Evidence for partial rotation alignment in proton emitting 121Pr

Using nonadiabatic quasiparticle calculations we reproduce the experimental half-life for proton radioactivity in 121Pr assuming that the decaying state has angular momentum Jπ=7/2−, thus showing for the first time clear evidence for partial rotation alignment in a proton emitting nucleus. The treatment of the pairing interaction in the BCS approach produces profound changes in the ordering of energy levels, and at high deformation, the state 7/2− coming from the h11/2 spherical shell becomes the bandhead.