STUDY OF OCTUPOLE COLLECTIVITY IN Nd-146 AND Sm-148 USING THE NEW COULOMB EXCITATION SET-UP AT ALTO

For certain combinations of protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei, a rise of a reflection asymmetry is expected. Experimental E3 strengths, which as a function of the neutron number peak at around N ≈ 88 and N ≈ 134, indicate enhanced octupole correlations as predicted by theory. Low-energy Coulomb excitation is a highly successful method for establishing the evolution of nuclear shapes, through the measurement of cross sections, to populate excited states that can be directly related to the static and dynamic moments of the charge distribution of the nucleus. A Coulomb excitation experiment at the ALTO facility, Orsay was performed recently to study collective properties of 146Nd and 148Sm. In particular, the strengths of the ⟨3−||E3||0+⟩ and ⟨1−||E3||4+⟩ matrix elements will provide a clear distinction between octupole vibration and rigid deformation.status: publishe