Superdeformed band in 130Ce

An “identical” superdeformed (SD) band has been discovered in the nucleus 130Ce. This band has transition energies which are identical to the half-way points between the energies in the yrast SD band of 131Ce to a mean degeneracy of 0.4%. The discovery of this band completes the chain of SD Ce isotopes from 129Ce to 133Ce. However, at 0.5% of the reaction channel, it is populated with an intensity which is an order of magnitude smaller than neighboring SD bands. The valence neutron configuration is assigned as ν61 with a hole in either the [523]7/2- or [411]1/2+ Nilsson orbitals.