Abstract
Excited states in certain atomic nuclei possess an unusual structure, where the dominant degrees of freedom are those of clusters rather than individual nucleons. It has been proposed that the diffuse system of the Hoyle state may behave like a Bose-Einstein condensate, where the clusters maintain their bosonic identities. By measuring the decay of the Hoyle state into three particles, we obtained an upper limit for the rare direct decay branch of 0.047%. This value is now at a level comparable with theoretical predictions and could be a sensitive probe of the structure of this state.
- Received 15 May 2017
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.119.132502
© 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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