The fragment mass analyzer at the ATLAS facility has been used to unambiguously identify the mass number associated with different decay modes of the nobelium isotopes produced via 204 Pb(48 Ca, xn) 252−x No reactions. Isotopically pure (>99.7%) 204 Pb targets were used to reduce background from more favored reactions on heavier lead isotopes. Two spontaneous fission half-lives (t 1/2 = 3.7 +1.1 −0.8 and 43 +22 −15 µs) were deduced from a total of 158 fission events. Both decays originate from 250 No rather than from neighboring isotopes as previously suggested. The longer activity most likely corresponds to a K isomer in this nucleus. No conclusive evidence for an α branch was observed, resulting in upper limits of 2.1% for the shorter lifetime and 3.4% for the longer activity.

We have identified two isomers in 254No, built on two- and four-quasiparticle excitations, with quantum numbers K pi = 8- and (14+), as well as a low-energy 2-quasiparticle Kpi = 3+ state. The occurrence of isomers establishes that K is a good quantum number and therefore that the nucleus has an axial prolate shape. The 2-quasiparticle states probe the energies of the proton levels that govern the stability of superheavy nuclei, test 2-quasiparticle energies from theory, and thereby check their predictions of magic gaps.

Isomers have been populated in 246 Cm and 252 No with quantum numbers K π = 8 − , which decay through K π = 2 − rotational bands built on octupole vibrational states. For N = 150 isotones with (even) atomic number Z = 94-102, the K π = 8 − and 2 − states have remarkably stable energies, indicating neutron excitations. An exception is a singular minimum in the 2 − energy at Z = 98, due to the additional role of proton configurations. The nearly constant energies, in isotones spanning an 18% increase in Coulomb energy near the Coulomb limit, provide a test for theory. The two-quasiparticle K π = 8 − energies are described with single-particle energies given by the Woods-Saxon potential and the K π = 2 − vibrational energies by quasiparticle random-phase approximation calculations. Ramifications for self-consistent mean-field theory are discussed.

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