Distorted nuclei spinning to the same beat. (atomic nuclei) From: Science News | Date: July 28, 1990| Author: Peterson, Ivars | COPYRIGHT 1990 Science Service, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Distorted nuclei spinning to the same beat

"Only occasionally in any area of science is something really unexpected found, but that seems to be the case in nuclear-structure physics just now."

This arresting assertion introduces a report in the July 16 PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS concerning the spectra of gamma rays emitted by certain atomic nuclei spinning so rapidly that their shapes becomes extremely elongated. Unexpectedly, different kinds of "superdeformed" n...