https://doi.org/10.1140/epjs/s11734-024-01131-4
Review
Multi-neutron-hole and core-excited configurations of isomeric states near the doubly-magic 
Pb
1
Department of Physics, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence, 201314, Delhi-NCR, India
2
Department of Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, 01854, Lowell, MA, USA
a sujit.tandel@snu.edu.in, sktandel@gmail.com
Received:
7
December
2023
Accepted:
23
February
2024
Published online:
5
March
2024
The region of the nuclear chart with atomic number Z = 80–83 (Hg-Bi) and neutron number N = 118–126, which is the subject of many recent investigations, has revealed the presence of quite long-lived states at high excitation energy and spin. Some noteworthy results include the 8-ms, spin (51/2) isomer at about 8 MeV in 205Bi, and the 60-ns, spin 28 level at 13.67 MeV in 208Pb. The states in 205Bi and 208Pb have the longest half-life and the highest excitation energy of isomers above 7 MeV identified across the nuclear chart yet. The recently discovered isomers are exceptional in terms of half-life, excitation energy or spin, and are built on excitations of the 208Pb core, which is the heaviest doubly-magic nucleus. The properties of these isomers with multi-quasiparticle configurations, involving nucleons in predominantly high-j orbitals below and above the Z = 82 and N = 126 shell gaps, are challenging to reproduce through large-scale shell-model calculations owing to the constraints imposed by the large model space. These metastable states constitute the means to discriminate between and serve to improve the available nuclear effective interactions.
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