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Tidal waves as yrast states in transitional nuclei

The yrast states of transitional nuclei are described as quadrupole waves running over the nuclear surface, which we call tidal waves. In contrast to a rotor, which generates angular momentum by increasing the angular velocity at approximately constant deformation, a tidal wave generates angular momentum by increasing the deformation at approximately constant angular velocity. The properties of the tidal waves are calculated by means of the cranking model in a microscopic way. The calculated energies and E2 transition probabilities of the yrast states in the transitional nuclides with $Z$= 44, 46, 48 and $N=56, 58, ..., 66$ reproduce the experiment in detail. The nonlinear response of the nucleonic orbitals results in a strong coupling between shape and single particle degrees of freedom.