Deformation effects in the 28Si+12C and 28Si+28Si reactions

The possible occurrence of highly deformed configurations is investigated in the ⁴⁰Ca and ⁵⁶Ni di-nuclear systems as formed in the ²⁸Si + ¹²C, ²⁸Si reactions by using the properties of emitted light charged particles. Inclusive as well as exclusive data of the heavy fragments and their associated light charged particles have been collected by using the ICARE charged particle multidetector array. The data are analysed by Monte Carlo CASCADE statistical-model calculations using a consistent set of parameters with spin-dependent level densities. Significant deformation effects at high spin are observed as well as an unexpected large ⁸Be cluster emission of a binary nature.     

Gammadecay of quasimolecular resonances in the12C+12C system

We have studied the heavy-ion radiative capture reaction¹²C(¹²C,γ)²⁴Mg forE _cm =4.7–6.0 MeV. Transitions to the ground-, first and unresolved second and third excited states in the final nucleus²⁴Mg have been observed with cross sections as low as 1 nb/sr. Forγ ₁ two strong resonance-like structures at 4.9 and 5.0 MeV were found correlated in energy with established 2⁺ resonances. Statistical model calculations cannot account for the observed yield. The branching ratioΓ _γ /Γ associated with theγ ₁ decay channel of the 5 MeV resonance was estimated to be 1.1·10^?5 yielding aγ-ray strength of 0.8 eV. The experimental result is in agreement with calculations based on the generator coordinate method where broad barrier resonances are viewed as short lived states of quasimolecular nature.     

Accurate determination of the 13C-12C+n spectroscopic factor

We have measured ¹²C-¹³C elastic cross sections at 12 MeV between 40°–140° in 1° steps to ±1%. The observed oscillatory interference between Coulomb scattering and the neutron transfer process is analyzed using exact finite-range DWBA, and a model-independent value of C² = 2.55±0.10 for the asymptotic normalization of the $\text{1}\text{p}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>1</mtext><mtext>2</mtext>}}$ neutron wave function in ¹³C is obtained. Using radial wave functions determined by elastic electron scattering the spectroscopic factor is found to be S = 0.81±0.04.     

One-nucleon transfer reactions in the12C+12C system at 344.5 MeV

Angular distributions of cross sections have been measured for single nucleon transfer reactions induced by 344.5 MeV¹²C ions on a¹²C target. DWBA analyses have been performed for transitions to discrete final states. Spectroscopic information has been derived and is compared with results of other studies.     

Potential resonant screening effects on stellar 12C + 12C reaction rates

The ¹²C + ¹²C fusion cross-sections show a resonant behavior down to the lowest energies accessible so far in the laboratory. If this tendency continues into the astrophysical energy range, the stellar ¹²C + ¹²C reaction rates have to be corrected for resonant screening effects, in addition to the conventional screening corrections. We estimate the resonant screening effects in the weak electron screening limit for hydrostatic burning and white-dwarf environments. Received: 24 May 2002 / Accepted: 31 July 2002 / Published online: 7 November 2002 RID="a" ID="a"e-mail: langanke@ifa.au.dk Communicated by J. ?yst?     

Inclusion of the Δ resonance in the optical potential between two nuclei and its application to medium energy12C-12C scattering

An energy dependent complex optical potential between two nuclei is calculated from the potential energy density for two colliding nuclear matters generated by solving the Bethe-Goldstone equation in whichNΔ and ΔΔ channels are explicitly coupled to theNN channel. By adding the contributions from the third and fourth order ring diagrams and the relativistic correction to the calculated potential energy density, the saturation property of a nuclear matter is reasonably well reproduced. This is used together with the kinetic energy density to calculate the optical potential for the¹²C+¹²C system in the energy density formalism with the local density approximation. The surface correction term and the symmetry energy term in the energy density functional are determined to reproduce the observed binding energy and the rms radius of¹²C. Using this potential, the differential cross sections for elastic¹²C-¹²C scattering atE _lab=1440 and 2400 MeV are calculated and compared with recent experimental data.     

