New results for the $\beta$ decay of $^{144}$Cs into $^{144}$Ba

The partial level structure of neutron-rich $^{144}$Ba was deduced following the $\beta$ decay of $^{144}$Cs. The number of known levels has been greatly expanded, and states with spins $\le 5 \hbar$ have been observed. The experiment was conducted using a re-accelerated beam of $^{144}$Cs extracted from CARIBU, and implanted in a Pb foil placed at the target position of the Gammasphere array. The comparative $\beta$ decay half-life, log $ft$, has been classified according to the degree of forbiddenness for 37 transitions which feed the 2$^+_1$ in $^{144}$Ba. A preliminary result of 5.94(4) favors a positive parity assignment for the $^{144}$Cs spin-1 groundstate.