This thesis will be concerned with the understanding of the structure of the Nd isotopes as a function of neutron number and spin. The magnetic moment of a nucleus may be the product of several different effects. Nuclear models differ in their consideration of the relative contributions of collectivity, shell structure, pairing, single particle, and other effects on nuclear properties. Magnetic moments provide a particularly effective means to distinguish competing theoretical descriptions.
The clearest picture of the validity of a particular model comes in the description of systematic trends in nuclear properties as a function of proton number, neutron number, and spin. The behavior of the magnetic moment as a function of proton number in the mass 150 region has been traced over the course of many experiments over the last several years. With the application of a new method, the ``inverse kinematics'' form of the Transient Field technique, it is now possible to measure the g factors of several different isotopes, and of multiple states within each isotope in a single experiment. The experimental conditions are nearly identical for each isotope measured, so relative g factor measurements can be done with high precision, free from systematic uncertainties. This technique is especially valuable since systematic trends are of particular interest.
Low - lying states of nuclei far from a closed shell would be expected to have a g factor equal to Z/A. This assumes a purely collective excitation with equal contributions coming from proton and neutron motion. A more sophisticated model, the Interacting Boson Approximation (IBA), assumes an inert core of nucleons. The contribution to the g factor comes from counting ``boson pairs'' of neutrons and protons from the last closed shell. Predictions from this model will therefore be quite sensitive to the assumed location of nuclear shells. Previous measurements of level energy ratios in nuclei in the mass 150 region have suggested the possibility of a shell closure at Z=64. In addition, neither of these models has had great success in describing the systematic behavior of the g factors of the first excited states in the Nd isotopes. The use of the inverse kinematics technique provides the ability to make precise measurements of these states as well as higher excited states in an effort to further develop a theoretical description of this region.