Identification of excited states in 226U: Evidence for octupole deformation

The level scheme of 226U has been deduced from the results of two experiments carried out at the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland. Both α- and γ-ray-spectroscopic techniques have been employed. The interleaved states of positive- and negative-parity indicate the octupole nature of this nucleus, and the behavior of the difference in aligned angular momentum between the positive- and negative-parity bands as a function of rotational frequency is consistent with that expected for a rotating reflection-asymmetric shape.