Level density and thermal properties in rare earth nuclei

The level density at low spin has been extracted for several nuclei in the rare earth region using the (He-3,alpha) reaction. Within the framework of the micro canonical ensemble the entropy and the temperature of the nuclei have been derived. The temperature curve shows bumps which we associate wit h the break up of Cooper pairs. The entropies of the even-even and even-odd nuclei have been compared. The nuclear heat capacity is deduced within the framework of the canonical ensemble and exhibits an S-formed shape as func tion of temperature.