The nuclear shell model is a powerful tool for predicting nuclear structure observables. It predicts single-particle and single-hole states above and below each closed proton and neutron shell. Experimental measurements of the structure of nuclei adjacent to shell closures yield important information for understanding the evolution of nuclear structure away from stability and serve as empirical input for improved calculations. 135Xe (Z=54, N=81) lies just below the N=82 shell gap, and as such, single-neutron excitations above the shell gap can be studied using neutron-transfer reactions, such as (d,p), on 134Xe. In order to study these states in 135Xe and their gamma decays, the 134Xe(d,pg)135Xe reaction was performed in inverse kinematics with GODDESS (Gammasphere-ORRUBA: Dual Detectors for Experimental Structure Studies) at the ATLAS accelerator facility at Argonne National Laboratory, using a 134Xe beam impinged on a C2D4 target. The coincident detection of reaction protons and gamma rays enabled high-resolution identification of excited levels in 135Xe and their gamma decays. The spin-parities of these levels were constrained by measuring reaction proton angular distributions with the position-sensitive ORRUBA silicon detectors. Candidates for single-neutron configurations above the N=82 shell gap have been observed for the first time; preliminary results will be presented.
