→6⁺ by a factor of 3 as compared to the rigid rotor prediction is observed, which supports the earlier proposed idea that the ground state band is crossed between the 6⁺ and 8⁺ state by a weakly interactingvi ₁₃ ^2/2 rotation aligned band. In each of the two nuclei,¹⁹⁸Hg and²⁰⁰Hg, a state with a possibleI ^π=8⁺ assignment is observed, which is tentatively interpreted as the 8⁺ member of the ground state band.