Octupole correlations in the N = Z + 2 = 56 110Xe nucleus

This letter reports on the first observation of an octupole band in the neutron-deficient (N = Z + 2) nucleus 110Xe. The 110Xe nuclei were produced via the 54Fe(58Ni,2n) fusion-evaporation reaction. The emitted γ rays were detected using the jurogam 3 γ-ray spectrometer, while the fusion-evaporation residues were separated with the MARA separator at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyvaskyl ¨ a, Finland. The experimental observation of the ¨ low-lying 3− and 5− states and inter-band E1 transitions between the ground-state band and the octupole band proves the importance of octupole correlations in this region. These new experimental data combined with theoretical calculations using the symmetry-conserving configuration-mixing method, based on a Gogny energy density functional, have been interpreted as an evidence of enhanced octupole correlations in neutron-deficient xenon isotopes.