Possible mechanisms of fragmentation of 16O nuclei with a momentum of 4.5 GeV/c per nucleon in track emulsions

The angular distributions of doubly charged fragments of ¹⁶O nuclei having a momentum of 4.5 GeV/c per nucleon and interacting with track-emulsion nuclei were studied. The experimental angular distributions of doubly charged fragments of a ¹⁶O nucleus are not described by the statistical model of the fragmentation of nuclei. The possible channels of fragmentation of ¹⁶O nuclei may include ¹⁶O → 2⁸Be → 4α, ¹⁶O → ⁸Be +⁸ Be* → 4α, ¹⁶O → 2⁸Be* → 4α, ¹⁶O → α+¹²C, ¹⁶O → α +¹²C* → α + 3α, ¹⁶O → α +¹²C* → α + pα ⁷Li, ¹⁶O → α +¹²C* → α + 2⁶Li, ¹⁶O → α +¹²C* → α + pt2α, ¹⁶O → Li + B, and ¹⁶O → Li* + B*.