Excitation of low-lying states in 144Nd by means of (e,e') scattering

Abstract The low-lying states of 144Nd have been investigated up to an excitation energy of 3.1 MeV by means of high-resolution inelastic electron scattering. Transition charge densities have been extracted for natural-parity states. The experimental data have been compared with the predictions of the quasiparticle-phonon model. The calculations show that both collective and single-particle degrees of freedom are important for describing the low-lying states of 144Nd. A comparison of the present data with data for 142Nd and 142Ce emphasizes the role played by the two valence neutrons outside the N = 82 closed shell