Investigation of the reaction mechanism for the four-particle photodisintegration of a carbon nucleus

Abstract

The four-particle photodisintegration of a carbon nucleus in the reactions 12C(γ, p)3H2α and 12C(γ, n)3H2α is investigated by a method that employs a diffusion chamber in a magnetic field. It is shown that these reactions proceed according a sequential-type scheme: excited states of 11B and 11C nuclei decay to weakly excited states of 8Be, 7Li, and 7Be nuclei. It is concluded that nucleons are knocked out from the s shell. In the excitation curve for the 2α system in the reaction 12C(γ, p)3H2α, a resonance is found between the maxima corresponding to the ground and the first excited state of the 8Be nucleus, and this resonance is identified as a ghost anomaly. The branching fractions of the decay modes are determined. The angular distributions of nucleons in the reaction c.m. frame are measured. The energy dependence of the asymmetry coefficient for the angular distributions is obtained. A fast increase in this coefficient is observed in the energy range 38–40 MeV. It is concluded that the asymmetry coefficient depends on the excitation energy of the final nucleus in the region of intermediate photon energies.