12C(7Li,t)16O and stellar helium fusion

The reaction ¹²C(⁷Li, t)¹⁶O has been studied at $\text{E(}{}^7\text{Li}\text{) = 34}\text{MeV}$ with the LASL tandem accelerator and QDDD magnetic spectrometer. Angular distributions to levels with E_x < 11 MeV have been obtained from 0° to 90°, including 0°. The results have been analyzed with finite-range distorted-wave Born approximation theory. The α-particle spectroscopic factors and reduced widths obtained are compared with those calculated with group theory (SU(3)) and other models. The analysis of data for the 7.1 and 9.6 MeV J^π = 1^? levels, which are of great importance in stellar helium buring, yields a ratio, R, of dimensionless reduced α-widths $\text{θ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{(7.1}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{θ}{}^2{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>a</mtext>}}\text{(9.6}\text{MeV}\text{)}\text{= 0.35b ± 0.13}$. The observed line width of the 9.6 MeV level (Γ_c.m. = 390 ± 60 keV) is less than the accepted value (Γ_c.m. = 510 ± 60 keV) and implies θ²_a(9.6 MeV) ≈ 0.6. These results as well as data for the 6.92 MeV J^π = 2⁺ and 10.35 MeV J^π = 4⁺ “α-cluster” states indicate 0.09 < θ²_a(7.1 MeV) < 0.33 with a mean value θ²_a(7.1 MeV) = 0.14 ± 0.04. The implication for stellar helium burning is discussed.