The transition quadrupole moments, Qt, of rotational bands in the
neutron-rich, even-mass 102−108Mo and 108−112Ru nuclei were measured
in the 8 to 16 ℏ spin range with the Doppler-shift attenuation method.
The nuclei were populated as fission fragments from 252Cf fission. The
detector setup consisted of the Gammasphere spectrometer and the HERCULES
fast-plastic array. At moderate spin, the Qt moments are found to be
reduced with respect to the values near the ground states. Attempts to describe
the observations in mean-field-based models, specifically cranked relativistic
Hartree-Bogoliubov theory, illustrate the challenge theory faces and the
difficulty to infer information on γ softness and triaxiality from the
data.Comment: 17 pages, 4 figure