The impact of the intruder orbitals on the structure of neutron-rich Ag isotopes

Abstract

The low-lying high-spin yrast band structure of neutron-rich 113,118–121Ag has been established for the first time using prompt γ-ray spectroscopy of isotopically identified fission fragments produced in the 9Be(238U, fγ) fusion- and transfer-induced fission processes. The newly obtained level energies follow the systematics of the neighboring isotopes. The sequences of levels exhibit an energy inheritance from states in the corresponding Cd core. A striking constancy of a large signature splitting in odd-A Ag throughout the long chain of isotopes with 50<N<82 and a signature inversion in even-A Ag isotopes, which are indications of triaxiality, were evidenced. These observed features were reproduced by large-scale shell-model calculations with a spherical basis for the first time in the Ag isotopic chain, revealing microscopically their complex nature with severely broken seniority ordering. The essential features of the observed signature splitting were further examined in the light of simplified, two-orbital shell-model calculations including only two intruder orbitals πg9/2 and νh11/2 from two consecutive shells above Z=50 and N=82 for protons and neutrons respectively, resulting in the πg9/2−3×νh11/2m configurations. The newly established bands were understood as fairly pure, built mainly on unique-parity intruder configurations and coupled to the basic states of the Cd core.