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Magnetic and quadrupole moments of the $7/{2}^{+}$ ground state in $^{133}\mathrm{Sb}$ and the $({7}^{\ensuremath{-}})$ isomer in $^{134}\mathrm{Sb}$ have been measured by collinear laser spectroscopy to investigate the single-particle behavior above the doubly magic nucleus $^{132}\mathrm{Sn}$. The comparison of experimental data of the $7/{2}^{+}$ states in $^{133}\mathrm{Sb}$ and neighboring $N=82$ isotones to shell-model calculations reveals the sensitivity of magnetic moments to the splitting of the spin-orbit partners $\ensuremath{\pi}0{g}_{9/2}$ and $\ensuremath{\pi}0{g}_{7/2}$ across the proton shell closure at $Z=50$. In contrast, quadrupole moments of the $N=82$ isotones are insensitive to cross-shell excitations, but require the full proton model space from $Z=50\phantom{\rule{4.pt}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{4.pt}{0ex}}82$ for their accurate description. In fact, the linear trend of the quadrupole moment follows approximately the expectation of the seniority scheme when filling the $\ensuremath{\pi}0{g}_{7/2}$ orbital. As far as the isomer in $^{134}\mathrm{Sb}$ is concerned, its electromagnetic moments can be perfectly described by the additivity rule employing the moments of $^{133}\mathrm{Sb}$ and $^{133}\mathrm{Sn}$, respectively. These findings agree with shell-model calculations and thus confirm the weak coupling between the valence proton and neutron in $^{134}\mathrm{Sb}$.

Understanding the evolution of the nuclear charge radius is one of the long-standing challenges for nuclear theory. Recently, density functional theory calculations utilizing Fayans functionals have successfully reproduced the charge radii of a variety of exotic isotopes. However, difficulties in the isotope production have hindered testing these models in the immediate region of the nuclear chart below the heaviest self-conjugate doubly-magic nucleus 100Sn, where the near-equal number of protons (Z) and neutrons (N) lead to enhanced neutron-proton pairing. Here, we present an optical excursion into this region by crossing the N = 50 magic neutron number in the silver isotopic chain with the measurement of the charge radius of 96Ag (N = 49). The results provide a challenge for nuclear theory: calculations are unable to reproduce the pronounced discontinuity in the charge radii as one moves below N = 50. The technical advancements in this work open the N = Z region below 100Sn for further optical studies, which will lead to more comprehensive input for nuclear theory development., Laser spectroscopic measurements of isotopes near the doubly-magic 100-Sn are challenging due to difficulties in their production. Here the authors measure the ground state charge radius of the proton-rich 96-Ag isotope and find a discontinuity in the nuclear size when crossing the neutron number N equal to 50.