Investigating shape evolution and the emergence of collectivity through the synergy of Coulomb excitation and β decay

Physics Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831, USA

Published online: 5 September 2016

Abstract

The synthesis of Coulomb excitation and β decay offers very practical advantages in the study of nuclear shapes and collectivity. For instance, Coulomb excitation is unique in its ability to measure the electric quadrupole moments, i.e., $$\langle I_2^{\pi }\parallel M(E2)\parallel I_1^{\pi }\rangle$$ matrix elements, of excited, non-isomeric states in atomic nuclei, providing information on the intrinsic shape. However, the Coulomb excitation analysis and structural interpretation can be strongly dependent upon weak transitions or decay branches, which are often obscured by the Compton background. Transitions of particular interest are those low in energy and weak in intensity due to the E_γ⁵ attenuation factor. These weak decay branches can often be determined with high precision from β-decay studies. Recently, ¹⁰⁶Mo and ¹¹⁰Cd were studied by both Coulomb excitation and β decay. Preliminary results of new weak decay branches following β decay of ^110mAg to ¹¹⁰Cd are presented; these results will challenge competing interpretations based on vibrations and configuration mixing.