ANALYSIS OF DELTA-I=2 STAGGERING IN NUCLEAR ROTATIONAL SPECTRA

A method is proposed and tested for the analysis of the so-called Delt a I=2 staggering observed in nuclear rotational bands. We examine six superdeformed (SD) bands in five nuclei, among which only the SD bands a and e of the nucleus Gd-149 seem to exhibit such staggering. Howeve r, we emphasize that the presence of a staggering may not necessarily imply the occurrence of a bifurcation. The mechanism which leads to th e staggering in question is still to be clarified. It is shown that a similar staggering seen in normally deformed bands is a manifestation of band crossings.