Fusion and reactions of in the Hoyle resonance and associated resonances region
Phys. Rev. C 113, 064602 – Published 4 June, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/k86z-d4yr
Abstract
The fusion of and to produce a nucleus is a crucial process in nucleosynthesis. In the laboratory, this process can only be studied theoretically because a target or projectile cannot be prepared experimentally. We use the potential scattering theory in the coupled-channel formalism to study such a process in terms of the collision between the particle on a deformed nucleus, both on resonance and off resonance in the Hoyle resonance and associated resonances region. The experimental energy levels and widths constrain the nuclear potential to suggest the need to include a parity-dependent surface potential component that is more attractive for even- positive-parity partial waves than for odd- negative-parity partial waves. As a consequence, the radial dependence of the total potentials for the set of {, , } resonances of exhibit a double-hump behavior, possessing two local energy minima and a doublet of each of the {, , } resonances in the Hoyle and associated resonances region. We examine the approximate agreement of the theoretical results with experiment and suggest the search for the as-yet unobserved lower-energy and resonances to test the double-hump potential description. In addition, for practical astrophysical applications, we evaluate and estimate the astrophysical factor for the reaction for 1.0 MeV.