Experimental evidence for alpha-particle condensation from the Hoyle state deexcitation

International audienceFragmentation of quasi-projectiles from the nuclear reaction 40Ca+12C was used to produce excited states candidates to alpha-particle condensation. The methodology relies on high granularity 4π detection coupled to multi-particle correlations. Complete kinematic characterization reveals that 7.5±4.0% of the Hoyle state particle decays correspond to direct decay into three equal-energy alpha-particles. This is the first direct evidence for alpha-particle condensation in nuclei