Multiple chiral doublet bands of identical configuration in 103Rh

TL;DR

This paper reports the first experimental evidence of multiple chiral doublet bands of identical configuration in 103Rh, demonstrating the robustness of nuclear chiral geometry against increased excitation energy.

Contribution

It introduces the observation of a new type of multiple chiral doublets where an excited doublet coexists with the yrast doublet in the same configuration.

Findings

Identification of three chiral doublet band structures in 103Rh

First experimental evidence of multiple chiral doublets of identical configuration

Chiral geometry remains stable at higher excitation energies

Abstract

Three sets of chiral doublet band structures have been identified in the 103Rh nucleus. The properties of the observed chiral doublet bands are in good agreement with theoretical results obtained using constrained covariant density functional theory and particle rotor model calculations. Two of them belong to an identical configuration, and provide the first experimental evidence for a novel type of multiple chiral doublets, where an "excited" chiral doublet of a configuration is seen together with the "yrast" one. This observation shows that the chiral geometry in nuclei can be robust against the increase of the intrinsic excitation energy.