Evidence for highly deformed bands in ¹³³₆₂Sm₇₁

Excited states of the ¹³³Sm nucleus have been populated to high spin via the ⁹⁶Ru(⁴⁰Ca, 2pn) reaction. Rotational structures have been observed and their characteristics studied by examination of their dynamic moments of inertia and alignment gains. These experimentally derived quantities have been compared with theoretical calculations from both standard cranked shell and self-consistent total Routhian surface calculations. The discovery of a new coupled band within the ¹³³Sm nucleus has lead to the reassignment of the configuration of one of the previously identified bands. The new calculations predict strong polarization effects for different configurations, which result in quadrupole deformations that vary from β2∼0.28 to ≥0.38.