Identification of high-spin proton configurations in Ba 136 and Ba 137
19 pags., 11 figs., 3 tabs. ; The high-spin structures of Ba136 and Ba137 are investigated after multinucleon-transfer (MNT) and fusion-evaporation reactions. Ba136 is populated in a Xe136+U238 MNT reaction employing the high-resolution Advanced GAmma Tracking Array (AGATA) coupled to the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, and in two Be9+Te130 fusion-evaporation reactions using the High-efficiency Observatory for γ-Ray Unique Spectroscopy (HORUS) at the FN tandem accelerator of the University of Cologne, Germany. Furthermore, both isotopes are populated in an elusive reaction channel in the B11+Te130 fusion-evaporation reaction utilizing the HORUS γ-ray array. The level scheme above the Jπ=10+ isomer in Ba136 is revised and extended up to an excitation energy of approximately 5.5 MeV. From the results of angular-correlation measurements, the Ex=3707- and Ex=4920-keV states are identified as the bandheads of positive- and negative-parity cascades. While the high-spin regimes of both Te132 and Xe134 are characterized by high-energy 12+→10+ transitions, the Ba136E2 ground-state band is interrupted by negative-parity states only a few hundred keV above the Jπ=10+ isomer. Furthermore, spins are established for several hitherto unassigned high-spin states in Ba137. The new results close a gap along the high-spin structure of N<82 Ba isotopes. Experimental results are compared to large-scale shell-model calculations employing the GCN50:82, Realistic SM, PQM130, and SN100PN interactions. The calculations suggest that the bandheads of the positive-parity bands in both isotopes are predominantly of proton character. ; Furthermore, we express our thanks to Dr. E. Teruya and Dr. N. Yoshinaga from Saitama University, Japan, for providing the results of their shellmodel calculation with the PQM130 interaction. The research leading to these results has received funding from the German BMBF under Contracts No. 05P15PKFN9 TP1 and No. 05P18PKFN9 TP1, from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under Grant Agreement No. 262010 - ENSAR, from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación under Contract No. FPA2011-29854- C04, from the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad under Contract No. FPA2014-57196-C5, and from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). L.K. and A.V. thank the Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy (BCGS) for financial support. One of the authors (A. Gadea) has been supported by the Generalitat Valenciana, Spain, under Grant No. PROMETEOII/2014/019, and EU under the FEDER program.