Abstract
The transitional nuclei ¹³⁴Ba and ¹³³Ba are investigated after multinucleon transfer employing the high-resolution Advanced GAmma Tracking Array coupled to the magnetic spectrometer PRISMA at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Italy, and after fusion-evaporation reaction at the FN tandem accelerator of the University of Cologne, Germany. The Jπ=19/2⁺ state at 1942 keV in ¹³³Ba is identified as an isomer with a half-life of 66.6(20)ns corresponding to a B(E1) value of 7.7(4)×10⁻⁶e²fm² for the Jπ=19/2⁺ to Jπ=19/2⁻ transition. The level scheme of ¹³⁴Ba above the Jπ=10⁺ isomer is extended to approximately 6 MeV. A pronounced backbending is observed at ℏω=0.38 MeV along the positive-parity yrast band. The results are compared to the high-spin systematics of the Z=56 isotopes. Large-scale shell-model calculations employing the GCN50:82, SN100PN, SNV, PQM130, Realistic SM, and EPQQM interactions reproduce the experimental findings and elucidate the structure of the high-spin states. The shell-model calculations employing the GCN50:82 and PQM130 interactions reproduce alignment properties and provide detailed insight into the microscopic origin of this phenomenon in transitional ¹³⁴Ba.