Correlation properties of unresolved gamma rays from high-spin states

Abstract

There is evidence that the highest-spin states observed in nuclei are basically rotational, but that each state emits a distribution of \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray energies rather than a single energy. We have measured the width of this distribution and the fraction of the population that emits it, for several (unresolved) \ensuremath{\gamma}-ray energy regions in $^{160}\mathrm{Er}$. These widths may be related to a damping of the rotational states at the high level densities through which these cascades flow.