Crude shell-model location of two-particle high-spin states corresponding to a maximum spin coupling configuration

A compilation of a large number of experimental results supporting a crude shell-model description of two-nucleon high-spin states is presented. A simple addition rule is deduced: in even nuclei the energy of a state involving two nucleons coupled to their maximum spin value is simply the sum of the experimental energies of each nucleon in its single-particle state in the neighbouring nucleus plus the pairing energy when the two nucleons are identical. This simple model gives predictions in a parameter-free way, all the involved data being extracted from experiments