Configuration mixing and relative transition rates between low-spin states in 68Ni

The low-spin level scheme of ${}^{68}$Ni was investigated following two-neutron-knockout and multinucleon-transfer reactions. The energy of the first excited state was determined to be ${E}_{x}({0}_{2}^{+})=1603.5(3)$ keV. Relative $B(E2)$ transition probabilities were deduced and compared with shell-model calculations using several modern effective interactions. Theory reproduces the data well, but indicates substantial mixing of multi-particle, multi-hole configurations for the lowest observed ${0}^{+}$ and ${2}^{+}$ states.