Heavy cluster knockout reaction (16)O((12)C,2(12)C)(4)He and the nature of the (12)C-(12)C interaction potential

The heavy cluster knockout reaction (16)O((12)C,2(12)C)(4)He performed for the first time, reveals the true nature of the (12)C-(12)C interaction. The observed cross section is enhanced by almost 2 orders of magnitude over the conventional zero range distorted wave impulse approximation (DWIA) predictions. An attractive (12)C-(12)C optical potential, as obtained in the folding model, does not explain the enhanced cross section in the finite range (FR) DWIA framework. The inclusion of a hard core of fairly long range ～3.65 fm explains the data. The present investigation of (16)O((12)C,2(12)C)(4)He along with the (12)C-(12)C elastic scattering also proves beyond doubt that the folding model's deep attractive heavy ion potentials are unsuitable to describe the highly overlapping heavy ions. The application of FR-DWIA opens up new avenues to use the heavy core knockout for the detailed investigation of heavy as well as Borromean halo nuclei.     

Dynamic polarization potential of 12C+12C system at molecular-resonance energies

The nuclear reaction dynamics leading to the formation of recently discovered resonance in the mutual-0₂ ⁺ channel of the ¹²C+¹²C inelastic scattering around E _c.m.≃ 32 MeV is studied in terms of the dynamic polarization potential (DPP) induced by the channel coupling among various excited states in ¹²C. The microscopic 3α cluster-model wave functions are used to generate the ¹²C−¹²C diagonal and coupling potentials in the double-folding model. It is found that DPP for the 0₂ ⁺+ 0₂ ⁺ channel is an unusually strong attractive potential which even exceeds the zeroth-order folding-model potential of this channel around the nuclear surface region and that the strong coupling between the 0₂ ⁺ and 2₂ ⁺ states is predominantly responsible for the unusual DPP in this channel. The effective potential, the sum of the original folding-model potential and the attractive DPP, is found to generates resonance states in the same energy region as that of the resonance states generated by the original folding-model potential but the former states are found to be higher-nodal states having four additional radial nodes. Similar but more moderate property of DPP is also found in the entrance (elastic) channel. These results suggest that the reaction dynamics of generating the resonance in the ¹²C(0₂ ⁺) +¹²C(0₂ ⁺) channel may rather differ from that of the simple crossing of the zeroth-order molecular band generated by the potentials in the entrance and exit channels suggested by the standard band-crossing model. Received: 17 December 1998 / Revised version: 1 March 1999     

The 13C2 and 12C13C Ballik-Ramsay system

The infrared spectrum of the b³Σ⁻ → a³Π Ballik-Ramsay system has been observed for both ¹³C₂ and ¹²C¹³C isotopic species using high-resolution Fourier transform spectroscopy. Twelve bands: 0 → 0, 1 → 0, 1 → 1, 2 → 0, 2 → 1, 3 → 1, 3 → 2, 4 → 2, 4 → 3, 5 → 2, 5 → 3, 6 → 3 of ¹³C₂ and seven bands: 0 → 0, 1 → 0, 1 → 1, 2 → 0, 2 → 1, 3 → 1, 3 → 2 of ¹²C¹³C were identified in the spectral range 3500–12 000 cm⁻¹. Perturbations in the b³Σ⁻ (v = 0, 1, 2, 3) levels were reduced and accurate perturbation parameters derived from the analysis. A comparison with ab initio calculated spin-orbit coupling constants is presented.     

Structures in the excitation functions for compound reactions in the12C+14C system

Excitation functions for the elastic scattering of¹²C on¹⁴C and the reactions¹⁴C(¹²C, α)²²Ne,¹⁴C(¹²C,t)²³Na and¹⁴C(¹²C,d)²⁴Na have been measured in the vicinity of the Coulombbarrier. Strong fluctuations of the differential cross sections as a function of incident energy are observed in the α-particle, triton and deuteron channels. The total yield in the three different channels shows correlated structures at energiesE _c.m.=6.8, 7.2 and 8.3 MeV. This phenomenon is similar to the structures observed in the¹²C+¹²C reactions and indicates the possible presence of resonances in the entrance channel.     

