Measuring the ¹³⁴Xe(d,pγ)¹³⁵Xe Reaction with Goddess to Probe Single-Neutron Excitations in ¹³⁵Xe

The single-particle energy spectra of nuclei near shell closures provide important inputs for the nuclear shell model. ¹³⁵Xe (Z=54, N=81) lies just below the N=82 shell gap, and as such, single-neutron excitations above the shell gap can be studied using neutron-transfer reactions, such as (d,p), on ¹³⁴Xe. In order to study these states in ¹³⁵Xe and their gamma decays, the ¹³⁴Xe(d,pγ)¹³⁵Xe reaction was performed in inverse kinematics with GODDESS (Gammasphere-ORRUBA: Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies) at ATLAS, using a ¹³⁴Xe beam impinged on a C₂D₄ target. The coincident detection of reaction protons and gamma rays enabled identification of excited levels and their gamma decays. Spin-parities can be constrained by measuring reaction proton angular distributions with the position-sensitive ORRUBA silicon detectors. Candidates for f-p configurations above the N=82 shell gap have been observed for the first time; preliminary results will be presented.