USING beta-DECAY TO MAP THE E2 STRENGTH IN THE Cd ISOTOPES AND THE DOWNFALL OF VIBRATIONAL MOTION

The beta decay of Ag-112 has been used to populate spin 0(+) and 2(+) states in Cd-112 to 3 MeV excitation energy. The statistical quality obtained allows the extraction of very weak gamma-ray branching ratios that, combined with known level lifetimes, enables the determination of the B(E2) values or upper limits for transitions populating the proposed two-phonon states. While candidates for 3(+), 4(+), and 6(+) three-phonon levels have been identified, there are no candidates for the 0(+) and 2(+) three phonon levels, and the upper limits of the B(E2) values indicate that phonon E2 strength is not fragmented, but absent below 5hw(2).