One-phonon states of vibrational nuclei with mixed proton–neutron symmetry have been observed throughout the nuclear chart besides the mass A≈200 region. Very recently, it has been proposed that the 22 + state of 212Po is of isovector nature. This nucleus has two valence protons and two valence neutrons outside the doubly-magic 208Pb nucleus. The stable isotope 204Hg, featuring two valence-proton and valence-neutron holes, with respect to 208Pb, is the particle-hole mirror of 212Po. In order to compare the properties of low-lying isovector excitations in these particle-hole mirror nuclei, we have studied 204Hg by using the projectile Coulomb-excitation technique. The measured absolute B(M1;22 +→21 +) strength of 0.20(2)μN 2 indicates that the 22 + level of 204Hg is at least the main fragment of the 21,ms + state. For the first time in this mass region, both lowest-lying, one-quadrupole phonon excitations are established together with the complete set of their decay strengths. This allows for a microscopic description of their structures, achieved in the framework of the Quasi-particle Phonon Model
