In-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy of Te-136 at relativistic energies

Abstract

The reduced transition probability B(E2; 0(1)(+) -> 2(1)(+)) to the first excited 2(+) state of the neutron-rich nucleus Te-136, with two protons and two neutrons outside the doubly magic Sn-132 core, was measured via Coulomb excitation at relativistic energies at the RIKEN Radioactive Isotope Beam Factory. A value of B(E2) = 0.191(26) e(2)b(2) was extracted from the measured inelastic scattering cross section on an Au target taking into account the contributions from both Coulomb and nuclear excitations. In addition, an upper limit for the transition strength to a 2(+) state of mixed-symmetry character in the excitation energy range of 1.5-2.2 MeV was determined and compared to the predictions of various theoretical calculations. Because of the high statistics gathered in the present experiment the error of the deduced B(E2) value is dominated by the systematic uncertainties involved in the analysis of Coulomb excitation experiments at beam energies around 150 MeV/u. Therefore, the latter are for the first time assessed in detail in the present work.