Shape and structure of N=Z 64Ge; Electromagnetic transition rates from the application of the Recoil Distance Method to knock-out reaction

Transition rate measurements are reported for the first and the second 2+ states in N=Z 64Ge. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with large-scale Shell Model calculations applying the recently developed GXPF1A interactions. Theoretical analysis suggests that 64Ge is a collective gamma-soft anharmonic vibrator. The measurement was done using the Recoil Distance Method (RDM) and a unique combination of state-of-the-art instruments at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL). States of interest were populated via an intermediate-energy single-neutron knock-out reaction. RDM studies of knock-out and fragmentation reaction products hold the promise of reaching far from stability and providing lifetime information for excited states in a wide range of nuclei.