Parity assignments in photon scattering using Compton polarimeters

Abstract

The high selectivity of the Nuclear Resonance Fluorescence method in exciting dipole transitions in combination with the progress achieved in measuring polarization observables has led to a substantial amount of new experimental data concerning the distribution of magnetic and electric dipole strengths in deformed nuclei. Systematic experiments have been performed at the bremsstrahlung facility of the Stuttgart Dynamitron. Precise excitation energies, transition strengths, spins and decay branching ratios were deduced for numerous low lying dipole excitations in deformed rare earth nuclei. Measurements of the linear polarization of resonantly scattered photons using simultaneously two Compton polarimeters enabled model independent parity assignments. With this technique for the first time positive parities could be established for groups of states in the neighbouring deformed nuclei 150Nd, 160Gd, 162Dy. Most of these states are concentrated near 3 MeV and should be attributed to orbital isovector M1 excitations (often referred to as “ Scissors Mode”). The surprising novel result of the present systematic studies, however, was the first observation of enhanced electric dipole excitations in the same deformed nuclei at excitation energies of 2.414, 2.471, and 2.520 MeV, respectively. Furthermore, all three states systematically exhibit decay branching ratios which hint at K-mixing. The transition energies and the enhanced B( E1)↑ strengths of 3 to 5.10 −3 e 2fm 2 support the interpretation in terms of the predicted new type of collective electric dipole excitations in deformed nuclei due to reflection asymmetric shapes like octupole deformations and/or cluster configurations.