Decay modes of $^{10}$C nuclei unbound state

TL;DR

This study investigates the decay modes of unbound $^{10}$C nuclei produced in heavy-ion collisions, revealing sequential decay mechanisms through intermediate unbound nuclei, and demonstrates the utility of heavy-ion collisions in probing exotic nuclear states.

Contribution

The paper provides experimental evidence of sequential decay pathways of $^{10}$C unbound states and estimates their contributions, advancing spectroscopic understanding of exotic nuclei.

Findings

Evidence of sequential decay via $^{9}$B, $^{6}$Be, and $^{8}$Be.

Quantitative estimates of decay sequence contributions.

Heavy-ion collisions as a tool for nuclear spectroscopy.

Abstract

Unbound states of $^{10}$C nuclei produced as quasi-projectiles in $^{12}$C+$^{24}$Mg collisions at E/A = 53 and 95 MeV are studied with the Indra detector array. Multi-particle correlation function analyses provide experimental evidence of sequential de-excitation mechanisms through the production of intermediate $^{9}$B, $^{6}$Be and $^{8}$Be unbound nuclei. The relative contributions of different decay sequences to the total decay width of the explored states is estimated semi-quantitatively. The obtained results show that heavy-ion collisions can be used as a tool to access spectroscopic information about exotic nuclei.