Laser spectroscopy of high spin isomers - a review

This review summarizes the experimental data on charge radii differences among ground state and high spin isomeric states determined by high-resolution laser spectroscopic methods. A comparison is presented between radii changes obtained from the isomeric shifts in the atomic spectra and from the quadrupole moments of both ground and isomeric states under the assumption that the radii changes are determined by the difference of the quadrupole deformations. Special attention is paid to isomers arising from the break-up of nucleon pairs and isomers of odd-odd nuclei. The characteristic features of the radii changes for isomeric states of different origin are discussed.