Shell model calculations reveal that the ground and low-lying yrast states of
the N=Z nuclei 4692​Pd and 96Cd are mainly built upon isoscalar
spin-aligned neutron-proton pairs each carrying the maximum angular momentum
J=9 allowed by the shell 0g9/2​ which is dominant in this nuclear region.
This mode of excitation is unique in nuclei and indicates that the spin-aligned
pair has to be considered as an essential building block in nuclear structure
calculations. In this contribution we will discuss this neutron-proton pair
coupling scheme in detail. In particular, we will explore the competition
between the normal monopole pair coupling and the spin-aligned coupling
schemes. Such a coupling may be useful in elucidating the structure properties
of N=Z and neighboring nuclei.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Proceedings of the Conference on
Advanced Many-Body and Statistical Methods in Mesoscopic Systems, Constanta,
Romania, June 27th - July 2nd 2011. To appear in Journal of Physics:
Conference Serie