Evolution of collectivity near mid-shell from excited-state lifetime measurements in rare earth nuclei

The B(E2) excitation strength of the first excited 2+ state in even-even nuclei should directly correlate with the size of the valence space and maximize at mid-shell. A previously found saturation of B(E2) strengths in well-deformed rotors at mid-shell is tested through high-precision measurements of the lifetimes of the lowest-lying 2+ states of the Hf168 and W174 rare earth isotopes. Measurements were performed using fast LaBr3 scintillation detectors. Combined with the recently remeasured B(E2;2+1→0+1) values for Hf and W isotopes the new data remove discrepancies observed in the differentials of B(E2) values for these isotope

Excited State Lifetime Measurements in Rare Earth Nuclei with Fast Electronics

We investigated the collectivity of the lowest excited 2⁺ states of even-even rare earth nuclei. The B(E2) excitation strengths of these nuclei should directly correlate to the size of the valence space, and maximize at mid-shell. The previously identified saturation of B(E2) strength in well-deformed rotors at mid-shell is put to a high precision test in this series of measurements. Lifetimes of the 2⁺1 states in ¹⁶⁸Hf and ¹⁷⁴W have been measured using the newly developed LaBr₃ scintillation detectors. The excellent energy resolution in conjunction with superb time properties of the new material allows for reliable handling of background, which is a source of systematic error in such experiments. Preliminary lifetime values are obtained and discussed in the context of previous and ongoing work

\u3cem\u3eg\u3c/em\u3e Factor of the 2\u3csup\u3e+\u3c/sup\u3e\u3csub\u3e1\u3c/sub\u3e State of \u3csup\u3e172\u3c/sup\u3eHf

The g factor of the 2+1 state of 172Hf was measured using the perturbed angular correlation technique in a static external magnetic field. The result, g(2+1) = 0.25(5), is discussed in relation to the systematics of the previously reported g factors in the Hf isotopes and compared with the predictions of several models. An interesting outcome of the analysis presented in this paper is the agreement between the calculated g factors within the interacting boson approximation (IBA) and the results of a large-scale shell model calculation. This agreement supports the emphasis in the IBA on the valence space. The undershooting of the empirical g factors near midshell in both models suggests that they underestimate the role of the saturation of collectivity, which is explicitly incorporated into a phenomenological model that agrees better with the data