Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme
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HK: Fachverband Physik der Hadronen und Kerne
HK 25: Nuclear Astrophysics III
HK 25.3: Talk
Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 14:30–14:45, PHIL A 602
Simulation and Analysis of Three-α Decay in 12C with Geant4 — •Timo Biesenbach1, David Werner1, Peter Reiter1, Alessandro Salice1, Joe Roob1, Konrad Arnswald1, Maximilian Droste1, Madalina Enciu3, Pavel Golubev2, Hannah Kleis1, Nikolas Königstein1, Dirk Rudolph2, and Luis Sarmiento2 — 1University of Cologne, Institute for Nuclear Physics, Cologne — 2Lund University, Department of Physics, Lund, Sweden — 3TU Darmstadt, Institute of Nuclear Physics, Darmstadt
The branching ratios of direct and sequential three-α decay modes of the 02+ Hoyle state in 12C provide a sensitive probe of its internal structure and play a key role in our understanding of stellar nucleosynthesis. A high-statistics experiment was conducted at the 10 MV FN Tandem Accelerator at the University of Cologne using inelastic scattering via the 12C(α,α′) reaction at an incident energy of 27 MeV. The decay products were detected with the Lund–York–Cologne Calorimeter, which combines high angular resolution with large acceptance of Si strip detector arrays. To enable a precise interpretation of the data, the experiment was modelled within the Geant4 Monte Carlo framework. The simulation incorporates the full experimental geometry, detector response, beam characteristics, target properties, and relevant physical processes. By performing a detailed comparison between the measured observables and the simulated decay scenarios, the branching ratio of the direct decay component is extracted. These results provide constraints on the three-body decay dynamics of the Hoyle state.
Keywords: Stellar Nucleosynthesis; Hoyle State; 12C; Cologne; LYCCA