Critical and shape-unstable nuclei

The authors' experimental work on the decay of neutron deficient mercury osmium nuclei, some other studies at ISOLDE (CERN) and their first theoretical analysis show that the nuclei around /sup 186/Pt (Z=78, N=108) are at the limit of spherical, oblate, prolate nuclei, have (the even one) their first 0/sup +/ excited states at very low energy; quasi- rotational bands are associated to these states. The energy of this O/sup +/ state in /sup 186-/Pt deviate from the Kumar value: angular shape instability is not enough to explain this result. The authors look at radial shape and pairing fluctuations. The position of the 4p-4n state must also be known. (0 refs).