Evidence for non-yrast states in 254No

Evidence for the decay of non-yrast states in 254No has been observed for the first time in an experiment performed at the University of Jyvaskyla. The experiment employed the JUROGAM array of germanium detectors coupled to the gas-filled recoil separator RITU and the focal-plane spectrometer GREAT. The ground-state rotational band has been tentatively extended up to a spin of 24ℏ and has a smoothly behaving dynamical moment of inertia. It is speculated that the observation of high-energy γ-rays is due to the decay of a K = 3 band-head state.