Fine structure of the pygmy dipole resonance in (136)Xe.

The photoresponse of the semimagic N=82 nucleus (136)Xe was measured up to the neutron separation energy S(n) using the (gamma, gamma') reaction. A concentration of strong dipole excitations is observed well below S(n) showing a fragmented resonancelike structure. Microscopic calculations in the quasiparticle phonon model including complex configurations of up to three phonons agree well with the experimental data in the total integrated strength, in the shape and the fragmentation of the resonance, which allows us to draw conclusions on the damping mechanism of the pygmy dipole resonance.

Nature of the pygmy dipole resonance in 140Ce studied in (alpha, alpha' gamma) experiments.

A concentration of electric-dipole excitations below the particle threshold, which is frequently denoted as the pygmy dipole resonance, has been studied in the semimagic nucleus 140Ce in (alpha, alpha' gamma) experiments at E alpha = 136 MeV. The technique of alpha-gamma coincidence experiments allows the separation of E1 excitations from states of other multipolarities in the same energy region and provides an excellent energy resolution to allow a detailed analysis for each state. The experimental results show that the PDR splits into two parts with different nuclear structure: one part which is excited in (alpha, alpha' gamma) as well as (gamma, gamma') experiments and one part which is excited only in (gamma, gamma').