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The level structure of 136Nd has been investigated using the 100Mo(40Ar, 4n) reaction and the JUROGAM II+RITU+GREAT setup. The level scheme has been extended significantly. Many new bands have been identified both at low and high spin, among which are five nearly degenerate bands interpreted as chiral partners. Excitation energies, spins, and parities of the previously known bands are revised and firmly established, and some previously known bands have been revised. Configurations are assigned to the observed bands based on cranked Nilsson-Strutinsky calculations. The band structure of 136Nd is now clarified and the various types of single-particle and collective excitations are well understood. peerReviewed

We apply the proton-neutron deformed quasiparticle random-phase approximation (pn-dQRPA) to describe the low-lying (E 6 MeV) 1+ Gamow-Teller (GT) strength functions in odd-odd deformed nuclei which participate as intermediate nuclei in two-neutrino double-β-decay (2νββ) transitions within the mass range A = 70–176. In deriving equations of motion we use a single-particle basis with projected angular momentum, provided by the diagonalization of a spherical mean field furnished with a quadrupole-quadrupole interaction. The schematic residual Hamiltonian contains pairing and proton-neutron interaction terms in particle-hole (ph) and particle-particle (pp) channels, with constant strengths. By adopting constant particle-hole and particle-particle strengths we are able to describe the positions of the giant GT resonance and the measured half-lives of the 2νββ decays over the whole mass range A = 70–176. At the same time we obtain a good agreement with the measured low-lying GT β− strength functions. By using the adopted ph and pp strengths, we predict the half-lives of a number of deformed 2νββ emitters and the low-lying GT strength functions of the corresponding odd-odd intermediate nuclei for their possible experimental tests in the future. peerReviewed

The electromagnetic structure of 140Sm was studied in a low-energy Coulomb excitation experiment with a radioactive ion beam from the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. The 2+ and 4+ states of the ground-state band and a second 2+ state were populated by multistep excitation. The analysis of the differential Coulomb excitation cross sections yielded reduced transition probabilities between all observed states and the spectroscopic quadrupole moment for the 2+ 1 state. The experimental results are compared to large-scale shell model calculations and beyond-mean-field calculations based on the Gogny D1S interaction with a five-dimensional collective Hamiltonian formalism. Simpler geometric and algebraic models are also employed to interpret the experimental data. The results indicate that 140Sm shows considerable γ softness, but in contrast to earlier speculation no signs of shape coexistence at low excitation energy. This work sheds more light on the onset of deformation and collectivity in this mass region. peerReviewed

The α decay of 222Th populating the low-lying J π = 3− state, and also a proposed 1− state, in 218Ra has been observed. The observations suggest an excitation energy of 853 keV for the 1− state, which is 60 keV above the 3− state. The hindrance factors of these α decays give a possible boundary to the region of ground-state octupole deformation in the light-actinide nuclei. The relative positions of the J π = 1− and 3− states suggest they are produced by an octupole-vibrational mechanism, as opposed to α clustering or rotations of a reflection-asymmetric octupole-deformed shape. peerReviewed

The high-spin structure of 170Hf was investigated using the EUROBALL spectrometer. The previously known level scheme was extended in the low-spin region as well as to higher spins, and several new bands were discovered. In particular, two bands were identified which show the characteristics of triaxial superdeformation. One of these bands is strongly populated, and its excitation energy and spins are established. Configuration assignments are made to the normal-deformed bands based on comparisons of their properties with cranked shell model calculations. The results for the very high spin states provide important input for such calculations.

Using Chandrasekhar's S-type coupling between rotational and intrinsic vortical modes one may simply reproduce the Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) dynamical properties of rotating nuclei within Routhian HF calculations free of pairing correlations yet constrained on the relevant so-called Kelvin circulation operator. From the analogy between magnetic and rotating systems, one derives a model for the quenching of pairing correlations with rotation, introducing a critical angular velocity—analogous to the critical field in supraconductors—above which pairing vanishes. Taking stock of this usual model, it is then shown that the characteristic behavior of the vortical mode angular velocity as a function of the global rotation angular velocity can be modelized by a simple two parameter formula, both parameters being completely determined from properties of the band-head (zero-spin) HFB solution. From calculation in five nuclei, the validity of this modelized Routhian approach is tested. It is clearly shown to be very good in cases where the evolution of rotational properties is only governed by the coupling between the global rotation and the pairing-induced intrinsic vortical currents, otherwise it fails. It therefore provides a sound ground base for evaluating the importance of coupling of rotation with other modes (shape distortions, quasiparticle degrees of freedom).