Neutron-rich ${}^{147,149,151}\mathrm{Pr}$ nuclei, produced in the spontaneous fission of ${}^{252}\mathrm{Cf},$ were studied using the Gammasphere array. Possible parity doublets in ${}^{147}\mathrm{Pr}$ with $N=88\mathrm{}$ and $\pi h_{11/2}$ bands in ${}^{149,151}\mathrm{Pr}$ are proposed. These new data on the level structures of odd Pr isotopes suggest that octupole correlations may also be present in the neutron-rich ${}_{59}^{147}{\mathrm{Pr}}_{88}$ nucleus such as those observed in ${}_{58}^{146}{\mathrm{Ce}}_{88},$ and also that the $h_{11/2}$ bands in the ${}^{149,151}\mathrm{Pr}$ track in energy the yrast bands in ${}^{148,150}\mathrm{Ce}.$ The backbending related to the breaking of the neutron $i_{13/2}$ pair is observed at $ħ\omega \approx 0.27\hspace{0.5em}\left(\mathrm{MeV}\right)$ for the proton $h_{11/2}$ band of ${}^{149}\mathrm{Pr}.$

• Received 23 December 1999

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.62.044303