Degeneracy at 1871 keV in Cd 112 and implications for neutrinoless double electron capture

High-statistics {beta}-decay measurements of {sup 112}Ag and {sup 112}In were performed to study the structure of the {sup 112}Cd nucleus. The precise energies of the doublet of levels at 1871 keV, for which the 0{sup +} member has been suggested as a possible daughter state following neutrinoless double electron capture of {sup 112}Sn, were determined to be 1871.137(72) keV (0{sub 4}{sup +} level) and 1870.743(54) keV (4{sub 2}{sup +} level). The nature of the 0{sub 4}{sup +} level, required for the calculation of the nuclear matrix element that would be needed to extract a neutrino mass from neutrinoless double electron capture to this state, is suggested to be of intruder origin.