Medium- and low-spin states in 143Nd studied in the (α, n) reaction

Abstract Excitations of the 143 Nd, N = 83 nucleus populated in the 140 Ce(α, n) reaction were studied in a broad energy ( E I 21 2 ) range by in-beam gamma and electron spectroscopy. All previously known levels were observed, many new ones identified and uniquely characterized. The existing experimental information and the new results were employed to deduce the level structure, which is discussed in terms of the coupling of a valence neutron with various core excitations. Particular emphasis is put on the f 7 2 × 2 + quadrupole multiplet structure and the feature of the gamma decay of the f 7 2 × 3 − octupole multiplet.