Decay out of the highly deformed band in {sup 133}Nd

The mean lifetimes of the 25/2{sup +}, 21/2{sup +}, and 17/2{sup +} states in the highly deformed (HD) band of {sup 133}Nd, excited via the reaction {sup 104}Pd({sup 32}S,2pn){sup 133}Nd, have been measured using a recoil distance Doppler-shift method. The decay out of the HD band occurs as a result of an admixture of normally deformed (ND) components into the HD states' wave function. The consistency in the mixing amplitude was assessed from the measured lifetimes, branching ratios, and quadrupole moments of the HD and the ND bands. This analysis unequivocally confirms the earlier approach to explain the decay-out mechanism.