Rotating deformed nuclei are neither rigid rotors nor irrotational droplets. The Kelvin circulation vector is the kinematical observable that measures the true character of nuclear rotation. For the anisotropic oscillator potential, mean field solutions with fixed angular momentum L and Kelvin circulation C are derived in analytic form. The cranking Lagrange multipliers corresponding to the L and C constraints are the angular ω and vortex λ velocities. Self-consistent solutions are reported with a constraint to constant volume.

• Received 17 June 1992

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevC.46.1818