Evidence for tetrahedral symmetry in (16)O.

Abstract

We derive the rotation-vibration spectrum of a 4α configuration with tetrahedral symmetry Td and show evidence for the occurrence of this symmetry in the low-lying spectrum of (16)O. All vibrational states with A, E, and F symmetry appear to have been observed as well as the rotational bands with LP=0+, 3-, 4+, 6+ on the A states and part of the rotational bands built on the E, F states. We derive analytic expressions for the form factors and B(EL) values of the ground-state rotational band and show that the measured values support the tetrahedral symmetry of this band.