Lifetime measurements and Coulomb excitation of light Hg nuclei

Two complementary experimental programs have taken place to investigate the origin and evolution of shape coexistence in the light mercury region. Recoil Distance Doppler‐shift measurements were performed at the University of Jyvaskyla utilizing the Koln plunger device in conjunction with the JUROGAM+RITU+GREAT setup. In addition, Coulomb excitation measurements of 184,186,188Hg were performed at REX‐ISOLDE using the MINIBALL Ge‐detector array. The results of the lifetime measurements of the yrast states up to Iπ = 10+ in 182Hg are reported. Preliminary analysis of the Coulomb excitation data is also discussed.