Global Lifetime Measurements of Highly-Deformed and Other Rotational Structures in the A~135 Light Rare-Earth Region: Probing the Single-Particle Motion in a Rotating Potential

It has been possible, using GAMMASPHERE plus Microball,to extract differential lifetime measurements free from common systematic errors for over 15 different nuclei (various isotopes of Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, and Sm) at high spin within a single experiment. This comprehensive study establishes the effective single-particle quadrupole moments in the A~135 light rare-earth region. Detailed comparisons are made with calculations using the self-consistent cranked mean-field theory.