Abstract
We extend an effective field theory developed to describe rotational bands in even-even nuclei to the odd-mass case. This organizes Bohr and Mottelson's treatment of a particle coupled to a rotor as a model-independent expansion in powers of the angular velocity of the overall system. We carry out this expansion up to fourth order in the angular velocity and present results for Tc-99, Dy-159, Er-167 ,Er-169, Tm-167 ,Tm-169, W-183, U-235 , and Pu-239. In each case, the accuracy and breakdown scale of the effective field theory can be understood based on the single-particle and vibrational energy scales in that nucleus.