Candidates for two-phonon octupole excitations in208Pb

Abstract
Following the identification of the lowest-spin member of the two-phonon octupole quartet in 208Pb, the additional members of the multiplet have been sought with the (n,nγ) reaction. Based on energy arguments and E1 transition probabilities determined from Doppler-shift lifetime measurements, the 5286- and 5216-keV states are suggested as candidates for the 2+ and 4+ two-phonon octupole excitations in 208Pb. The difficulties of identifying the 6+ member of this quartet are examined.