Probing nuclear structure ofXe124

Excited states in $^{124}\mathrm{Xe}$ were populated in the fusion-evaporation reaction $^{110}\mathrm{Pd}(^{18}\mathrm{O,4}n)^{124}\mathrm{Xe}$ at a beam energy of $80\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{MeV}$. A recoil distance measurement using the Euroball spectrometer in Strasbourg and the Cologne plunger was performed. Altogether 19 lifetimes of excited states in six different bands were determined using gated spectra only, in order to avoid problems related to feeding. The measured $B(E2)$ values were used to derive the nuclear deformation of $^{124}\mathrm{Xe}$ and the interaction of the ground state band with two $s$ bands. Two $sd\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{IBM}\text{\ensuremath{-}}1$ calculations with two Hamiltonians of different complexities were performed, which show a good agreement with the measured $B(E2)$ values in the ground state band and the quasi-$\ensuremath{\gamma}$ band. The deduced $B(M1)$ values for the regular $M1$ band show the behavior expected for magnetic rotation. However, it is also shown that these experimental $B(M1)$ values can be described on the basis of a rotational band as well.