COMPETING MECHANISM FOR GENERATING HIGH-SPIN EXCITATIONS IN GAMMA-SOFT NUCLEI - THE ND-136 CASE

High-spin structures in Nd-136 have been investigated via the Pd-110(S i-30,4n) reaction at 125 MeV using the GASP array. Several bands consi sting of stretched quadrupole transitions were identified. Two of them reach spins comparable to those of the highly-deformed (HD) band in N d-136, which is based on a neutron i(13/2)-h(9/2)/f(7/2) configuration . Total routhian surface (TRS) calculations indicate that regular high -spin excitations in this gamma-soft nucleus, can be also generated th rough successive pairs of h(11/2) protons and neutrons coupled to a st able small-deformation triaxial core. The previously reported gamma-ra y transitions of an excited HD band, identical to the yrast HD band, a re not confirmed by our data.