Isoscalar monopole and dipole excitations of cluster states and giant resonances in $^{12}$C

TL;DR

This paper investigates isoscalar monopole and dipole excitations in $^{12}$C using a combined AMD and GCM approach, revealing insights into cluster modes and giant resonances across a wide energy spectrum.

Contribution

It introduces a microscopic method combining AMD and GCM to describe both small and large amplitude excitations in $^{12}$C, including cluster and giant resonance modes.

Findings

Low-energy ISM and ISD strengths are enhanced by alpha cluster radial motion.

Low-energy ISM strengths account for 26% of EWSR, matching experimental data.

Two significant $1^-$ states are predicted in the 10-15 MeV range.

Abstract

The isoscalar monopole(ISM) and dipole(ISD) excitations in $^{12}$C are theoretically investigated with the shifted antisymmetrized molecular dynamics(AMD) plus $3\alpha$-cluster generator coordinate method(GCM). The small amplitude vibration modes are described by coherent one-particle one-hole excitations expressed by small shift of single-nucleon Gaussian wave functions within the AMD framework, whereas the large amplitude cluster modes are incorporated by superposing $3\alpha$-cluster wave functions in the GCM. The coupling of the excitations in the intrinsic frame with the rotation and parity transformation is taken into account microscopically by the angular-momentum and parity projections. The present calculation describes the ISM and ISD excitations in a wide energy region covering cluster modes in the low-energy region and the giant resonances in the high-energy region, though the quantitative description of the high-energy part is not satisfactory. The low-energy ISM and ISD strengths of the cluster modes are enhanced by the radial motion of $\alpha$ clusters, and they split into a couple of states because of the angular motion of $\alpha$ clusters. The low-energy ISM strengths exhaust 26% of the EWSR, which is consistent with the experimental data for the $^{12}$C($0^+_2$;7.65 MeV) and $^{12}$C($0^+_3$;10.3 MeV) measured by $(e,e')$, $(\alpha,\alpha')$, and ($^6$Li,$^6$Li$'$) scatterings. In the calculated low-energy ISD strengths, two $1^-$ states (the $1^-_1$ and $1^-_2$) with the significant strengths are obtained in $E=10-15$ MeV. It is indicated that the ISD excitations can be a good probe to experimentally search for new cluster states such as the $^{12}$C($1^-_2$) obtained in the present calculation.