Observing the effects of numbers of valence nucleons on $0_{gs}^{+}\to 2_1^{+}$ transitions in deformed nuclei by comparing proton and neutron transition matrix elements

We examined the ratios of neutron and proton transition matrix elements, $M_n\mathrm{/}{M}_p$, for the $0_{gs}^{+}\to 2_1^{+}$ transitions in 48 even-even stable nuclei with $N>20$ for which electromagnetic matrix elements were compiled by Pritychenko $\mathit{\text{et}}\mathit{\text{al.}}$ and for which high-quality inelastic proton scattering data were available. Several deformed rare earth nuclei have $(M_n\mathrm{/}{M}_p)\mathrm{/}(N\mathrm{/}Z)$ values significantly below 1.0, which is not consistent with a simple liquid drop picture. However, this phenomenon can be explained using a schematic picture in which $M_p$ reaches a maximum at proton mid-shell ($Z=66$) and $M_n$ reaches its maximum at neutron mid-shell ($N=104$). Several mid-mass vibrational nuclei have $M_n\mathrm{/}{M}_p$ values significantly below $N\mathrm{/}Z$, which is not consistent with the expectation that $M_n\mathrm{/}{M}_p=N\mathrm{/}Z$ in such nuclei. A shell model investigation of these observations might yield insights about this behavior.