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19 pags., 14 figs., 3 tabs., A γ-ray spectroscopic study of Po212 was performed at the Grand Accélérateur National d'Ions Lourds, using the inverse kinematics α-transfer reaction C12(Pb208,Po212)Be8 and the AGATA spectrometer. A careful analysis based on γγ coincidence relations allowed us to establish 14 new excited states in the energy range between 1.9 and 3.3 MeV. None of these states, however, can be considered as candidates for the levels with spins and parities of 1- and 2- and excitation energies below 2.1 MeV, which have been predicted by recent α-cluster model calculations. A systematic comparison of the experimentally established excitation scheme of Po212 with shell-model calculations was performed. This comparison suggests that the six states with excitation energies (spins and parities) of 1744 (4-), 1751 (8-), 1787 (6-), 1946 (4-), 1986 (8-), and 2016 (6-) keV, which previously were interpreted as α-cluster states, may in fact be of positive parity and belong to low-lying shell-model multiplets. This reinterpretation of the structure of Po212 is supported by experimental information with respect to the linear polarization of γ rays, which suggests a magnetic character of the 432-keV γ ray decaying from the state at an excitation energy of 1787 keV to the 61+ yrast state, and exclusive reaction cross sections., This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 654002 and FEDER funds. We furthermore acknowledge support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia, Inovación y Universidades under contracts FPA2014-57196-C5, FPA2017-84756-C4, and SEV-2014-0398, the Generalitat Valenciana under Grant No. PROMETEO/2019/005, the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet, VR 2016-3969), and the German BMBF under Contracts No. 05P18PKFN9 and No. 05P19PKFNA.

Rotational structures have been measured using the Jurogam II and GAMMASPHERE arrays at low spin following the 155Gd(α,2n)157Dy and 148Nd(12C,5n)155Dy reactions at 25 and 65 MeV, respectively. We report high-K bands, which are conjectured to be the first candidates of a Kπ=2+γ vibrational band, built on the [505]11/2− neutron orbital, in both odd-A155,157Dy isotopes. The coupling of the first excited K=0+ states or the so-called β vibrational bands at 661 and 676 keV in 154Dy and 156Dy to the [505]11/2− orbital, to produce a Kπ=11/2− band, was not observed in both 155Dy and 157Dy, respectively. The implication of these findings on the interpretation of the first excited 0+ states in the core nuclei 154Dy and 156Dy are also discussed. peerReviewed

A Coulomb-excitation experiment to study electromagnetic properties of 42Ca was performed using a 170-MeV calcium beam from the TANDEM XPU facility at INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro. γ rays from excited states in 42Ca were measured with the AGATA spectrometer. The magnitudes and relative signs of ten E2 matrix elements coupling six low-lying states in 42Ca, including the diagonal E2 matrix elements of 2+ 1 and 2+ 2 states, were determined using the least-squares code GOSIA. The obtained set of reduced E2 matrix elements was analyzed using the quadrupole sum rule method and yielded overall quadrupole deformation for 0+ 1,2 and 2+ 1,2 states, as well as triaxiality for 0+ 1,2 states, establishing the coexistence of a weakly deformed ground-state band and highly deformed slightly triaxial sideband in 42Ca. The experimental results were compared with the state-of-the-art large-scale shell-model and beyond-mean-field calculations, which reproduce well the general picture of shape coexistence in 42Ca.

20 pags., 12 figs., 14 tabs., A Coulomb-excitation experiment to study electromagnetic properties of Ca42 was performed using a 170-MeV calcium beam from the TANDEM XPU facility at INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro. γ rays from excited states in Ca42 were measured with the AGATA spectrometer. The magnitudes and relative signs of ten E2 matrix elements coupling six low-lying states in Ca42, including the diagonal E2 matrix elements of 21+ and 22+ states, were determined using the least-squares code gosia. The obtained set of reduced E2 matrix elements was analyzed using the quadrupole sum rule method and yielded overall quadrupole deformation for 01,2+ and 21,2+ states, as well as triaxiality for 01,2+ states, establishing the coexistence of a weakly deformed ground-state band and highly deformed slightly triaxial sideband in Ca42. The experimental results were compared with the state-of-the-art large-scale shell-model and beyond-mean-field calculations, which reproduce well the general picture of shape coexistence in Ca42., K.H.-K. acknowledges support from the Research Council of Norway under Grant No. 213442. T.R.R. acknowledges computing time at GSI-Darmstadt and support from Spanish MINECO under Programa Ramon y Cajal 11420 and FIS-2014-53434-P (T.R.R.). We also acknowledge the support by Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, under Grant No. PROMETEOII/2014/019 and by the FEDER funds of the European Commission (A. Gadea), Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under contract FPA2014-57196-C5 (A. Jungclaus, A Gadea), German Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) under Contract No. 05P12PKFNE TP4 (B. Birkenbach), the Polish National Science Centre under Projects No. 2011/03/B/ST2/01894, No. DEC-2013/10/M/ST2/00427, No. 2013/08/M/ST2/00591, No. UMO-2014/14/M/ST2/00738 (COPIN-INFN Collaboration), No. 2015/17/B/ST2/01534, No. 2016/22/M/ST200269, the UK STFC under Grants No. ST/J000124/1 and No. ST/L005735/1. The EAGLE Collaboration thanks the European Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy Pool (GAMMAPOOL) for the loan of Ge detectors.

An experiment populating low/medium-spin states in Dy156 was performed to investigate the possibility of tetrahedral symmetry in this nucleus. In particular, focus was placed on the low-spin, negative-parity states since recent theoretical studies suggest that these may be good candidates for this high-rank symmetry. The states were produced in the Nd148(C12,4n) reaction and the Gammasphere array was utilized to detect the emitted γ rays. B(E2)/B(E1) ratios of transition probabilities from the low-spin, negative-parity bands were determined and used to interpret whether these structures are best associated with tetrahedral symmetry or, as previously assigned, to octupole vibrations. In addition, several other negative-parity structures were observed to higher spin and two new sequences were established.

The exact nature of the lowest Kπ=2+ rotational bands in all deformed nuclei remains obscure. Traditionally they are assumed to be collective vibrations of the nuclear shape in the γ degree of freedom perpendicular to the nuclear symmetry axis. Very few such γ bands have been traced past the usual backbending rotational alignments of high-j nucleons. We have investigated the structure of positive-parity bands in the N=90 nucleus Dy156, using the Nd148(C12,4n)Dy156 reaction at 65 MeV, observing the resulting γ-ray transitions with the Gammasphere array. The even- and odd-spin members of the Kπ=2+γ band are observed up to 32+ and 31+, respectively. This rotational band faithfully tracks the ground-state configuration to the highest spins. The members of a possible γ vibration built on the aligned yrast S band are observed up to spins 28+ and 27+. An even-spin positive-parity band, observed up to spin 24+, is a candidate for an aligned S band built on the seniority-zero configuration of the 02+ state at 676 keV. The crossing of this band with the 02+ band is at ?ωc=0.28(1)MeV and is consistent with the configuration of the 02+ band not producing any blocking of the monopole pairing.