Investigation of octupole vibrational states in 150Nd via inelastic proton scattering (p,p'g)

TL;DR

This study investigates octupole vibrational states in 150Nd using inelastic proton scattering, employing coincidence detection to measure transition ratios and compare results with theoretical IBA calculations, providing new insights into nuclear structure.

Contribution

First-time coincidence measurements of proton and gamma rays in 150Nd to determine transition ratios and validate IBA theoretical models for octupole states.

Findings

Measured B(E1) ratios for 10 octupole states.

Good agreement between experimental data and IBA calculations.

Identified positive and negative-parity states consistent with theoretical predictions.

Abstract

Octupole vibrational states were studied in the nucleus $^{150}\mathrm{Nd}$ via inelastic proton scattering with $\unit[10.9]{MeV}$ protons which are an excellent probe to excite natural parity states. For the first time in $^{150}\mathrm{Nd}$, both the scattered protons and the $\gamma$ rays were detected in coincidence giving the possibility to measure branching ratios in detail. Using the coincidence technique, the $B(E1)$ ratios of the decaying transitions for 10 octupole vibrational states and other negative-parity states to the yrast band were determined and compared to the Alaga rule. The positive and negative-parity states revealed by this experiment are compared with Interacting Boson Approximation (IBA) calculations performed in the (spdf) boson space. The calculations are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data, both for positive and negative-parity states.