Competing mechanism for generating high spin excitations in γ-soft nuclei: the 136Nd case

High-spin structures in 136Nd have been investigated via the 110Pd(30Si,4n) reaction at 125 MeV using the GASP array. Several bands consisting of stretched quadrupole transitions were identified. Two of them reach spins comparable to those of the highly-deformed (HD) band in 136Nd, which is based on a neutron i 13 2 - h 9 2 f 7 2 configuration. Total routhian surface (TRS) calculations indicate that regular high-spin excitations in this γ-soft nucleus, can be also generated through successive pairs of h 11 2 protons and neutrons coupled to a stable small-deformation triaxial core. The previously reported γ-ray transitions of an excited HD band, identical to the yrast HD band, are not confirmed by our data.