Understanding the fundamental excitations of many-fermion systems is of significant current interest. In atomic nuclei with even numbers of neutrons and protons, the low-lying excitation spectrum is generally formed by nucleon pair breaking and nuclear vibrations or rotations. However, for certain numbers of protons and neutrons, a subtle rearrangement of only a few nucleons among the orbitals at the Fermi surface can result in a different elementary mode: a macroscopic shape change. The first experimental evidence for this phenomenon came from the observation of shape coexistence in 16O (ref. 4). Other unexpected examples came with the discovery of fission isomers and super-deformed nuclei. Here we find experimentally that the lowest three states in the energy spectrum of the neutron deficient nucleus 186Pb are spherical, oblate and prolate. The states are populated by the alpha-decay of a parent nucleus; to identify them, we combine knowledge of the particular features of this decay with sensitive measurement techniques (a highly efficient velocity filters with strong background reduction, and an extremely selective recoil-alpha-electron coincidence tagging methods). The existence of this apparently unique shape triplet is permitted only by the specific conditions that are met around this particular nucleus.

A linear universal decay formula is presented starting from the microscopic mechanism of the charged-particle emission. It relates the half-lives of monopole radioactive decays with the Q values of the outgoing particles as well as the masses and charges of the nuclei involved in the decay. This relation is found to be a generalization of the Geiger-Nuttall law in alpha radioactivity and explains well all known cluster decays. Predictions on the most likely emissions of various clusters are presented.

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A linear relation for charged-particle emissions is presented starting from the microscopic mechanism of the radioactive decay. It relates the logarithms of the decay half-lives with two variables, called χ ′ and ρ ′ , which depend upon the Q-values of the outgoing clusters as well as the masses and charges of the nuclei involved in the decay. This relation explains well all known cluster decays.It is found to be a generalization of the Geiger-Nuttall law in α radioactivity and therefore we call it the universal decay law. Predictions on the most likely emissions of various clusters are presented by applying the law over the whole nuclear chart. It is seen that the decays of heavier clusters with non-equal proton and neutron numbers are mostly located in the trans-lead region.The emissions of clusters with equal protons and neutrons, like 12 C and 16 O, are possible in some neutron-deficient nuclei with Z ≥ 54.

Shell model calculations using realistic interactions reveal that the ground and low-lying yrast states of the $N=Z$ nucleus $^{92}_{46}$Pd are mainly built upon isoscalar neutron-proton pairs each carrying the maximum angular momentum J=9 allowed by the shell $0g_{9/2}$ which is dominant in this nuclear region. This structure is different from the ones found in the ground and low-lying yrast states of all other even-even nuclei studied so far. The low-lying spectrum of excited states generated by such correlated neutron-proton pairs has two distinctive features: i) the levels are almost equidistant at low energies and ii) the transition probability $I\rightarrow I-2$ is approximately constant and strongly selective. This unique mode is shown to replace normal isovector pairing as the dominating coupling scheme in $N=Z$ nuclei approaching the doubly-magic nucleus $^{100}$Sn.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures, version to appear in Phys. Rev. C (Rapid communication

Configuration-constrained calculations of potential-energy surfaces in even-even superheavy nuclei reveal systematically the existence at low excitation energies of multiquasiparticle states with deformed axially symmetric shapes and large angular momenta. These results indicate the prevalence of long-lived, multiquasiparticle isomers. In a quantal system, the ground state is usually more stable than the excited states. In contrast, in superheavy nuclei the multiquasiparticle excitations decrease the probability for both fission and alpha decay, implying enhanced stability. Hence, the systematic occurrence of multiquasiparticle isomers may become crucial for future production and study of even heavier nuclei. The energies of multiquasiparticle states and their alpha decays are calculated and compared to available data.

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