Evolution of the one-phonon 21,ms+ mixed-symmetry state in N=80 isotones as a local measure for the proton-neutron quadrupole interaction

An inverse kinematics Coulomb excitation experiment was performed to obtain absolute E2 and M1 transition strengths in 134Xe. The measured transition strengths indicate that the 23+ state of 134Xe is the dominant fragment of the one-phonon 21,ms+ mixed-symmetry state. Comparing the energy of the 21,ms+ mixed-symmetry state in 134Xe to that of the 21,ms+ levels in the N=80 isotonic chain indicates that the separation in energy between the fully-symmetric 21+ state and the 21,ms+ level increases as a function of the number of proton pairs outside the Z=50 shell closure. This behavior can be understood as resulting from the mixing of the basic components of a two-fluid quantum system. A phenomenological fit based on this concept was performed. It provides the first experimental estimate of the strength of the proton-neutron quadrupole interaction derived from nuclear collective states with symmetric and antisymmetric nature.