THE DECAY-OUT OF SUPERDEFORMED BANDS IN THE A=190 REGION - WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED

One-step decay transitions linking the superdeformed (SD) bands 1 and 3 in Hg-194 to yrast levels are discussed. Inter-band transitions betw een bands 1 and 3 have also been identified. For the first time, the s pin, parity and excitation energy have been determined for two SD band s in the same nucleus. The low excitation energy of the excited band s upports the view that it is based on an octupole excitation. It is bel ieved that Porter-Thomas fluctuations play a major role in determining the strength of the one-step transitions as suggested by the fact tha t only one other SD band has been linked in the A = 190 mass region (P b-194) at th, present time. When Porter-Thomas fluctuations prevent th e observation of one-step or two-step linking transitions, as e.g. in the case of Hg-192, the analysis of the quasi-continuous part of the d ecay-out spectrum provides an alternative method for the determination of the excitation energy and spin of an SD band. This method is discu ssed in detail.