A recent understanding of ΔI=4 bifurcation (or, ΔI=2 staggering) based on the projected shell model is used to investigate optimal situations for observing this effect. A set of nuclei is proposed that may represent favorable cases for observation of this effect in normally deformed nuclei. It is found that the occurrence of ΔI=4 bifurcation is extremely sensitive to the quasiparticle distribution near the Fermi surface; therefore such effects probe the microscopic quasiparticle structure of rotational bands in a very sensitive manner. © 1996 The American Physical Society.

• Received 26 September 1995

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.54.2967