Abstract
The decay path of the Hoyle state in () has been studied with the reaction induced at 10.5 MeV. High resolution invariant mass spectroscopy techniques have allowed us to unambiguously disentangle direct and sequential decays of the state passing through the ground state of . Thanks to the almost total absence of background and the attained resolution, a fully sequential decay contribution to the width of the state has been observed. The direct decay width is negligible, with an upper limit of 0.043% (95% C.L.). The precision of this result is about a factor 5 higher than previous studies. This has significant implications on nuclear structure, as it provides constraints to cluster model calculations, where higher precision limits are needed.
- Received 15 May 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.132501
© 2017 American Physical Society
Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)
Viewpoint
Watching the Hoyle State Fall Apart
Published 25 September 2017
Two experiments provide the most precise picture to date of how an excited state of carbon decays into three helium nuclei.
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