Abstract
The Hoyle state in 12C was discovered over 50 years ago in 1957 and strongly influences the rate of the triple-alpha process in stars. Recently, significant experimental and theoretical effort has been invested to understand, in detail, its unorthodox structure. In particular, identification of excitations of the Hoyle state has been a key goal. This paper addresses the current progress with an emphasis on possible members of the Hoyle band and the structure implications.
Highlights
The fusion of three α-particles into 12C is able to proceed at a rate sufficient to make carbon-based life possible [1], only due to the serendipitous occurrence of two resonances
Is the presence of the Hoyle state close to the α-decay threshold key, but its properties are of paramount importance
The dominant decay process undergone by the Hoyle state, as outlined above, is via the ground-state of 8Be, with a limit on the direct disintegration into three α particles having recently been reported as
Summary
The fusion of three α-particles into 12C is able to proceed at a rate sufficient to make carbon-based life possible [1], only due to the serendipitous occurrence of two resonances. Over the past few years, intense activity has been focused on attempting to measure excitations of the Hoyle state as a means to measure the moment-of-inertia (assuming rotationaly behaviour) of the Hoyle band and its underlying structure with precision, and to obtain accurate energies for the location of the excitations, to enable their influence on the stellar carbon-production to be modelled These efforts capture the speculation involving nuclear condensates [6], comprising an α-Bose gas in which each α particle shares a common wave function and for which the Hoyle state is considered a prime candidate [6].
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