A study of three-nucleon transfer reactions on 17O

The reactions ¹⁷O(¹¹B, ⁸Li)²⁰Ne, ¹⁷O(¹²C, ⁹Be)²⁰Ne and ¹⁷O(¹³C, ¹⁰B)²⁰F have been studied using beams of 115 MeV ¹¹B and ¹²C and 105 MeV ¹³C incident on a gas target. Shell-model calculations have been performed for ²⁰Ne and ²⁰F, for comparison with the experimental data. It is found that the data can be interpreted using the shell model spectroscopic factors and a semi-classical reaction theory. We justify the use of the latter by applying it to the cases of three-nucleon transfer on ¹⁶O. Spin assignments are suggested for previously unidentified states in ²⁰F.