Search for Collective Oblate Structures in $^{186}$W

ORAL

Abstract

Neutron-rich, A$\approx$180 nuclei exhibit distinctive characteristics that enable a rare transition from prolate to oblate collective rotation at high spins. Recent investigation of prompt rotational structures in $^{180}$Hf provided evidence for a rotational structure that can be associated with collective oblate rotation. Oblate shapes are predicted to become yrast at $\textit{I}\approx$14$\hbar$ in $^{186}$W as compared to $\textit{I}\ge$20$\hbar$ in $^{180}$Hf. Prompt rotational states in $^{186}$W were populated using 725 MeV and 800 MeV $^{136}$Xe beam energies from the ATLAS accelerator incident on a thin enriched $^{186}$W target. Coincident detection of binary reaction fragments and $\gamma$-rays was achieved using the recently upgraded Rochester 4$\pi$ heavy-ion detector array, CHICO2 in conjugation with Gammasphere. Analysis of the data is in progress and will be presented.

*This work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy.

Authors

  • P. Chowdhury

    • University of Massachusetts Lowell
    • UMass Lowell
  • V.S. Prasher

    • UMass Lowell
  • S.K. Tandel

    • UMass Lowell
  • E. Merchan

    • UMass Lowell
  • Y. Qiu

    • UMass Lowell
  • C.J. (Kim) Lister

    • UMass Lowell
  • D. Cline

    • U. of Rochester
  • A.B. Hayes

    • U. of Rochester
  • C.-Y. Wu

    • U. of Rochester
  • M.P. Carpenter

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • R.V.F. Janssens

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • T.L. Khoo

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • B.P. Kay

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • D. Seweryniak

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • S. Zhu

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • C.R. Hoffman

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • C.J. Chiara

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • L. Afanasieva

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • M. Albers

    • Argonne National Laboratory
  • A.J. Mitchell

    • UMass Lowell
  • R. Shearman

    • UMass Lowell