Rotational bands and band crossings in ¹¹⁹Xe

Excited states in ¹¹⁹Xe have been populated via the ⁹⁵Mo(²⁷Al,p2n) reaction at a beam energy of 105 MeV. The high-spin level structure is interpreted as consisting of rotational bands built on quasineutron h_11/2, d_5/2, and g_7/2 states. Although these positive-parity configurations differ from previous interpretations, most notably an earlier g_9/2 assignment, they are supported by experimental B(M1;I→I-1)/B(E2;I→I-2) ratios plus additional levels presented here. A backbend in the g_7/2 band is attributed to the rotation alignment of a pair of νh_11/2 quasiparticles.