Multiple superdeformed bands in Dy153

Multiple superdeformed rotational bands have been identified in a nucleus for the first time. Cascades of 14, 13, and 11 transitions have been assigned to three bands in Dy153. Despite the small intensities, it has been possible to follow the decay of these bands from an angular frequency of 0.7 down to 0.4 MeV/ħ. In all three cases, the dynamic moment of inertia scrI(2) is nearly constant. Assignments to high-N intruder orbitals are suggested through comparison of these values of scrI(2) with theoretical calculations based on the cranked shell model.