Neutron branching in the reaction 12C + 12C

The cross section for the reaction ¹²C(¹²C, n)²³Mg has been measured in the energy range E_c.m. = 3.54?4.94 MeV by counting the delayed γ-rays from ²³Mg decays (half-life = 11.57 sec), and a theoretical model has been employed to extrapolate the results to threshold (E_c.m = 2.60 MeV). By combining these results with previous measurements of the reactions ¹²C(¹²C, p)²³Na and ¹²C(¹²C, α)²⁰Ne, the neutron branching ratio in the energy interval from threshold to 8 MeV is deduced, and a thermal average is computed that should be valid for use in astrophysical environments characterized by temperatures in the range (0.5–5) × 10⁹ °K. The neutron branching at temperatures appropriate to hydrostatic carbon burning in stars (T ≈ 109 °K) is found to be much smaller than previously estimated.     

Spins of resonances in the 12C + 16O system

The spins of resonances appearing at 22 MeV c.m. entrance channel energy in the ¹²C + ¹⁶O system are determined. Several inelastic transitions are used and a value of J^π = 15^? is deduced. This value disagrees with a previous J^π = 14⁺ assignment based on elastic scattering, but agrees with the J^π = 15^? value predicted at this energy by a recent microscopic calculation of ¹²C + ¹⁶O scattering.     

Screening effects on ~(12)C+~(12)C fusion reaction

One of the important reactions for nucleosynthesis in the carbon burning phase in high-mass stars is the ~(12)C+~(12)C fusion reaction. In this study, we investigate the influences of the nuclear potentials and screening effect on astrophysically interesting ~(12)C+~(12)C fusion reaction observables at sub-barrier energies by using the microscopic α-αdouble folding cluster(DFC) potential and the proximity potential. In order to model the screening effects on the experimental data, a more general exponential cosine screened Coulomb(MGECSC) potential including Debye and quantum plasma cases has been considered in the calculations for the ~(12)C+~(12)C fusion reaction. In the calculations of the reaction observables, the semi-classical Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin(WKB) approach and coupled channel(CC)formalism have been used. Moreover, in order to investigate how the potentials between ~(12)C nuclei produce molecular cluster states of ~(24)Mg, the normalized resonant energy states of ~(24)Mg cluster bands have been calculated for the DFC potential. By analyzing the results produced from the fusion of ~(12)C+~(12)C, it is found that taking into account the screening effects in terms of MGECSC is important for explaining the ~(12)C+~(12)C fusion data, and the microscopic DFC potential is better than the proximity potential in explaining the experimental data, also considering that clustering is dominant for the structure of the ~(24)Mg nucleus.     

Near-barrier fission of the system12C+232Th

The fission fragment angular distributions for the system¹²C +²³²Th have been measured in the energy range 0.97<>_c.m./V_B<1.22. the=" measured=" anisotropies=" have=" been=" compared=" with=" the=" predictions=" of=" the=" standard=" saddle=" point=" statistical=" model,=" using=" the=" second=" moment=" of=" the=" compound=" nucleus=" spin=" distribution=">l² deduced from a Wong model fit to the fission excitation function. While the measured anisotropies agree with the standard saddle point statistical model for E_c.m./V_B>1.05, they are abnormally large at lower energies. This is also true for the existing measurements of¹⁶O and¹⁹F +²³²Th systems. Since for this system pre-equilibrium fission contributions are not expected, this anomaly indicates strong channel coupling effects leading to an increase in l² at sub-barrier energies.The authors thank Drs. R.K. Choudhury and A. Saxena for useful discussions, Dr. R.J. Singh for making the thorium target and the Pellectron operation staff for excellent operation of the machine.     

The 19.7 MeV resonance in the system 16O + 12C

The 19.7 MeV structure in the system ¹²C + ¹⁶O is investigated by measuring angular distributions and excitation functions for elastic and inelastic scattering with very high resolution. From a quasi phase shift analysis, it is deduced that the structure is a true resonance with J^π = 14⁺. The deduced small elastic partial width indicates that the structure of this state is intermediate between a molecular and a compound state.     

Resonant effects in the12C+12C→8Be gs +16O gs reaction aroundE cm=32.5 MeV

The¹²C+¹²C→⁸Be _gs +1¹⁶O _gs reaction has been studied at c.m. energies of 27.9, 32.5 and 35.0 MeV. The energy dependence of the cross section is consistent with a resonant behaviour like the one observed for two¹²C nuclei excited in a very deformed state in the final channel. The angular distributions for the two reactions show also a similar oscillatory behaviour. The analysis suggests that the reaction proceeds through the formation of an intermediate state with a complex nature, involving largely deformed configurations as well as almost spherical ones.