Excited Superdeformed Bands in 133Pr: Identification of the g9/2 Proton Orbital

Abstract

Four superdeformed bands, consisting of $\ensuremath{\gamma}$-ray cascades of up to 15 transitions, have been found in the light rare earth nucleus ${}^{133}$Pr. This is the first observation of multiple superdeformed bands in the $A\ensuremath{\approx}130$ mass region. These bands are populated weakly at 0.2%--1% of the reaction channel intensity. The single particle configurations have been identified as $\ensuremath{\pi}{g}_{9/2}[404]{9/2}^{+}$ for bands 1 and 2 and $\ensuremath{\pi}{h}_{11/2}[532]{5/2}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ for bands 3 and 4. Dipole linking transitions between two superdeformed bands have been observed, branching ratios have been measured, and $B(M1)/B(E2)$ ratios deduced. A $B(M1)$ value for the $\ensuremath{\pi}{g}_{9/2}[404]{9/2}^{+}$ orbital of $(1.7\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2){\ensuremath{\mu}}_{N}^{2}$ (where ${\ensuremath{\mu}}_{N}$ is the nuclear magneton) has been extracted, based on the measured quadrupole moment for the ${}^{132}$Ce core.