Eur. Phys. J. A (2004) 21: 175-177
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2003-10242-8
https://doi.org/10.1140/epja/i2003-10242-8
Letter
Experimental evidence for tunneling in the decay of superdeformed states
Department of Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-10691, Stockholm, Sweden
* e-mail: karinl@nucmar.physics.fsu.edu
A systematic study of the depopulation of superdeformed rotational bands in neutron-deficient 
nuclei has been performed. We observed a correlation between the rotational frequency at which the decay out of the superdeformed bands takes place and the difference between the transition quadrupole moments of states in the superdeformed bands and high-lying states with “normal” deformation. The observation may constitute direct experimental evidence that the commonly adopted tunneling picture for the decay of superdeformed states is valid.
© Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag, 2004
