  Transition rate measurements are reported for the first and the second 2+
states in N=Z 64Ge. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with
large-scale Shell Model calculations applying the recently developed GXPF1A
interactions. Theoretical analysis suggests that 64Ge is a collective
gamma-soft anharmonic vibrator. The measurement was done using the Recoil
Distance Method (RDM) and a unique combination of state-of-the-art instruments
at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL). States of interest
were populated via an intermediate-energy single-neutron knock-out reaction.
RDM studies of knock-out and fragmentation reaction products hold the promise
of reaching far from stability and providing lifetime information for excited
states in a wide range of nuclei.
