High-spin transition quadrupole moments in neutron-rich Mo and Ru nuclei: Testing γ softness?

The transition quadrupole moments, Q(t), of rotational bands in the neutron-rich, even-mass Mo102-108 and Ru108-112 nuclei were measured in the 8-16 (h) over bar spin range with the Doppler-shift attenuation method. The nuclei were populated as fission fragments from Cf-252 fission. The detector setup consisted of the Gammasphere spectrometer and the HERCULES fast-plastic array. At moderate spin, the Q(t) moments are found to be reduced with respect to the values near the ground states. Attempts to describe the observations in mean-field-based models, specifically cranked relativistic Hartree-Bogoliubov theory, illustrate the challenge theory faces and the difficulty to infer information on gamma softness and triaxiality from the data. (c) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.