Discrete line spectroscopy at the extremes of angular momentum in normal deformed Dy-156 and global differential lifetime measurements in the A similar to 130 highly-deformed region

The highest-spin discrete states (I similar to 60 (h) over bar and E-x similar to 30MeV) in normal deformed nuclei have been observed in the rare-earth isotope Dy-156 using the GAMMASPHERE spectrometer. The quadrupole moments for a variety of configurations, including the 9/2(+)[404] (g(9/2)) proton, 1/2(+) [660] (i(13/2)) and 1/2(-)[541](f(7/2), h(9/2)) neutron orbitals, were measured in a wide range of similar to 130 nuclei.