Direct Excitation of Rotational Levels ofSm152with Low-Energy Neutrons

Inelastic neutron scattering data presented for 2.5-MeV neutrons bombarding ${}_{}{}^{152}{}_{}{}^{}\mathrm{Sm}$ evince the direct excitation of rotational $2^{+}$, $4^{+}$, $6^{+}$, and $8^{+}$ levels of this deformed nucleus. The measured scattering cross sections for these levels are very much larger than can be ascribed to a statistical model mechanism. Coupled-channels calculations of the inelastic scattering cross sections also fall well below the observed enhancements for the $4^{+}$ and $6^{+}$ levels.