NUCLEAR DEFORMATION AND THE MOMENT OF INERTIA OF NUCLEAR ROTATIONAL STATES

Evidence concerning nuclear deformation from isotope shifts and from rotational states in even-even nuclei is compared for nuclei near neutron number 82. It is concluded that the moment of inertia of the rotational states is 4\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1 times greater than the theory predicts, if the nuclear radius is $1.20\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}13}{A}^{\frac{1}{3}}$ cm, and if the interpretation of isotope shifts in terms of nuclear deformation is correct.