Alpha clustering and nuclear molecules in⁸Be, ¹²C, ¹⁶O, ²⁰Ne, ²⁴Mg, and³²S

Abstract

Abstract. Within a liquid drop model the energy of the 12 C, 16 O, 20 Ne, 24 Mg and 32 S 4n-nuclei has been calculated within different configurations of α-molecules : linear chain, triangle, square, tetrahedron, pentagon, trigonal bipyramid, square pyramid, hexagon, octahedron, octagon and cube. The potential barriers governing the decay and entrance channels via α emission or absorption as well as the potential barriers of other possible binary and ternary reactions have been compared. The rms radii of the linear chains do not correspond to the experimental rms radii of the ground states. The binding energies of the three-dimensional molecules at the nascent point of the fragments are higher than the ones of the planar configurations. The A-4 daughter plus α particle configurations have always the lowest potential energy.