Gross shell structure at high spin in heavy nuclei

Experimental nuclear moments of inertia at high spins along the yrast line have been determined systematically and found to differ from the rigid-body values. The difference is attributed to shell effects and these have been calculated microscopically. The data and quantal calculations are interpreted by means of the semiclassical Periodic Orbit Theory. From this new perspective, features in the moments of inertia as a function of neutron number and spin, as well as their relation to the shell energies can be understood. Gross shell effects persist up to the highest angular momenta observed.Comment: 40 pages total; 22 pages text, 19 figures sent as 27 .png file

Superdeformation in 198^{198}Po

The $^{174}$Yb($^{29}$Si,5n) reaction at 148 MeV with thin targets was used to populate high-angular momentum states in $^{198}$Po. Resulting $\gamma$ rays were observed with Gammasphere. A weakly-populated superdeformed band of 10 $\gamma$-ray transitions was found and has been assigned to $^{198}$Po. This is the first observation of a SD band in the $A \approx 190$ region in a nucleus with $Z > 83$. The ${\cal J}^{(2)}$ of the new band is very similar to those of the yrast SD bands in $^{194}$Hg and $^{196}$Pb. The intensity profile suggests that this band is populated through states close to where the SD band crosses the yrast line and the angular momentum at which the fission process dominates.Comment: 10 pages, revtex, 2 figs. available on request, submitted to Phys. Rev. C. (Rapid Communications

Spin-rotor Interpretation of Identical Bands and Quantized Alignment in Superdeformed A ≈\approx 190 Nuclei

The ``identical'' bands in superdeformed mercury, thallium, and lead nuclei are interpreted as examples of orbital angular momentum rotors with the weak spin-orbit coupling of pseudo-$SU(3)$ symmetries and supersymmetries.Comment: 15 pages, revtex 3.0, 7 figures available upon request from [email protected]

Chaos in Axially Symmetric Potentials with Octupole Deformation

Classical and quantum mechanical results are reported for the single particle motion in a harmonic oscillator potential which is characterized by a quadrupole deformation and an additional octupole deformation. The chaotic character of the motion is srongly dependent on the quadrupole deformation in that for a prolate deformation virtually no chaos is discernible while for the oblate case the motion shows strong chaos when the octupole term is turned on.Comment: 6 pages LaTex plus 4 figures available by contacting the authors directly, published in PHYS.REV.LETT. 72(1994) 235

Deducing the \u3csup\u3e237\u3c/sup\u3eU(\u3cem\u3en,f\u3c/em\u3e) Cross Section Using the Surrogate Ratio Method

We have deduced the cross section for 237U(n, f) over an equivalent neutron energy range from 0 to 20 MeV using the surrogate ratio method. A 55 MeV4He beam from the 88 inch cyclotron at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was used to induce fission in the following reactions: 238U(α, αf) and 236U(α, αf). The 238U reaction was a surrogate for 237U(n, f), and the 236U reaction was used as a surrogate for 235U(n, f). Scattered α particles were detected in a fully depleted segmented silicon telescope array over an angle range of 35° to 60° with respect to the beam axis. The fission fragments were detected in a third independent silicon detector located at backward angles between 106° and 131°

High-\u3cem\u3eK\u3c/em\u3e Multi-quasiparticle States and Rotational Bands in \u3csup\u3e255\u3c/sup\u3e\u3csub\u3e103\u3c/sub\u3eLr.

Two isomeric states have been identified in 255Lr. The decay of the isomers populates rotational structures. Comparison with macroscopic-microscopic calculations suggests that the lowest observed sequence is built upon the [624]9/2+ Nilsson state. However, microscopic cranked relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov (CRHB) calculations do not reproduce the moment of inertia within typical accuracy. This is a clear challenge to theories describing the heaviest elements