Evidence for continuum E0 transitions following the decay of high spin states in ¹³⁰Ce

The decay of high-spin states in the continuum of ¹³⁰Ce is studied via γ-ray and internal conversion electron spectroscopy. An electron surplus above predicted yields based on γ data is seen in coincidence with transitions in the yrast band of ¹³⁰Ce. We attribute this to an admixture of electric monopole (E0) transitions with unstretched E2 and M1 transitions between strongly interacting bands of different deformations in the continuum. The E0 matrix elements needed to explain this surplus are comparable in magnitude to reported E0 matrix elements between discrete states in neighboring nuclei. © 1996 The American Physical Society.