Sensitivity of three-body decays to the reactions mechanism and the initial structure by example of 6Be

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the initial structure and reaction mechanisms influence three-body decay processes, using 6Be as a case study, revealing significant sensitivities and predicting new state characteristics.

Contribution

It demonstrates the impact of initial spin composition on three-body decay correlations and predicts new excited states in 6Be with conditions for their observation.

Findings

The initial spin state greatly affects three-body decay correlations.

Predicted the structure of 6Be's second 0+ and 2+ states for the first time.

Identified conditions for observing these excited states.

Abstract

The influence of the initial-state structure and the reaction mechanism on three-body decays is investigated by example of the 6Be continuum populated in neutron-knockout reactions on 7Be. The sensitivity of the 6Be excitation spectrum and the three-body correlations to the different components of the model is demonstrated. It is shown that the spin composition of the initial state may have an overwhelming effect on the three-body continuum. The characteristics and structure of the second $0^+_2$ and $2^+_2$ states in 6Be are predicted for the first time and the conditions for their reliable observations are formulated. The effects of interference and the alignment of three-body states on the three-body correlations are demonstrated.