The Hoyle State in the Relativistic Dissociation of Light Nuclei

Abstract

In the context of the search for the triples of relativistic α particles in the Hoyle state, the analysis of available data on the dissociation of the ¹²C, ¹⁶O, and ²²Ne nuclei in a nuclear track emulsion was carried out. The Hoyle state is identified by the invariant mass calculated from the pair opening angles in α triples in the approximation of the conservation of the momentum per nucleon of the parent nucleus. The contribution of the Hoyle state to the ¹²C → 3α dissociation is 10%. In the case of the ¹⁶O → 4α coherent dissociation, it reaches 22% when the portion of the ¹⁶O → 2⁸Be channel is 5%.