O(6)-symmetry breaking in the (126)Xe nucleus

Low-lying collective excited states of (126)Xe have been investigated via the (12)C((126)xe,(126)xe*) Coulomb excitation reaction. Absolute E2 transition strengths have been obtained. These data are compared to the Interacting Boson Model near the O(5) symmetry. The agreement between the measurements and the model, enables us to understand the decay of the low-lying collective states in terms of O(6) and O(5) selection rules and to uantify the amount of O(6)-symmetry breaking in (126)Xe.