Article:Bree, N., Wrzosek-Lipska, K., Petts, A. et al. (67 more authors) (2014) Shape coexistence in the neutron-deficient even-even 182-188Hg isotopes studied via Coulomb excitation.

Abstract. The Miniball germanium detector array has been operational at the REX (Radioactive ion beam EXperiment) post accelerator at the Isotope Separator On-Line facility ISOLDE at CERN since 2001. During the last decade, a series of successful Coulomb excitation and transfer reaction studies have been performed with this array, utilizing the unique and high-quality radioactive ion beams which are available at ISOLDE. In this article, an overview is given of the technical details of the full Miniball setup, including a description of the γ-ray and particle detectors, beam monitoring devices and methods to deal with beam contamination. The specific timing properties of the REX-ISOLDE facility are highlighted to indicate the sensitivity that can be achieved with the full Miniball setup. The article is finalized with a summary of some physics highlights at REX-ISOLDE and the utilization of the Miniball germanium detectors at other facilities.

Lifetimes of yrast states in 180 Hg up to the 8 + state and of the 9 − state have been extracted from recoil-decay tagged γ -ray spectra by using the recoil distance Doppler-shift method. In addition, lifetimes of yrast states up to the 10 + state in 182 Hg have been extracted from recoil-gated γ γ -coincidence spectra. The present study addresses the evolution of collectivity of two competing shapes in neutron-deficient Hg nuclei as a function of A and the configuration mixing at low spin.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.022701.

The structure of neutron-rich 96,98 Sr nuclei was investigated by low-energy safe Coulomb excitation of radioactive beams at the REX-ISOLDE facility, CERN, with the MINIBALL spectrometer. A rich set of transitional and diagonal E2 matrix elements, including those for non-yrast structures, has been extracted from the differential Coulomb-excitation cross sections. The results support the scenario of a shape transition at N = 60, giving rise to the coexistence of a highly deformed prolate and a spherical configuration in 98 Sr, and are compared to predictions from several theoretical calculations. The experimental data suggest a significant contribution of the triaxal degree of freedom in the ground state of both isotopes. In addition, experimental information on low-lying states in 98 Rb has been obtained.

Neutron-rich {96,98}Sr isotopes have been investigated by safe Coulomb excitation of radioactive beams at the REX-ISOLDE facility. Reduced transition probabilities and spectroscopic quadrupole moments have been extracted from the differential Coulomb excitation cross sections. These results allow, for the first time, the drawing of definite conclusions about the shape coexistence of highly deformed prolate and spherical configurations. In particular, a very small mixing between the coexisting states is observed, contrary to other mass regions where strong mixing is present. Experimental results have been compared to beyond-mean-field calculations using the Gogny D1S interaction in a five-dimensional collective Hamiltonian formalism, which reproduce the shape change at N=60.

The neutron-deficient mercury isotopes serve as a classical example of shape coexistence, whereby at low energy near-degenerate nuclear states characterized by different shapes appear. The electromagnetic structure of even-mass 182-188 Hg isotopes was studied using safe-energy Coulomb excitation of neutron-deficient mercury beams delivered by the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. The population of 0 + 1,2 , 2 + 1,2 and 4 + 1 states was observed in all nuclei under study. Reduced E2 matrix elements coupling populated yrast and non-yrast states were extracted, including their relative signs. These are a sensitive probe of shape coexistence and may be used to validate nuclear models. The experimental results are discussed in terms of mixing of two different configurations and are compared with three different model calculations: the Beyond Mean Field model, the Interacting Boson Model with configuration mixing and the General Bohr Hamiltonian. Partial agreement with experiment was observed, hinting to missing ingredients in the theoretical descriptions. a

The level scheme of the neutron-deficient nuclide 168 Os has been extended and mean lifetimes of excited states have been measured by the recoil distance Doppler-shift method using the JUROGAM γ -ray spectrometer in conjunction with the IKP Köln plunger device. The 168 Os γ rays were measured in delayed coincidence with recoiling fusion-evaporation residues detected at the focal plane of the RITU gas-filled separator. The ratio of reduced transition probabilities B(E2; 4is measured to be 0.34(18), which is very unusual for collective band structures and cannot be reproduced by interacting boson model (IBM-2) calculations based on the SkM* energy-density functional.