R-matrix analysis of the β decays of N12 and B12

Abstract

The β decays of N12 and B12 have been studied at KVI and JYFL to resolve the composition of the broad and interfering 0+ and 2 + strengths in the triple-α continuum. For the first time a complete treatment of 3α decay is presented including all major breakup channels. A multilevel, many-channel R-matrix formalism has been developed for the complete description of the breakup in combination with the recently published separate analysis of angular correlations. We find that, in addition to the Hoyle state at 7.65 MeV, more than one 0+ and 2+ state is needed to reproduce the spectra. Broad 03+ and 22+ states are found between 10.5 and 12 MeV in this work. The presence of β strength up to the N12 Q-value window suggests the presence of additional 0+ and 2 + components in the C12 structure at energies above 12.7 MeV. © 2010 The American Physical Society. ; Supported by the Academy of Finland (Project No. 44875), by the Spanish Agency CICYT (Nos. FPA2005-02379 and FPA2007-62216) and MEC Consolider Project No. CSD2007-00042, by the Belgian IAP P6/23 project and FWO-Vlaanderen, by the European Union sixth Framework Programme "EURONS"(No. 506065), and by the Swedish Research Council and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. T.N. is a Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Research Fellow supported by a grant from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation. The work at KVI was performed as part of Program 48 (TRIµP) of the Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM). ; Peer Reviewed