Inelastic neutron scattering studies of ^132,134Xe: Elucidating structure in a transitional region and possible interferences for 0νββ searches

Highly enriched (> 99.9%) ¹³²Xe and ¹³⁴Xe gases were converted to solid ¹³²XeF₂ and ¹³⁴XeF₂ and were used as scattering samples for inelastic neutron scattering measurements at the University of Kentucky Accelerator Laboratory (UKAL). Lifetimes of levels up to 3.5MeV in excitation energy in these xenon isotopes were measured using the Doppler-shift attenuation method, allowing the determination of reduced transition probabilities. Gamma rays corresponding to new transitions and levels have been observed. In particular, tentative new excited 0⁺ states and associated decays have been examined in an effort to elucidate the structure of these nuclei in a transitional region, and comparisons have been drawn with models which seek to describe such nuclei, e.g., the E(5) critical-point symmetry of the IBM. Newly identified potential interferences for neutrinoless double-beta decay searches involving ¹³⁶Xe are also discussed. Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2015.