Multiple Chiral Doublet Bands of Identical Configuration in ${}^{103}\mathrm{Rh}$

Three sets of chiral doublet band structures have been identified in the ${}^{103}\mathrm{Rh}$ nucleus. The properties of the observed chiral doublet bands are in good agreement with theoretical results obtained using constrained covariant density functional theory and particle rotor model calculations. Two of them belong to an identical configuration and provide the first experimental evidence for a novel type of multiple chiral doublets, where an “excited” chiral doublet of a configuration is seen together with the “yrast” one. This observation shows that the chiral geometry in nuclei can be robust against the increase of the intrinsic excitation energy.

Figure 1

Partial level scheme of ${}^{103}\mathrm{Rh}$. The energies are given in keV, and the widths of the arrows are proportional to the relative transition intensities.

Figure 2

Typical $\gamma \gamma \gamma$-coincidence spectra obtained in the present work showing the placement of the $\gamma$ rays in bands 4 and 5. Transitions marked with stars and labeled in blue or red are in-band transitions.

Figure 3

Quasiparticle alignments of bands 3–6. For details, see the text.

Figure 4

Experimental excitation energies and $B(M1)/B(E2)$ ratios for the positive-parity chiral bands 1–2 (left panels) and negative-parity multiple chiral bands 3–6 (middle and right panels) in ${}^{103}\mathrm{Rh}$ together with the results of the triaxial particle rotor model. The number following the configuration label of the theoretical curve corresponds to the energy ordering of the calculated band with the given configuration.