The experimental $E1$ strength distribution below 4 MeV in rare-earth nuclei suggests a local breaking of isospin symmetry. In addition to the octupole states, additional $1^-$ states with enhanced E1 strength have been observed in rare-earth nuclei
by means of ($gamma,gamma$) experiments. By reproducing the experimental results, the spdf interacting boson model calculations provide further evidence for the formation of an $alpha$ cluster in medium-mass nuclei and might provide a new understanding of the origin of low-lying E1 strength.
Octupole vibrational states were studied in the nucleus $^{150}mathrm{Nd}$ via inelastic proton scattering with $unit[10.9]{MeV}$ protons which are an excellent probe to excite natural parity states. For the first time in $^{150}mathrm{Nd}$, both the
scattered protons and the $gamma$ rays were detected in coincidence giving the possibility to measure branching ratios in detail. Using the coincidence technique, the $B(E1)$ ratios of the decaying transitions for 10 octupole vibrational states and other negative-parity states to the yrast band were determined and compared to the Alaga rule. The positive and negative-parity states revealed by this experiment are compared with Interacting Boson Approximation (IBA) calculations performed in the (spdf) boson space. The calculations are found to be in good agreement with the experimental data, both for positive and negative-parity states.
