First observation of excited states in Pb-182 - art. no. 021302

Excited states in the light lead nucleus, Pb-182, have been observed for th e first time, by means of the recoil-decay tagging technique. A rotational band has been observed which has features in common with bands attributed t o a prolate configuration in the heavier neutron deficient lead nuclei, Pb1 84-188. A variable moment of inertia fit to the states in this band suggest s that the prolate minimum has risen significantly in energy compared to th e next even lead nucleus, Pb-184. This constitutes firm evidence for the mi nimization of this configuration with respect to the spherical ground state around N = 103.