On the symmetries of the 12C nucleus

Abstract

The consequences of some symmetries of the three-alpha system are discussed. In particular, the recent description of the low-energy spectrum of the [Formula: see text]C nucleus in terms of the algebraic cluster model (ACM) is compared to that of the multichannel dynamical symmetry (MUSY), which is the intersection of the shell and cluster models. The previous one applies interactions of a [Formula: see text] geometric symmetry [D. J. Marin-Lambarri et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 113 (2014) 012502], while the latter one has a U(3) dynamical symmetry. The available data is in line with both descriptions.